Hood River Crag Rats Ring in 100 Years of Search & Rescue
By Vicki Hillhouse
It’s a good thing Hood River Crag Rats is commemorating its centennial with multiple events. It increases the odds that members of America’s oldest search-and-rescue organization have a fighting chance of attending them.
1 example: In late May, while the Crag Rats made an anniversary climb up Cooper Spur on the north face of Mount Hood, a rescue call came for a hiker pinned under a 16,000-pound boulder from a rockslide near Timberline Lodge. The hiker was saved before the Crag Rats deployed, but the timing and perilousness underscore the demand for volunteers willing to drop anything at a moment’s notice to help those in need on Oregon’s highest peak and in the Columbia River Gorge.
“The thing is, you never know when a mission might occur, and you never know the location,” Crag Rats President John Rust says.
1 week after that rockslide, following a night celebrating the organization with a public party at The Ruins, 20 Crag Rats were dispatched to another search. In the 2-week period after the party, the organization had 6 callouts for service.
Rooted in a shared passion for the outdoors, the certified rescuers are deployed through the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office. Their expert climbing skills—skiing and mountaineering through steep terrain, glaciers and rugged canyons inaccessible to anyone without a rope and gear—help the injured, lost and stuck.
The first organized search was in 1923. A group of Hood River Valley residents who climbed together was asked to help find a lost child. It happened again 3 years later, and the Crag Rats officially organized. Members continue the tradition of wearing black-and-white-checkered shirts during their searches.
Of the changes that have taken place since the 1926 launch of the organization— including becoming a charter member of the Mountain Rescue Association, the evolution of lightweight equipment, the early 1990s addition of women in the organization, and the wonders of cellphone trail apps and global positioning maps— 1 of the most recently discussed is the boom in calls for help.
“We’ve had this massive uptick in rescues for the last 5 years,” Crag Rats public information officer and medical director Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says.
What began as 6 to 8 annual rescues for decades rose to 30 in 2013 and peaked in 2022 at 60. Last year, the number was 54. This year, rescuers are on track for another record, Christopher says. A lot of the missions are at night, and they’re in difficult weather conditions. The growing global population, access to gear and yearning for outdoor adventures have drawn more people to the region’s natural wonders, often first discovered by travelers through the power of the information superhighway.
“I think it’s just more people in the wilderness,” Christopher says. “We love that people are out and doing fun things and the appreciation of nature. But more people bring more rescues.”
Christopher, who specializes in emergency and wilderness medicine, is medical director for Providence Managed Care Organization and Providence Oregon Caregiver Health, and public health officer for Hood River County. Under his leadership this year, the Crag Rats became 1 of 3 regional search-and-rescue agencies to launch advanced life support programs.
This allows the deployed teams, which also include nurses, medics, and emergency medical technicians, to respond to trauma, providing advanced airway capability, bleeding control measures, pain management, medication for cardiac arrest, and emergency treatment for allergic reactions and diabetic emergencies.
But what he most tries to cultivate with rescuers is medical decision-making. “We have to make decisions that are urgent,” Christopher says. “Do we call a helicopter? Do we walk this patient down? Do we need shelter?”
The severity of the injury and availability of resources help determine those steps. “The numbers are 1 thing, but the complexity of the missions has gone up,” Christopher says. “We’ve been doing a lot of complex missions that require ropes and multiple days.”
It’s not uncommon to later hear back from a person rescued, John says. As president—also known as “Big Squeak” in Crag Rats verbiage—he may receive a thank-you, or the organization receives a donation to continue the good work. But it’s just as often the trip to safety is the last encounter between the rescuers and recreationalists.
“Sometimes we hear in the news what happened,” John says. “Sometimes, we never find out what happens. We package them up, and they go in a helicopter. We package them up, and they go in an ambulance. And we package them up, and sometimes, we’re able to put them in their own cars.
“Truly, I love helping others—not for any reason other than I have skills I can give and want to use these skills to help.” Demand keeps the services pumping year after year. But the Crag Rats’ operation is powered behind the scenes by volunteers who live and breathe the mission of service.
Among them is Beth Hukari. “My start with the Crag Rats started when I was born,” she says. Her late father, Lester, was a member dating back to the late 1940s. Skiing and hiking on Crag Rat outings was as much a part of the family dynamic as eating and sleeping. When they each turned 18, her 2 older brothers joined the organization. But gender restrictions kept Beth on the outskirts. By the time restrictions changed, she had young children, and emergency rescue missions weren’t possible.
She found a role in 2010, helping with events and facilities. She is chair of the Hut Committee, which oversees the mountain-style lodge in Pine Grove that serves as the clubhouse for the Crag Rats and an event venue that helps support the organization. About 70 events take place there a year.
Beth is also a knowledgeable historian who can recall facts about the organization from memory. That includes details about membership—the group has about 80 members with about half as active participants—and demographics. For example, John Edmundson, now of Hermiston, is the oldest Crag Rat at 91.
Approaching 70, Beth still hikes occasionally but is now busy planning an early August membership party, which is followed Aug. 15 by the Crag Rats Centennial Beargrass Music Festival at Tilly Jane.
The events for the 100th anniversary— which have also included a membership banquet in January and plans to lead the Hood River Fourth of July parade—spread the word about their work and also raise funds for a legacy project training wall for high-angle climbs.