96 | The Mountain Angel: A Life of Search & Rescue in The High Sierra w/ Dean Rosnau Part 1

The Climbing Majority

As we progress as climbers and inevitably turn our gaze toward higher peaks and more remote objectives, a common lesson begins to emerge: the mountains are a dangerous place to play. But early on, this remains a lesson heard, not truly learned. Inevitably, with enough time spent in remote places, something is bound to happen—either directly to us, or to someone close enough to sear this truth into our souls.

From an early age, Dean Rosnau found himself brushing shoulders with death, learning not only that the mountains are dangerous—but that life itself is dangerous, and that our actions can carry severe consequences. Looking at your friend’s body in a casket, and watching a fallen climber bleed out at the base of Bridalveil Falls all before the age of 10 would shape anyone. What Dean didn’t know at the time was that the world was preparing him for some of the most challenging, demanding, and ultimately rewarding years of his life: those spent on the Search and Rescue team for the Eastern Sierra.

Dean has since accumulated over 35 years of SAR work, recovered 66 bodies, and completed over 800 individual rescue missions—with more than 2.5 years of volunteer time spent away from his family, in the service of strangers.

And this… is his story.

We start part one of this conversation with Dean’s origin story—how he grew up as a young climber surrounded by legends like John Long, John Bachar, Bob Gaines, and Lynn Hill. We go into two very close calls that nearly cost Dean his life, and explore how we—not just as climbers, but as humans—can play safer in the mountains. We also discuss how we can aid search and rescue find our bodies… alive or dead… in the event that we go missing in the backcountry.

This is a deep—and at times heavy—conversation, with some stories and visuals that may not be appropriate for children. Please proceed with that in mind.

You’ll hear both Dean and I reference a book throughout this conversation: The Shortest Straw – Search and Rescue in the High Sierra. This is Dean Rosnau’s educational memoir of some of the cases he’s been involved in over his 35 years in SAR. While we reference a few of these stories here, this episode does no justice to reading the full thing. I highly encourage you to pick up a copy to truly understand the scope of Dean’s experience in the mountains.

You can find a link to the book HERE

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Resources

Dean's Book "The Shortest Straw: Search and Rescue in the High Sierra"

Dean's Website

Dean's IG

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. An Early Exposure to Death (00:03:20)

3. Early Years as a Climber (00:21:41)

4. Exposure to Climbing Legends (00:30:29)

5. EBGB's Close Call (00:41:02)

6. Lost Arrow Spire Epic (00:49:23)

7. A Path Laid Out Before You (01:08:45)

8. Abusing S.A.R. (01:30:40)

9. The Beginning of the End (01:35:51)