The “Obnoxious Hikers” as they call themselves are actually anything but obnoxious, though they’re known to speak freely. They began as a breakaway group stemming from one of the more restrictive 4k groups on Facebook. Truth be told, they’re incredibly…
Anatomy of a Rescue
If you’re sick or injured in the backcountry there are many possible scenarios with many possible outcomes, but most have one thing in common: Rescue will take longer than you might expect. To give a clearer understanding of why, this…
Backcountry Medical Response
Every serious, quasi-regular hiker or climber should have some level of first-aid knowledge. Specifically, unless you’re a guide or outdoor leader, and have your Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) card, you should probably test for…
SAR Award of Excellence
On January 9th, 2025, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NHF&G) bestowed upon on the AVSAR Team the annual Search And Rescue Award of Excellence for 2023. To say we’re honored by and grateful for this recognition is an…
Governor’s Commendation
Elizabeth Kane (Secretary) and Will Murphy (President) attended an event the morning of July 9th, 2025 with NH Governor Kelly Ayotte, the Governor’s Executive Council, and Colonel Jordan of the NHF&G. Representatives from all of the NH SAR teams were…
Far-Reaching Gratitude
On May 27th 2025, on behalf of AVSAR, Will Murphy (President) accepted a service award from the Aurora Police Department in Aurora, Colorado. This award was given for an AVSAR-involved rescue on Mt Madison, which occurred on Sept 21st, 2024.…
The History of AVSAR
The following was provided by one of the original members of AVSAR: Mike Pelchat. The main reason we started a search & rescue team in Gorham in 1988 was due to a sudden need for rescuers. The number of rescues…
AVSAR Website Refresh
We took a few days and updated our website re-vamping each and every page. One notable thing we did was to add a Photos page so that site visitors could see glimpses of AVSAR’s inner workings.