Mountain Travel & Rescue

Robert Walters

Mountain Travel & Rescue Advisor
Robert Walters
2618 Kerrisdale Ridge Dr.
Medford, OR 97504-5719
Res: 541-779-4021
mcwalts@charter.net

Mountain Travel & Rescue Instructors

Kathy Alexander Santiam Pass katalexander911@mail.com
Johnathon Miner Willamette Backcountry minerjc@lanecc.edu
Rob Owens Mount Ashland slayerhippy@yahoo.com
Joseph Calbreath Willamette Backcountry josephcalbreath@gmail.com

2023 MTR 1 Course information

Download the information for the 2023 MTR 1 course.
Contact Robert or Laurie Monico for more information.

Mountain Travel and Rescue Fundamentals (MTR F)

This course provides students with basic knowledge and skills to travel and work in reasonable comfort and safety in an outdoor environment. Field practice includes basic navigation, travel, and survival, and an introduction to search and rescue. This course does not include an overnight campout.

Mountain, Travel, and Rescue 1 (MTR 1)

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to travel and work in reasonable safety and comfort in the outdoor environment and to assist a search and/or rescue team, including possible overnight operations. Field practice includes practice in navigation, travel, survival skills, basic search and rescue exercises, and an overnight campout.

Mountain, Travel, and Rescue 2 (MTR 2)

Mountain Travel and Rescue Level 2 is designed as a follow-up course to MTR F and/or MTR 1. This course provides more in-depth training and field work in land navigation, search and rescue, rope rescue, improvised toboggan construction, survival skills, and emergency shelter construction that students can utilize during the length of the course.

Mountain Travel and Rescue Enhancement Seminar

The MTR Enhancement Seminar is designed to provide patrollers with the ability to acquire additional and more in-depth training in specific topics within the MTR program. The extended training of specific skills taught in Mountain Travel & Rescue courses allows the patrollers and instructors to focus on one to two topics based on their area needs.

This course provides patrollers and their areas of operation a source to customize their training based on their needs. If an area of operation is prone to having more guests lost on trails, such as backcountry skiers or snowshoers, the patrollers may require additional training in Search & Rescue techniques or the area may have more ravines or gullies and require patrollers to be more skilled at rope rescue and need deeper training in Low Angle Rescue.

The premise of the course is to allow one to two topics to be taught. If only a single topic is needed, then the course will last eight hours covering field and/possibly class work. If two topics are desired then the course will be divided over the two topics covering field and/possible class work. The extended training will allow a more in-depth study of the topic(s), allow more hands on practice, additional practice scenarios, and more real-life experiential knowledge transfer and discussion from instructor to student.

  • Potential Course Topics:
  • Search & Rescue
  • Low Angle Rescue
  • Land Navigation
  • Survival Skills
  • Extended Backcountry Care