The all-volunteer search and rescue team is testing the wearable devices, which lift and propel a rescuer’s legs with every stride, on real missions in the Cascades.
SEATTLE — When someone gets lost or hurt in the rugged terrain of western Washington, every minute counts. Now, Seattle Mountain Rescue is testing technology that could shave critical time off a response: wearable exoskeletons that power a rescuer’s legs through the mountains.
The team is one of only two in the country using the devices — made by the company HyperShell — on actual missions. In just the past month, the exoskeletons have already been deployed three times in the field.
“If we can get to a subject a half an hour or an hour earlier, that could mean the difference between a positive and a negative outcome,” said Wes Cooper, advanced technology director for Seattle Mountain Rescue.
The device straps around a rescuer’s waist and legs. Once on, it senses the wearer’s movement, anticipates their next step and adds mechanical power in sync with every stride — reducing fatigue and helping small teams cover more ground, even in terrain where other tools like e-bikes cannot go.
Cooper described the sensation as unlike anything else. “It feels like a marionette, like you’ve got the invisible strings that pull your legs up,” he said.
Seattle Mountain Rescue has served the Cascades for more than 75 years as an all-volunteer organization, built on technical rope rescue, medical care, terrain management and patient evacuation. Cooper says more people are venturing into the outdoors than ever before, making the organization’s coverage area both more active and more demanding.
The exoskeletons are the latest in a growing technology toolkit that now includes e-bikes, drones, Starlink satellite communications for remote command posts, CalTopo real-time mapping software and artificial intelligence tools being explored for search planning and data analysis. E-bikes were added to the fleet last year to help teams reach people faster than on foot.
Cooper says the exoskeletons fill a gap those other tools cannot. “It will literally lift your leg up and then push down as you move,” he said, explaining how the device assists with each step.
For now, the team is in a testing phase, evaluating whether the technology holds up in real mountain conditions. If it does, HyperShell’s exoskeletons could become a permanent part of the team’s equipment and their partnership with the company would continue. The only other rescue team in the country currently using them operates in Utah.
The missions Seattle Mountain Rescue responds to, Cooper noted, have grown more complex over time. The goal, as always, remains the same: bring everyone home from the backcountry.
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