Victor Valley Station and the History of Hug-A-Tree

Beginning in 1982 members of San Bernardino County SAR began to offer Hug-A-Tree presentations to local scout and church organizations. From early 1992 to 2005 the team did approximately 100 presentations for over 90,000 kids. This was done by attending school programs at assemblies and local church and scout units. These programs involved hundreds of kids at each assembly with up to four assemblies in the day. This was not the best way to get the information across due to the large audiences. It was sort of like herding cats or chickens.

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Wrightwood-Phelan SAR Passes MRA Search & Tracking Certification

For the Wrightwood/Phelan Search and Rescue Team, November 18, 2012 was one of those very important days that you can’t wait for, and at the same time, you are dreading. This was the day the team had been training for over the past year and a half. They were going for a national certification with the Mountain Rescue Association.

As a team, the Wrightwood/Phelan SAR team felt pretty good about running searches. It really wasn’t something that we did very often, but when there was a search, we had been very successful. However, the process of going for the Search and Tracking certification with the MRA gave us an entirely new perspective on search management. There are three official parts to the certification, and they all require time to become proficient.  

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TRBC 2011 Weekend #1

!2 SAR members representing SB Mountain SAR, West Valley Posse, West Valley SAR, Wrightwood/Phelan SAR, and the Cave Team spent the first of two weekends deeply entrenched in the art and science of technical rope rescue. The next weekend session includes plenty of rescue scenarios followed by a written and practical exam. During the interim weeks, the students are busy studying and practicing for these events.

Baldy Rescue 12/23/2009

A hiker lost her footing and tumbled down much of the Baldy Bowl this evening. West Valley SAR responded for the evacuation down the Sierra Hut Trail. A hoist was attempted by a Los Angeles County helicopter, but the hoist malfunctioned, and a second helicopter was summoned. In the meantime, members of West Valley SAR, Wrightwood SAR, Rim SAR, SB Mountain SAR, and the Cave & Technical Rescue Team responded to assist in the litter carry. The second helicopter arrived on scene and was able to hoist the hiker somewhere along the trail as SAR members continued the litter evacuation.

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