From stranded snowmobilers to cliffed out rock climbers to injured hikers, Summit County Search and Rescue’s response hours almost doubled in 2025, logging 4,336 hours of response time during 79 calls for service.
The team of about 50 members reported the same number of calls in 2024 but spent only 2,182 hours responding.
SAR operations manager and a Summit County councilmember, Canice Harte, said the spike in response hours goes against the agency's recent trends, as crews are generally becoming more efficient with technology advances, GPS devices easing backcountry operations and county responders continuously building experience.
Harte couldn't attribute the spike in hours to any particular event. Overall, he says, each year is different.
“One year it could be really intense to access people, and another year they might just be near trailheads, and we get to them fairly quickly,” Harte said. “If you average out the hours, over three years, for example, I bet we’re going to have about 100 to 120 calls, and maybe 2,000 to 3,000 response hours.”
Last year, the highest number of calls came in July, with 18. According to the agency, demand for service often peaks in the summer months as hikers head into the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest.
In 2025, January and February saw high traffic as well, including six avalanche rescues.
Harte said many calls were for medical emergencies in the backcountry.
“I think when people picture search and rescue, they think of a lost hiker, right?” Harte said. “But I think of it as emergency medical services for the mountains. Basically every time someone has a medical incident, and they're not [at home] or on the highway, it's search and rescue that either gets the EMS crew to them, or transports them to the EMS crew.”
A new funding source is assisting SAR operations starting this year, which stems from an emergency services sales tax approved by Summit County voters in 2024. Collection started in 2025 and is now funneling to the Summit County agencies it was created to benefit, including fire operations, law enforcement and emergency medical services.
SAR will use its portion of the revenue for additional training and equipment. Summit County is also transitioning to a compensation model for responders, despite its 40-year tradition of volunteer service.
In doing so, Harte said it follows Grand County and Zion National Park, which provide an hourly wage to their SAR crews.
“You can become a more efficient team when you move to a paid model. When people are responding rather than volunteering, there's a little bit more accountability to it,” Harte said. “[Summit County SAR crews] are phenomenal right now, and I don't think that part will change, but it does mean the team probably will evolve over time.”
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
