In Good Hands

Post date: 
Fri, May 22nd, 2015
"I’m 1,000 feet off the desert canyon floor, hanging by a rope...
...Normally I would be terrified, but I know I’m in good hands."

KUED's Nancy Green. Photo by Shaun Roundy.

Nancy Green

Producer

KUED Producer, Nancy Green, specializes in the production of documentaries for local, regional, and national PBS broadcast. Her work at KUED spans nearly 25 years, focusing on diverse topics, including healthcare, the arts, history, and the outdoors. Recent, films include, Homeless at the End, Search & Rescue, The Utah Bucket List, Maynard...Read more

I’m one thousand feet off the desert canyon floor, hanging by a rope. I’m a long way out of my comfort zone. Normally I would be terrified, but I know I’m in good hands. I’m being lowered to film a Fremont Indian Granary for a documentary on Range Creek Canyon in Utah’s Book Cliffs. The reason I’m not scared out of my mind? The people on the other end of the rope are the Utah County Search and Rescue crew -- some of the safest, most competent high angle mountaineers around. The fact that they’ve got a wicked sense of humor also helps.

Fast-forward eight years to 2015. I have the opportunity to do a KUED documentary on Search and Rescue (SAR), so I get in touch with the team. Sure enough, almost everyone I worked with in Range Creek is still there, which is amazing because they’re all volunteers. Yup, they don’t get paid. They spend scores of hours a year training, dole out thousands of dollars for gear, and get called out in the middle of the night or on holidays in all kinds of nasty weather to help perfect strangers. What possesses someone to do that? That’s the question at the heart of the new film and this blog.

Nancy Green and crew filming Secrets of the Lost Canyon in 2007.

So, join KUED as we explore how SAR works in Utah; meet the men and women who take on this challenge; and glean great lessons from the field on how to more safely enjoy Utah’s amazing mountains, rivers, and deserts. Also, feel free to contribute your experiences surrounding Search and Rescue, any useful outdoor tips you’ve learned, or even tell us about your favorite gear.
(Send your stories, tips, etc. to deanna@kued.org)

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