Meet Jason Ramsdell
Get to know the heart and soul of Rescue And Mountain Skills School. Learn about Jason's extensive background, passion for education, and vision for providing top-tier outdoor skills training.
Your Lead Instructor and Owner
Jason Ramsdell is a 30-year veteran of the National Park Service, having worked in 14 national park areas. He spent the majority of his career as an expert in professional emergency services and is considered one of the foremost educators of technical rope rescue in the country. For nearly 20 years he was a lead instructor and eventually course coordinator for the highly recognized and esteemed National Park Service Basic Technical Rescue Course (West) located in Moab, Utah. Besides instructing and leading professional training, he has performed over 500 rescues in the national parks over his career, many of them challenging technical rescues. He is a contributor to the National Park Service Basic Technical Rescue Manual, one of the premiere technical rescue manuals in the country.
He is also an expert in wilderness Search Management, and was one of the last NPS instructors to continue the NPS tradition of search management instruction across the country. He is a contributor to the NASAR Managing the Lost Person Incident manual re-write and is considered a foremost expert on Search Management theory and instruction, including managing dozens of real world large scale searches in wilderness environments.
Jason is also a highly experienced Advanced EMT since 2007, and an EMT since 1996. He has hundreds of patient contacts in challenging wilderness settings and continues to work part time on in a rural ambulance service. His passion for teaching and wilderness medicine lead him to upgrade his certifications to a NOLS Wilderness EMT and is now a NOLS Wilderness Medicine Instructor. Jason also served three years as an active member and officer in the local search and rescue team, one of the busiest in the state.
Besides 30 years of real world technical rescue and EMS experience, his passion is in education and professional instruction. He has been a professional trainer for hundreds of students, for thousands of hours in a wide range of disciplines including, Technical Rope Rescue, EMS, Search Management, Structure Fire, Navigation, Incident Management, Wilderness Travel, Mountaineering, Survival, and dozens of other outdoor professional and recreational skills.
Real World Experience
In addition to his decades of professional SAR and EMS career, Jason is an experienced mountaineer who has completed many major climbs in the US and abroad, including summiting Denali twice—once as part of a 30-day NPS High Mountain Rescue Patrol—and culminating his climbing career in 2023 by a successful summit of Mount Everest.
"I started RAMSS to pass on skills to others, gained from a 30-year career of professional emergency services. My passion is to educate others so they gain confidence and skills in outdoor professional and recreational pursuits."
Jason Ramsdell, Lead Instructor and Owner