Ever since the first Air Zermatt rescue in 1968, the sight of one of their shiny red helicopters has been a great relief to thousands of mountaineers, trekkers, skiers, climbers, workers and others at the most desperate moments in their life. I am hanging around in their helibase, hitching a ride as they go out on missions. As usually, peace comes with me and the number of missions is way less I am told than normally. Still its the busiest SAR base I have been to. As we go from mission to mission I try to put myself in the right places for the best shots and find, yet again, that I tend to go for emotions, action, connection and that human element. And I find some of these moments in the professional and relaxed attitude of Air Zermatt rescue specialists. Being one of the busiest mountain rescue team in the world, the crews, consisting of a pilot, a doctor and a paramedic along with professional mountain guides as needed, work together like a well oiled machine and my presence doesn't seem to affect the way the go about their work in any way. Their status as leaders in helicopter SAR has made them a target for us wanting to document their work so I am guessing they are used to the attention. Yet they go about it in a very humble way, willing to do what they can to enable me to get the right shot. I feel honored and thankful for their hospitality and hope to be able to visit again. Because although I did manage to freeze a few nice frames in my two days there, the image that I had in my head when I arrived, still remains to be shot.
