SRG supports all SAR activities. Here's a story by Sam about saving a couple in the Snow Peak area.

Teary eyed and cold, a rescued woman thanked Search and Rescue for saving her and her husband’s life as the Team brought them into the Snow Peak cabin to warm up. The couple started out from the Sherman Pass parking lot Monday and headed up the west fork of the Sherman Peak loop trail. They cross-country skied to within one-half mile from the Snow Peak cabin then became too exhausted, wet, and cold to go any further. Although the couple were experienced hikers and well equipped, they were off the trail, became disoriented and decided to hunker down in bivy sacks with a storm beginning.

The next morning, with hypothermia setting in, damp clothing, and the inability to continue hiking, the couple luckily had cell service. They called the Ferry County Sheriff's 911 dispatch and asked for assistance. Just after 11:00 AM on Tuesday, Search and Rescue received a message from dispatch with orders to assemble a team and find and rescue the couple.

To the couples’ good fortune, SAR member Jim Milner has comprehensive knowledge and experience in cold weather survival plus excellent snow-shoeing abilities. Incident Commander, Sam Jenkins, asked Jim if he could take off work and help. To the credit of Ferry County Health, Jim was allowed some time off to assist with the rescue. Ferry County Sheriff Deputy Sgt Talon Venturo, SAR Coordinator, picked Jim up from his work-place and rushed up to Sherman Pass. Once there, they headed up the trail following the couples tracks that were quickly filling in with fresh snow.

An hour after Team One deployed, two other SAR members, Patrice and Jim Beckwith, arrived at Sherman Pass and took off following the tracks. Again, the lost couple lucked out. Jim Beckwith, who teaches Forestry at Curlew Job Corps, has extensive knowledge and practical experience of all the trails in the Sherman Peak area. Jim is also an expert and teaches orientation and navigation using maps, compass and GPS. Jim guided the Team directly to the coordinates relayed from the couple. Team Beckwith is rounded out by new SAR member, Patrice Beckwith. Retired from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Patrice also an amateur radio operator, has proved a valuable team member, bringing her organizing skills to this and other searches. The Beckwiths were the only SAR team members who had previously traversed the trail to the cabin, and this proved invaluable. Sgt Venturo carrying his Sheriff’s radio, along with the two SAR members with their amateur radios, the rescue team was able to stay in constant contact with SAR-Base and the Sheriff’s Dispatch. Using GPS units to report their progress, SAR-Base was able to track the precise positions of the teams and to calculate the distance to the subjects.

The three SAR members and the Deputy hiked over four miles uphill through brutal conditions. High drifts of snow were interspersed by large areas of sheer ice over a crust of snow and all at a steep incline with the Team facing stiff winds and blowing snow. The subjects were located, alive, just after dark, and the Team help revive the couple and got them ready to march to the cabin. In another lucky break for the lost couple, Sgt. Venturo had pulled along an equipment transport sled. Their heavy backpacks were secured in the sled and Sgt. Venturo, several times on his hands and knees, pulled the sled uphill, through snow drifts and over ice fields until the Team reached the cabin. This final trek of the evening took nearly one and a half hours to travel the last half mile to the cabin. Through darkness and blowing snow, Jim Beckwith was able to guide the Team directly to the cabin.

Finally, inside and out of the weather, exhaustion overtook everyone and the SAR team decided the safest thing to do was spend the night at the cabin. A fire was built, the couple was offered hot drinks and snacks and began to warm up, dry their clothing, and rest for the next morning's trek out.

With a 20-mph wind howling outside the cabin, the Team checked maps, looked at weather conditions and consulted with SAR base. The Team decided to take the shortest route back to safety. Instead of taking the four and a half miles back to the Sherman Peak Loop trail through an avalanche zone, they concluded that the Snow Peak trail to the west would be shorter and safer, with a snowmobile team picking them up at the Trail #10 Trail-Head, and it would be mostly downhill. The snowmobiles would be able to transport the rescuers and couple another four and one quarter miles on FS-100 to the Hall Creek Snow Park. Beckwith again guided the Team directly to the trailhead and the awaiting support team. At the junction of Snow Peak trailhead (#10) and Snow Peak Road (FS#110) was a snowmobile team made up of emergency workers Kathy and Steve McKay plus SAR members Charlie Aebi and Gary Atkins, who had cleared the four and a quarter miles of road up to the Trail Head. SAR member Gary Atkins, also an EMT, performed a wellness check of the two subjects and found them to be OK. The couple’s son was waiting at the Snow Peak Snow Park with his large van that he had pre-heated and mom and dad hopped in and shared their story.

What’s often overlooked in rescue stories are the emotions felt by both the subjects and the rescuers. There’s a tendency to focus on the logistics of the operation. When someone thanks a SAR member for saving their lives, it hits home why they, as SAR members, volunteer to do this life saving work. Plus, SAR Team members rely on other members for support and assistance. Patrice Beckwith said she was overwhelmed when she saw the snowmobile team at the bottom of the trail. And another support team was waiting at the Snow Peak Snow Park to help warm up all involved. Patrice pointed out that counting on her team members and them coming through in this critical situation was honestly very moving.

When Sam Jenkins, SAR President, was debriefing the couple at the Snow Peak Snow Park on Hall Creek Road after they had recovered, they told him that if SAR had not found them the night before, and led them to the cabin, they sincerely believed they would not have survived the second night.

The all-volunteer Search and Rescue Team is part of the Ferry County Sheriff's office and provides a critical service to all residents and visitors to Ferry County. Search and rescue is a life-saving skill that demands dedication, training, and specialized equipment. The SAR team is trained in rural and wilderness environments and strives to be a well-prepared squad ready to respond any time – anywhere. To support or join see the SAR page on the County website.

Caption for picture:

The happy couple in the center, surrounded by their rescuers. L to R: Jim Beckwith, Charlie Aebi, Paivi Morse, Sgt. Talon Venturo, Gary Atkins, the rescued couple’s son, Jim Milner, Patrice Beckwith and Sam Jenkins.