High in mountainous, snow-covered backcountry, mountain guides are the experienced climbers who save lives and keep the mountains safe for everyone to enjoy.

The perilous high country sees its share of rescue operations from storms, rock slides, avalanches, and climbers affected by hypothermia, hunger, or thirst. Ski and Mountain guides like Williams Mathews Brooks are trained and equipped to be the guardian angels in the high altitudes. One of the most important pieces of equipment that they use is a rescue sled.

A sled is invaluable on the snow covered mountains tops for moving men, injured or sick people, and supplies as well. They are an integral part of mountain climbing and they have a unique history and development all of their own.

Need For Change

Back when Mr. Matt Brooks was an aspirant guide, or a guide in training, he used the original Sonde rescue ski sled. Rescues sleds at this point were both bulky and heavy, which is definitely not a good set of traits when climbing and skiing mountains. The sled when packed up weighed over 5 pounds and was the size of a children’s sleeping bag. It might not sound like much, but every pound is important on a climb and every piece of gear needs to be stowed away to leave the hands free. William Brooks, even as a guide in training, had to devise a better rescue sled both for his benefit and the benefit of all climbers and guides.

The Brooks-Range Sled

It was after this experience that the Matt Brooks Brooks-Range sled was born. William Mathews Brooks first goal was to reduce the weight of the sled system and reduce its size for easier stowing in a climber’s gear. The original Rescue Sled and its stretcher bars were the Backcountry Mountaineering Rescue Sled and Backcountry Stretcher Bars.

This first design got the weight to 36 ounces, down from 80 ounces and the overall size to 5 inches by 18 inches by 3 inches when stowed. Even the first sled that Mr. William Brooks designed was half the size of the models of the time. The slots on the sled’s bars were designed to fit any ski commonly used in mountaineering in the backcountry, and every year they were tested against new designs. From here, the sled system only got better.

Refinement and Improvement

William Brooks has improved his sled system for over 10 years, adding refinements in performance and reductions in size and weight. The next major refinement came with the Brooks-Range Backcountry Shovels. These shovels performed double duty as they were telescoping shafts with built in slots, allowing the shovels to be disassembled into stretcher bars, combining two pieces of equipment into one. Climbers now could reduce a further eleven ounces from their loads by not having to carry the stretcher bars for their sleds and freeing up more room on their backs.

By 2008, William Brooks had developed a full line of sleds with further improvements and differentiation in product specifications to suit specific needs. The Pro sled came with collapsible, nesting bars that even further reduced their size and weight profile. The Ultralite sled is the most advanced package for its size, being approximately half the size of the improved Brooks-Range sled, at a minor cost in sturdiness. Overall, Matt Brooks has provided all climbers and skiers a great rescue sled that combines a small profile without having to sacrifice safety and rescue ability.