Kintail MRT’s legendary communications officer Jim Fraser has been recognised for his long and dedicated service to mountain rescue in Scotland.

Jim was presented with a Distinguished Service Award by Scottish Mountain Rescue at their annual conference in March 2026 for his outstanding contribution over 37 years with the team, as well as for his wider work supporting and improving relationships with Search and Rescue helicopter services.

A spokesperson for Scottish Mountain Rescue said: “Jim’s dedication, expertise and integrity have had a lasting impact not only within his own team, but across the whole of Scottish Mountain Rescue.

“His work, particularly in strengthening our aviation partnerships, has directly contributed to better outcomes for casualties throughout Scotland. We are immensely grateful for his service.”

Team leader Lara Hinde submitted the nomination for Jim, suggesting it was overdue because it had taken so long to gather all the information about his contribution to mountain rescue over the past nearly four decades.

Lara’s nomination for Jim states: “For the past 37 years Jim has been an active member of Kintail MRT and has contributed at committee level for most of that time. As well as hill skills, Jim brought an engineering background to the team and rapidly established himself as the obvious choice for the team’s communications officer.

“The past three decades have seen this role expand from managing a few radio sets, to setting up vehicles and vehicle masts, computers, telecoms and the team’s first website, satphones and now satellite and 4G communications, the plethora of mapping and tracking systems, phone apps, SARCALL and our new control vehicle.

“He’s turned his hand to this with enthusiasm and also with great patience in explaining it all to the rest of us! He may be one of the longest-serving comms officers in MR and his perspective and knowledge of the history of these things is a valuable asset in ‘sense-checking’ new technology.”

Jim also served for many years in the RAF and his passion for aviation is well known throughout the mountain rescue fraternity in Scotland and beyond.

He has played a pivotal role at a national level in Scottish Mountain Rescue through his longstanding work in maintaining and strengthening the vital relationships between Mountain Rescue Teams and Search and Rescue helicopter operators - initially with the RAF and Royal Navy, and more recently with HM Coastguard and Bristow.

He has also represented SMR at ICAR (International Commission for Alpine Rescue) at least twice.

Lara said: “Jim’s deep-rooted commitment to operational excellence has seen him build and sustain strong working ties with helicopter crews across the UK. Jim stays consistently informed about the evolving landscape of air rescue, enabling him to ask informed and often challenging questions of service providers.

“His focus is unwaveringly on the needs of the casualty, with little regard for bureaucratic or contractual constraints, and he is relentless in holding helicopter operators to account to ensure the highest standards of service are delivered to Scottish Mountain Rescue and its teams.”

Jim is also credited with supporting SMR is other areas, from helping to develop a funding formula to troubleshooting the rollout of radios, and then digital radios, to teams.

“While Jim is a very well-known face in the MR community, he has never sought prestige or self-aggrandisement,” Lara added. “While passionate and certainly opinionated, he can be relied upon to put the good of the team as well as the national MR community before himself.”

John Peden of Oban MRT and Bill Glennie of Tweed Valley MRT also received the Distinguished Service Award from Scottish Mountain Rescue in 2026.