Kate Matrosova was a highly experienced hiker from Southern Siberia, Russia. She came to

America on a student visa and successfully graduated with a masters degree in Financial

Engineering. Though she worked for many firms on Wall Street, she also had a passion for the

outdoors. She had a passion for climbing big mountains such as Kilimanjaro and McKinley, and

was an active marathon runner. At 32 years old, she hiked the Presidential Mountain Range of

the White Mountains in New Hampshire carrying light gear for a day hike. Unfortunately, she

never made it out alive. The weather conditions reached -85F and 141 MPH winds. Rescue

teams attempted to reach her after she activated her communications device, but to no avail.

Kate Matrosova was discovered a day later.

Ty Gagne is the CEO of Primex, a public entity risk pool based in New Hampshire, and is also a

certified wilderness first responder. He wrote the book Where You’ll Find Me about Kate’s

experiences and those who were a part of her recovery. In this podcast, he interviewed Wayne

and asked him about his experiences as a supervisor over the search and rescue mission for

Kate.

Lieutenant Mark Ober is the Lieutenant for District 1 with the New Hampshire Fish and Game.

He frequently responds to hikers in distress and develops search and rescue missions to find

them. He is also a member of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Dive Team. In this episode,

he discusses the mission to find Kate, the difficulties surrounding it, and his role as a supervisor.

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Here's What We Discuss:

- Guest interviewer: Ty Gagne

- The best learning is from the ground up

- The game warden is in charge of the search and rescue

- Pass on shortcuts

- Own up to your decisions

- Wind is a huge factor

- Dragging my feet based on my instincts

- Don’t call me at night - I don’t sleep

- Continuation of interview with Mark Ober

- Constantly on the phone

- Ordered a command post

- 5am to 8am is peak prepare time

- Many acronyms in search and rescues

- Would have never reached Kate safely

- Intent is key

- Everything was in her pack, not blown away

- Sunny day, whiteout on the mountain peaks

- There's more people like Kate

- I made mistakes that other people made

- Continuation of Wayne’s interview

- No intention of going home

- Command posts were rocking from the wind

- Great relationships with local departments

- It's easy to look at a map and make assignments

- Even highly skilled people can get in trouble

Credits

Hosts: Wayne Saunders and John Nores

Producer: Jay Ammann

Social Media/Marketing: Morgan Day

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