Awards presented to Grand County Search and Rescue members

Erinn Looney-Triggs, a member of Grand County Search and Rescue (GCSAR) since 2016, was named 2018 Member of the Year at the annual awards banquet at Red Cliffs Lodge on Dec. 14.  

Looney-Triggs, a technical rope rescue specialist, worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service in Yosemite, Denali and Zion national parks before moving to Moab. He responded to 58 percent of GCSAR’s 112 incidents in 2018.

Micah Johnson, who recently completed his yearlong trainee period with GCSAR, was named Rookie of the Year. He responded to 72 percent of GCSAR’s paged incidents in 2018 and has been instrumental in maintaining the fleet of vehicles used by GCSAR, according to commander Jim Webster, who presented the awards.

Nadi Ardalan received the 2018 Commander’s Award. Ardalan, technical rope rescue captain, joined GCSAR in 2011 and has been the top responder for several years, with 544 total responses since joining.

“Nadi devoted a considerable amount of time this year to improving and expanding our technical rope rescue team and its capabilities,” Webster said.

Ceremony acknowledges crew members’ responding to technical incidents

“Nadi devoted a considerable amount of time this year to improving and expanding our technical rope rescue team and its capabilities.”