Voices from the Mountains

In a recorded conversation with StoryCorps, teammates Garth Bruce, Raquel Lackey, and Doug McCall, joined by Ruffles, a crisis response resiliency dog, reflect on what it meant to serve their community during an uncertain time. Their conversation captures something deeper than individual missions—it reveals the heart of mountain rescue: teamwork, trust, and the healing power of the outdoors.

This conversation is also part of something much larger. Recorded through StoryCorps, it is preserved in the archives of the Library of Congress, ensuring that these voices, experiences, and lessons from the mountains will be accessible for generations to come.

Search and rescue work is rarely about one person. It’s about a group of volunteers moving together through difficult terrain, solving problems in real time, and supporting one another along the way. For SMR members, that bond became even more important during the pandemic, when isolation and uncertainty affected nearly everyone.

In the StoryCorps interview, the team shares the camaraderie that forms during long missions, the quiet moments shared outdoors, and how being in nature can restore perspective when life feels overwhelming. Their reflections highlight something many people don’t realize about mountain rescue: it’s built on relationships. Volunteers train together, respond together, and look out for one another long after a mission ends. That sense of community—both within the team and with the outdoor community they serve—is what keeps rescuers coming back year after year.

Stories like these are why conversations recorded through StoryCorps matter. They preserve the voices and experiences of people whose work often happens far from the spotlight—on rugged trails, steep ridges, and stormy nights when someone needs help the most.