PRINEVILLE, OR -- With more snow in the mountains this year, the Crook County Sheriff’s Office has seen a huge uptick in Search and Rescue Missions. Lt. Mitch Madden tells KBND News nearly every call-out is related to a driver who went too far into the backcountry, "They’re encountering deep pockets of snow and, rather than trusting that voice in the back of their head and not proceeding, they’re going forward and ultimately getting stuck in the snow and needing help." He says the last few years brought little snow to the Ochocos, "But this year, there is a little more snow out in the Ochoco Mountains. That, coupled with people wanting to get out and explore the public lands, is a contributing factor."

Early Sunday morning, eight SAR volunteers rescued four people stranded in the Mill Creek/Harvey Gap area. Sunday evening, 11 deployed to the Frog Pond area (pictured) for one person. And the team’s 15th mission since January first was Monday in the Maury Mountains. "Normally, we’ll have a handful of missions this time of year," says Madden, "But this has really doubled, if not tripled the call volume for this time of year." And, he adds, they will continue to respond, "When we have a stranded motorist, especially in the snow and the cold weather, we still have an obligation to go out and rescue them, to prevent any further injury from happening." Drivers must then arrange for a tow to rescue the vehicle. According to the Sheriff's Office, the subjects of this winter's missions have been a mix of people from the Prineville area, Deschutes County and outside of Central Oregon.

Lt. Madden says SAR volunteers have logged around a hundred hours on these missions and in some cases, put their own life on the line, "They do a phenomenal job with the mission at hand, and also given the dangerous situation." Madden urges everyone to turn around when they encounter deep snow.