Soaring With SSAR

Have You Ever Had The Opportunity To Float On Clouds?

By Maniesha Harper

Cristina Moga and Thomas Fields are film students of The Art Institute of Phoenix.  They are also part of the film crew of “Rock The Boat.”

 They had the greatest opportunity in their lives — floating on clouds with the Superstition Search & Rescue Team in Superstition, Ariz.!  SSAR thought it would be a wonderful idea to allow these two hard-driven film students to join them during their day of training and rescuing. That training included riding on a helicopter! Yes, Cristina and Thomas had an opportunity to fly with the heroes.

Check out Thomas with his handy dandy camera. He is shooting everything in sight while floating in mid-air; his sidekick Cristina is focused on taking still shots. 

This was the first time Cristina and Thomas had ever flown in a helicopter.  Thomas described his experience as not a bumpy, but smooth, soft, roller-coaster ride.  Who would have ever thought a roller-coaster ride would be smooth and not bumpy?

 “It felt like I was floating on clouds,” said Cristina.  “That helicopter ride was one heck of an experience!”

While in the middle of nowhere, they could hear coyotes howling throughout. The experience was like a mini-vacation for the two students. 

Superstition Search & Rescue treated Cristina and Thomas like superstars! Maybe that is a little exaggerated, but hey, Cristina and Thomas stayed in a camper with electricity and running water.  You can’t get it better than that at the base of the Superstitions!

Cristina and Thomas learned how involved the training process is for SSAR in order to be successful at what they love to do.  “Superstition Search & Rescue treated us like we were a part of their team; it was a great experience,” said Cristina.  

Even though there were not many exciting emergency calls (a good thing, of course), Cristina and Thomas both agreed that spending the weekend with SSAR was the best experience they had ever had.

Wow — floating on clouds, riding a helicopter rollercoaster, and taking a mini- vacation, these students had it made in the shade!

If you would like more information about the Superstition Search & Rescue heroes, check out their Web site: www.superstition-sar.org. If you want to “catch the commotion” of Rock-The-Boat, log on to www.rtboat.com.