UKC

Hi Folks

If memory serves correctly. There was a thread on UKC a few years ago about a fantasist who made up his own Search and Rescue identity. Had badges and teeshirts printed, used to hang out in outddorsy shops in Yorkshire? Eventually got rumbled when he took some novices caving and broke a girls legs.

May have been called Andrew something or other and I think his made up outfit was called International Search and Rescue or something similar.

The reason I ask - I was in Betws on Sunday and a bloke was wondering down the street with a strange teeshirt with a big logo on the front and something about Extreme Search and Rescue on the back and he had a big leather Ray Mears type hat on. Most MRT folk I know may wear a discreet badge or their work waterproof on occasions, but this guy just really reminded me of the old UKC post - did I imagine it or was he real and was the chap I saw in Betws, the dangerous fantasist still at large?

In reply to David Hooper:

Andrew Moorhouse - he was real and I remember those threads

In reply to EddInaBox:

Also reminded me of that guy who came on last year with his 'rap-running' company... he seemed rather odd and got a certain amount of stick

In reply to David Hooper:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=80992

In reply to David Hooper: Thanks for the links - did I see Andrew? (cue Twilight Zone music)

In reply to David Hooper: that would be me, mate. Clue's in my username

In reply to David Hooper: http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20040224223305/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/...

In reply to David Hooper:

awesome, a fake S&R organization. no doubt the guys SAS as well.
theres one in every pub, tho they seem to be allowed to let their fitness levels go somewhat when they are selected for secret assassination duty...

as it goes, i had contect with a similar US group called 1SRG - google them.
total fantasists (the usual spurious ex-special forces rubbish) who actually DO get called out, internationally too.
too much thunderbirds as kids???

my contact with this lot was as part of a genuine rope access team contacted thru the US embassy in japan to retrieve the body of a US citizen, and 1 SRG had been in before, did the tracking but deemed it too difficult to access (they are ex-seals or whatever...?) so sent us their report.

when we arrived things were totally different (we could do much of the access without ropes even!) and there was no body where these 'experts' had 'tracked' him to. rock type, formation, vertical heights, access, vegetation, required equipment etc were all wrong in the report, and the locals on the team said they were consistantly ridiculous. they failed to mention 2 100m waterfalls directly within 300m of the search zones epicentre - suggesting they never stepped off the trail...
and they had charged the family $$$.
also, they fail to mention the whole thing on their 'mission' report on their site (the others are all dubious as well).

so, Extreme Search & Rescue.....bit absurd by the sounds of it.

I remember meeting the guy (Andrew Moorehouse) about 4 years ago in a caving hut. He was talking a lot of bull then. His girlfriend seemed to be in on the fantasy too. Either that or she was seriously naiive, poor girl.

The accident was down P8 in Derbyshire if I remember right.

In reply to David Hooper:

Always interesting these sorts of guys, I remember meeting one in Lambeth bin depot about 15 years ago, ex army seems to be a common theme.

In reply to The New NickB:

Yep the guy on the Rap Jumping UK thread a year or so back was of a similar ilk - but luckily pursued by MLTUK, HSE and AALS.

There seems to be a common theme of made up ex forces background and running around providing "extreme" outdoor activities and its always extreme) in a bumbling unconciously incompetent manner.

They make up or lie about qualifications that some of us have worked hard for years to obtain.

The behaviour pattern almost has the symptoms of a recognisable syndrome of some sort.

In reply to The New NickB:

Or so they claim.

In reply to David Hooper:

If I was fascinated by a fantasist that I may even consider starting a thread about it all. That if I did get to see him in the real, I'd just have to go and have a chinwag with him about the price of fish and all that stuff. As you see I got used to the strange looks that some folk like to give you a long time ago, when I was going thorough the homeless ex squadie phase, and a chat with a fellow fellow from the land of make believe would be just another normals days event.... bless ;+)

In reply to Rockmonkey680:

The few that I have met have usually served a few years, but have either been medically discharged and / or spent their time as a stores clerk of stiring soup.

In reply to David Hooper:

most of the fulltime rescue guys i work with come from non-military backgrounds - international mountain guides, paramedics/emts, surf life saving, disaster relief and industrial access.
theres been a few reservists, but not many military except in admin/co-ord.
that kind of tough guy 'extreme dude' personality isnt all that valuable.

theres usually the odd gung-ho personality, but those that cant back it up with quality work tend not to progress - the boredom, red-tape and emotional stuff gets to them.
really, i think the military is a lot easier to get into.

not surprising really - other jobs for ex-military types with the required qualifications pay far far better than technical rescue.

In reply to ice.solo:

Are you saying all ex- forces are tough guy 'extreme dudes'?

Based upon what? Which of the 147+ jobs and trades in the Army do you specifically mean? Bio-Medical Scientist, Communication Systems Engineer, Ammunition Technician? Which one? or all of them?

For a website contributed to by a number of clearly erudite people it continually astounds me how many people have such a stereotypical view of soldiers based upon "It aint alf hot Mum" and what they read in the press. I find the generalising and pigeon-holing of a group of over 100,000 individuals irksome.

In reply to smollett:



It was Giant's Hole (around 2003/4); he almost did for his then girlfriend too.

His name crops up in the Eldon every now and again.

In reply to Rockmonkey680:

get over it will you.

im referring to the 'tough guy' wannabes who pretend they are commandos and try and get into rescue to make up for not being in the military - like the guy the post appears to be about.

sorry if you think this is about you.

and yes, general entry to the military i believe is easier than entry into technical rescue. you dont need trauma first responder, level 3 rope tech, swiftw*ter 3, helivac, rescomm and advanced spinal certifications just to get a look in.

its the 'extreme dude' wannabe hero profile this post is poking fun at, of course i realize there are fluid dynamicists and aerospace engineers who dont fit the category.

based on what?
based on having done both.

yes the generalizing and stereotyping of military folk is boring and irksome - but so is the ex-forces 'you dont know what its like' bleating as well.
ive been there too. getting into s&r put that into perspective. some of these guys know just what its like plus some.

now can we get back to ripping apart mr fake-rescue-ninja-bear grylls..?

In reply to ice.solo:


^^^ What he said...

In reply to ice.solo:

Certainly..you seem to have realised the error of your generalisation and added a little belated clarification..Now jog on

In reply to JoshOvki:

What I said to him

In reply to Rockmonkey680: when I was in the Elite secret commando service....