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· What Is PMR?
· Our Mission
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· Kent Swanson, Jr.
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What is PMR?
Portland Mountain Rescue is a non-profit, volunteer organization
dedicated to saving lives through rescue and education.
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Who We Are:
Portland Mountain Rescue is one of the many mountain rescue units in
the country that function under the auspices of the international
Mountain Rescue Association (MRA).
These subsidiary units, like Portland Mountain Rescue, consist
of a volunteer group of highly skilled climbers and enthusiastic support
resources that are dedicated to getting people out of trouble in
mountainous and high-angle areas. Our members, numbering over 70 strong,
serve in a variety of roles,
while working toward a single goal - saving lives.
What We Do:
PMR specializes in search and rescue (SAR) operations involving high
angle rock, snow, and ice. Occasionally, we also assist in SAR
missions below the timberline in mountainous terrain.
In addition to our SAR duties, we actively promote safety in the
outdoors through a variety of activities, such as:
· Sponsoring educational seminars and lectures for
the outdoor community
· Publishing a variety of safety brochures
· Teaching mountain safety classes to local youth
· Instructing avalanche awareness and survival skills classes
· Providing this informational website
· Producing the safety display in the Wy’East Day Lodge on Mount Hood
Where We Operate:
PMR provides search and rescue services mainly in the
mountainous and high-angle areas of a three-county area of Northwest
Oregon and Southwest Washington stretching nearly 4,000 square miles
with over 1,000,000 in population. For the most part, our
missions occur on Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest peak at 11,239 feet
above sea level. However, we occasionally participate in SAR
operations ranging from Central Oregon to the North Cascades in Washington,
as well as other parts of the Pacific Northwest. Several stories on
PMR missions from around the area may be viewed in the
Headlines section.
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Primary Areas of Operation:
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Click here
to view a larger version of the operations area map
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Northwest Oregon
• West & South sides of Mount Hood
• Mt Hood foothills near Estacada, OR
• West end of Columbia River Gorge
• Steep urban parks near Portland, OR
• Coast Range Mountains
Southwest Washington
• West end of Columbia River Gorge
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Secondary Areas of Operation:
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Central Oregon
• Mount Jefferson
• Three Fingered Jack
• Mount Washington
• Three Sisters Wilderness
• Mount Bachelor
Western Washington
• Mount Adams
• Mount Rainier
• High Country near Mt St Helens
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Coordination and Mobilization:
Our SAR missions are coordinated through the Sheriff's office in the
county where the operation is taking place. Generally, the
County Sheriff receives a 911 dispatch, evaluates the situation and,
if necessary, mobilizes Portland Mountain Rescue or another SAR
organization.
Occasionally, a PMR member will encounter an unreported accident
while in the backcountry. In these cases, the PMR member must
contact the Sheriff's office as soon as possible to establish a
formal rescue mission and mobilize other emergency services.
Funding:
PMR is a non-profit, volunteer organization. All funding is derived from
individual donations, grants and other types of fundraising. We
do not receive financial support from the government.
Team members do not receive compensation for their work and are
not reimbursed for their expenses whatsoever. Our members spend
countless hours of their free time - and occasionally their work
time - training and learning so that they will be ready to respond
to a search and rescue operation on a moment's notice.
Our funding needs fall into three categories: operating expenses,
field equipment and educational resources. PMR maintains an
operations vehicle, utilizes specialized mountain rescue equipment
and performs a number of valuable community services
free-of-charge. All members must have their own basic
mountaineering and climbing equipment.
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Summary - Why We Exist:
Our existence is a direct response to a way of life for untold thousands of people
living in the Pacific Northwest who cherish their right to actively experience
the freedom of the hills. The Cascade Range mountains and much
of the surrounding region is a vast wilderness with inviting, but
dangerous, topography.
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Mount Hood, for instance, is one of the most
climbed mountains in the world, but its many glaciers, steep terrain and
unpredictable conditions can quickly overwhelm an inexperienced hiker or
even an experienced climber who is unfamiliar with the mountain.
When accidents occur, volunteer groups like Portland Mountain Rescue are
asked to help carry out search and rescue operations.
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Oregon's majestic Mount Hood
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Without volunteer SAR teams, the cost of an average rescue in manpower,
equipment, helicopters, etc., would be totally prohibitive. The local
authorities in these remote areas have neither the resources nor the funding
to maintain a staff of search and rescue professionals. If the local
government, Sheriff or Forest Service had to absorb the full cost of SAR
missions, many of our most beloved mountains would have to be closed to
the public.
By providing a volunteer group of technically trained climbers for search and
rescue work, organizations like Portland Mountain Rescue help to keep our
mountains open for all to enjoy.
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