MRA MORA Patrol Program 2022/23

TL;DR

If you want your team to be part of MRA MORA Patrols, contact chris.hill@tacomamountainrescue.org by Dec 27th 2022.

Background

Due to the unexpected consequences of a new federal hiring rule, Mount Rainier National Park is extremely short staffed this winter, and perhaps into winter 23/24 & beyond.  

You may already be aware of the impacts; for example, the gate above Longmire is now only open on the weekends for the entire winter season.

In addition, MRA teams have been invited to station members in the park on weekends as a new Mountain Rescue Patrol, helping Wilderness Rangers by assisting in SAR operations.

For Washington MRA teams this offers great opportunities for high alpine mountain missions, team building, unit training, joint agency ops, public awareness and much more.

Patrol Program Development

Following discussions with the NPS in November, Tacoma Mountain Rescue has been stationing teams in the Park every Saturday in December.

The program has been hugely popular within the unit and greatly appreciated by the park. Each day has had 6-10 members sign up for Patrol. The predictable schedule, the high likelihood of a mission and the prestige of being part of Mountain Rescue at Mt Rainier all probably play a part in its success.

The lessons learned from this pilot period directly feed into the following suggested program framework.

Program Structure

Any single team would be stretched to cover all the weekends for the whole winter season.  It would be ideal if 3-6 WA MRA teams were involved in the program.

It is proposed that each MRA team is assigned a weekend on a rotating basis. The assigned team would then be responsible for providing;

  • An experienced OL/STL as a “Day Patrol Leader” (DPL)
  • at least 2 more MRA members from their unit

Note, these are minimums.  A unit could bring as many members as they choose.  Also, other units can send members join any weekend patrol. But it’s the assigned team who will provide the core – the Day Patrol Leader plus 2 others – to create a minimum team of 3 MRA on the hill.

The assigned team may want to have different members on Saturday and Sunday – or they can choose to stay overnight and patrol both days with the same people.

Mission Command & Control

In the event of a mission, the NPS will designate the IC from their staff.  The NPS may also assign NPS SAR rangers to lead the field teams.  

However, sometimes there will not be a NPS SAR ranger – or the MRA team may be out on patrol and go directly to an incident.  In this case the MRA DPL will be asked if they can lead the MRA team on that mission.

This is why it is important that the DPL be an experienced MRA leader who can assess the situation, who gets to know the members of the MRA patrol and who can make the decision about whether that team is suitable for that mission. This will be a dynamic assessment with ongoing reassessment as the mission progresses.  The DPL needs to be able to say “No” as much as they can say “Yes”.

DEM#

For TMR, the Patrol days are covered by DEM Training Numbers. These Patrol days are meant for units to gain experience and practice skills, i.e. training.  If there is an incident then MORA immediately obtains a DEM Mission Number that then covers MRA involvement on any rescue.

Equipment

MORA is well stocked with rescue equipment.  MRA Units are not required to bring their own unit gear if they want to keep that available at their home bases for other missions.  

If a team does not bring it’s own unit vehicle then members will be expected to use their POVs for transport in the park.

The biggest MORA cache is at the EOC at Longmire.  The Old Station at Paradise is also well equipped with all of the most commonly used rescue equipment.

MRA Operations Base – Paradise Ranger Station

The MRA Patrol will operate from the Old Ranger Station at Paradise.  This famous historic building is a Mountain Rescue landmark and it’s a privilege for any MRA unit to be part of that story.

Accommodation

MRA has accommodation available at Longmire in cabin L123. Additional space may be available but must be arranged prior to the weekend of the patrol through the MORA Committee.

L123 can be booked online through https://mountrainierclimbing.us/.  This cabin is warm, comfortable, well appointed and equipped with a full kitchen.  Just bring a sleeping bag and pillow.  

Park Entry Waiver

At entrance gates, at climbing registration, and during all activities:

  • Members must identify themselves as mountain Rescue Association volunteers
  • Members shall provide a current MRA membership card and a government issued photo iD.
  • Individuals must possess a copy of this permit at entrance stations and during their visit.

An electronic copy of the most recent waiver can be found at https://sites.google.com/wamra.org/mount-rainier/activities

Example Patrol Schedule

  • 0800 Arrive Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Longmire
  • 0810 Team meeting with NPS & Nordic Patrol
  • 0830 Convoy with NPS to Paradise (before gate opens to the public)
  • 0915 Assist with Paradise setup for public if needed (wands, parking, digging out Old Station)
  • 0945 Check SAR gear available at Old Station
  • 1000 DPL briefs MRA on objectives for the day* e.g.
    • Morning AT ski patrol to assess snow conditions on avalanche prone slopes
    • Litter tobogganing practice
    • PSAR (Preventative SAR)
    • Snow rigging skills
  • 1400 Send patrollers up toward Pebble Creek in anticipation of an afternoon Muir Snow Field incident
  • 1500 Uphill gate closes to public
  • 1600 Downhill gate closes to public
  • 1630 If no ongoing SAR, patrol day ends.

*most SARs happen in the later afternoon, so don’t exhaust teams by over-training in the morning

Example Unit Rota

If we have 4 MRA teams assigned for Q1 2023 then each unit will have 3 weekends (Sat & Sun) between January – March.

 

Wkd#

Date

4 Teams

1

12/31/2022

MRA Team A

2

1/7/2023

MRA Team B

3

1/14/2023

MRA Team C

4

1/21/2023

MRA Team D

5

1/28/2023

MRA Team A

6

2/4/2023

MRA Team B

7

2/11/2023

MRA Team C

8

2/18/2023

MRA Team D

9

2/25/2023

MRA Team A

10

3/4/2023

MRA Team B

11

3/11/2023

MRA Team C

12

3/18/2023

MRA Team D

13

3/25/2023

MRA Team A

Program Coordination & Communication

Going forward, this program may be coordinated by WAMRA, or assigned to a named Program Coordinator, or the MORA committee – or this may be found to work perfectly well distributed between the teams once a rota is created.  But overall the goal will be to keep admin very simple.

By the end of December there will be – at least – a web page listing all the dates and the assigned team with contact information so that members can join a patrol weekend.

Over time there may be a more sophisticated sign up page or Slack type group.

Next Step

If you want your team to be part of MRA MORA Patrols, contact chris.hill@tacomamountainrescue.org by Dec 27th 2022.