Becoming a Member of RMRG
Overview
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, you have come to the right page. We are excited that you are considering giving back to the Boulder County community as a member of our team.
RMRG will have an upcoming training class in Fall 2025.
Applications are due by August 1st, 2025 by 5PM MST.
Read all details below
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER OF rmrg
If you are selected for our training class, understand that the easy part is over. The next several years will fundamentally alter your life, your schedule, and your definition of commitment. This is a single, demanding path to becoming a mission-ready member of RMRG.
This is not a club or a weekend hobby. It is a massive, long-term commitment to one of the busiest volunteer backcountry rescue teams in the country. We can teach you our systems, our skills, and knowledge. We cannot teach grit, humility, or the ability to function when you are cold, exhausted, and things have gone wrong. Above all, at this stage in the process, RMRG requires an understanding and demonstration of the passion and commitment needed to join the team.
Time Commitment
During your training, you can expect 3 meetings a month, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, and a field practice the Sunday following each. As a prospective member, there will be at least one additional night a month. These trainings are necessary to check off all required skills and be ready for a vote. On training hours alone, this amounts to a minimum of 200 hours per year.
PROGRAM requirements
To be considered for this program, you will be asked to do the following:
Agree to a criminal background check, for which you will be required to pay a small fee.
Show a willingness and ability to devote the time to both the training process to become a member and then ongoing time for training and SAR calls once you are a member. SAR missions often require interrupting what you are doing (work, family, etc) and responding to unscheduled events at odd times including work hours, nights, weekends, and holidays. With RMRG’s 70+ members responding to 150 SAR calls a year, membership is a significant time commitment that should not be underestimated.
Commit to several required events:
Before the PTP, attend one of the two Intro to RMRG Lectures (July 15th and 24th, 2025)
Attend all 4 days of the PTP Weekends (October 25-26, November 8-9, 2025)
After the PTP, attend a minimum of 4 Meetings and 4 Practices per calendar quarter on an ongoing basis, with additional trainings expected.
How to apply
Submit an application for Prospective Membership by 5PM MST on August 1st, 2025
Application LINK HERE
You must attend one of the two in person “Intro to RMRG” lectures (the lectures are identical) on the following dates at the Meadows Library Meeting Room (4800 Baseline Rd).
July 15th, 2025, 5:30-6:30pm (Date changed)
July 24th, 2025, 5:30-6:30pm
AFTER YOU APPLY
After the application period is over, a committee of members will review all applications and select candidates to interview. Interviews with candidates will be scheduled around the end of August.
After the interviews, the committee will make a final selection of prospective members to admit into the training class by early September 2025.
prospective training program (PTP) Weekends
If you are invited to join the prospective training program, you will need to:
Fully attend both PTP weekends which are designed to provide you with a basic knowledge of mountain search and rescue:
October 25-26, 2025
November 8-9, 2025
Pass a knot test at the beginning of the first weekend:
Knots include: Bowline, figure 8, water knot, double sheetbend, double fisherman’s, munter hitch, prussik, alpine butterfly, and clove hitch.
Pass a deeper knot test at the end of the second weekend applying these knots in a rescue context.
RESCUE TRAINING
After the PTP weekends, you will be assigned mentors and start attending team-wide Wednesday night meetings and Sunday morning field practices. Going to as many meetings and practices as you can provides you with the background and skills to move towards full membership and gives members the opportunity to get to know you. Prospective members must maintain a minimum attendance of 4 field practices and 4 meetings in every calendar quarter in order to continue in the program.
Your mentors will also arrange additional focused trainings, which will give you the opportunity to practice and perfect required skills, and get additional hands-on time with team gear.
Member Application & Vote
It typically takes prospective members 12 to 18 months of regular attendance at meetings and practices before being ready to submit a membership application. Election to membership is determined by a majority vote of active members assessing your technical competency along with many other non-technical factors. Completion of the PTP and search and rescue training is not a guarantee of election to membership. Once you are elected, you will participate as a fully contributing member of the team on mountain search and rescue missions.
who is a “QUALIFIED” candidate?
Many wonder what it takes to get on the team. The skills on our team range from basic hiking experience to world-class free-climbing and aid climbing experience, and everything in between. While most of our members carry a basic first aid and CPR card (the minimum entry requirement), we have WFRs, EMTs, paramedics, nurses, PAs, and emergency physicians. Areas of employment range from undergrad students to engineers, entrepreneurs to sheriff's officers, carpenters to consultants. There is no one skillset or experience level that defines our group; the most important qualities in a rescuer are intelligence, humility, character, love of the outdoors and a desire to help others as part of a team.