Alaska Mountain Rescue Group

Alaska Mountain Rescue Group (AMRG) is a nonprofit volunteer search and rescue organization based in Anchorage, Alaska, dedicated to providing search and rescue services in Alaska. Founded in 1960, our organization consists of dedicated, professional volunteers with extensive back country experience who train regularly to bring people who are lost, injured, stranded, or deceased back to their families.

AMRG is a fully-accredited mountain rescue unit within the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) and our members train to standards set by both the MRA and the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). Our focus is on assisting injured and lost persons in the Alaska back country, particularly in areas where specialized high-angle and mountaineering skills are required.

AMRG conducts emergency SAR missions only under the direct control of the Alaska State Troopers and performs an average of 15 missions annually, from searches for lost hunters, hikers, or children to high-angle rope rescue, avalanche response, and downed aircraft.

AMRG responds to backcountry emergencies with:

• Four season, day or night operating capability
• The ability to operate in the field for up to 72 hours without resupply
• Stand-alone radio communications
• Mission management using the Incident Command System

Our members come from all walks of life and include mountain climbers, back country skiers, hikers, ski patrollers, snowmachiners, and military personnel who have committed to serving the citizens of Alaska by using their skills to help others in their time of need. Our members are expected to train regularly and be in a position to respond to missions whenever the call comes in. If you are interested in volunteering with AMRG, please review our Membership page and complete a membership application.

AMRG is a search and rescue organization, which means before those in need can be rescued they first must be located. Sometimes the location is immediately known, but many times someone has failed to arrive at a destination and they must be found.

Operational members are taught the principles and skills needed to carry out effective search techniques, as wells as support skills to ensure that teams function at maximum effectiveness. All operational members are SAR Tech II certified.

AMRG search managers are members with extensive training and experience in the latest search methods as well as skilled in the organization of an effective search effort. Many of AMRG’s search managers are also members of the Alaska Incident Management Team.

AMRG’s Technical Rescue Team is prepared to respond to any low- or high-angle emergency, whether it be located at the crag, in the mountains on ice or snow, or on a glacier. Members train to efficiently access, secure, and bring home those in need of help.

Training includes in-house sessions covering basic anchoring and lowering and raising operations, and it progresses to more complex scenarios where participants must efficiently assess slope angles, terrain, and rescue loads, provide medical care, and develop and execute a plan of action. Members also receive external instruction through classes taught by Rigging for Rescue.

AMRG trains all of its members to be effective participants in both small- and large-scale avalanche response. All operational members must take an Avalanche Level I course and pass a yearly transceiver search test. Some members also train to become Avalanche Specialists who have the skills and knowledge to assess terrain and avalanche hazard and manage organized avalanche response.