The High Sierra Rockn' Grill held a fund-raiser for the team as reported in this Mammoth Times article on November 30, 2000.
It's only 8 p.m. at the High Sierra Rockn' Grill -- a place known for late-night fun -- but the party is already over. Unusual for the club, yes, but the remaining Search and Rescue team members say it's typical for the leaders of their pack.
After all, these are men and women who in addition to working all over Mono County, are ready, every day of the year, to find and to aid those lost in the region's formidable wilderness.
The party this Tuesday night is a first-ever dinner and fundraiser for the Mono County Sheriff's Department's all-volunteer Search and Rescue team. And the crew that has managed to stay out after dark in late November is made up of newbies: the first-ever class of SAR recruits.
Over the last eight months, these eight people occupying a back corner of the grill have subjected themselves to rigorous training: climbing ice, surviving avalanches, rescuing in swift, cold water, rappelling down steep mountains, assisting in emotionally- and physically-demanding searches, all to become full-fledged.
Every year in Mono County, those interested in SAR have worked their way through a checklist of skills and tasks to train them for the dangerous and essential work that the rescue team provides county. This year was the first rime that an actual, class was assembled, a team in training for the team.
They participated in 30 operations this year so far, including a search for a lost skier (a real survivor found nearly 10-into-the-wild-miles from Mammoth Mountain), a car accident in which the vehicle tumbled off the Tioga Pass road, and a long, thorough hunt for a missing hiker, whose body was located by an off-duty SAR member.
Some of the recruits say that the lure of mountaineering -- and the challenges of mountain rescue --- came early. Kerrick Helton, a Chicago native, says "this is always something I wanted to do." Siobian Spring, a three-year Mammoth resident who also hails from the windy city, nods. The types of things she's doing with SAR are dreams from when I was a kid."
"Living in the mountains," Kerrick explains, "is far beyond anything I've ever known. [SAR training] heightens the experience."
Julia White shares the enthusiasm, adding that SAR training "is the kind of thing you'd pay big bucks for in mountaineering school."
The neophytes say that real inspiration comes from the experienced team members (none of whom are around tonight to enjoy the compliments).
"The people in SAR are the closest to being superheroes," one recruit says. "So genuine, so humble, so skilled."
And so punctual. They all showed up at 6 p.m. for dinner and split before the music really got going, before they could take the standard fundraiser photo with Grateful Phil handing them a check from the night's proceeds (more than 50 diners showed up for the event - the few still there at 8 p.m. reported.
And, apparently, the food was great. Even the recruits look like they're heading for the door.
As the last members leave, it appears that both the first fundraiser - and the first class of recruits - are SAR successes. --SC