RTR Staff & Instructors

Reed Thorne has been involved in the teaching of techniques relative to the 'vertical realm' since the early 1970's. In Southern California, his first activities dealing with rope were with the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter (Orange County Group) where Reed became a Hundred Peak, Rock Climbing and Mountaineering Section leader through training with the Sierra Club's Leadership Section. He eventually moved into rope rescue instruction under nationally-recognized US National Park SAR ranger, Butch Farabee, at the Grand Canyon in Arizona between the years of 1981 and 1986. Butch is credited with having shaped Reed's early years as a rope instructor.

In 1989, Reed was also instrumental in the preliminary testing of belay techniques alongside John Dill of Yosemite SAR and Arnör Larson of the British Columbia Council of Technical Rescue in BC, Canada. These tests still remain some of the most extensive ever attempted by a volunteer team of lay-researchers, the results of which were published in Response Magazine in the highly acclaimed 1990 article "Are You Really On Belay?" by John Dill. Many of Reed's hand-drawn illustrations accompanied this article.

Jayne Thorne is the president of Ropes That Rescue Limited in Northern Arizona. She has a number of administrative duties at the company and just retired from a long 37 year career in nursing. 

Jayne has accompanied Reed on several of his training excursions around the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Jayne loves to travel to France and is currently learning the language. 

Mike Green is a Captain with the Montgomery County (Maryland) Fire and Rescue Department where he is currently the Station Commander of Fire Station 29. This station is one of two technical rescue stations, and houses the heavy rescue unit he rides and helped his department design.  He is also a member of Maryland Task Force 1, a FEMA US&R Team, where he serves as the Assistant Rescue Team Manager.  Although involved with many disciplines of technical rescue, Mike enjoys technical rope rescue very much.  He has taught thousands of hours of technical rescue courses for his own department and technical rescue team, the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, FEMA’s US&R program, and at other venues.  Prior to becoming an official instructor for RTR, he acted as an assistant in a number of courses.  He credits much of his success in rope rescue to Reed Thorne, owner of RTR, and also Kirk Mauthner (of British Columbia), both of whom he has studied extensively with over the past 25+ years.