Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with technical rope access issues, snow, avalanches, ice, crevasses, glaciers, alpine environments and high altitudes. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted in the development of a number of specific pieces of equipment and techniques. Helicopters are often used to quickly extract casualties, and search dogs may be deployed to find a casualty.

Mountain rescue services may be paid professionals or volunteer professionals. Paid rescue services are more likely to exist in places with a high demand such as the Alps, national parks with mountain terrain and many ski resorts. However, the labor-intensive and occasional nature of mountain rescue, along with the specific techniques and local knowledge required for some environments, means that mountain rescue is often undertaken by voluntary teams. These are frequently made up of local climbers and guides. Often paid rescue services may work in co-operation with voluntary services. For instance, a paid helicopter rescue team may work with a volunteer mountain rescue team on the ground. Mountain rescue is often free, although in some parts of the world rescue organizations may charge for their services. But there are also exceptions, e.g. Switzerland, where mountain rescue is highly expensive (some 2,000 to US$4,000) and will be charged to the patient. In more remote or less-developed parts of the world organized mountain rescue services are often negligible or non-existent.

Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst (ÖBRD) performs mountain rescue operations in the Austrian Alps and in Waldviertel.

Alpiner Rettungsausschuß Wien (ARAW) was founded in 1896 after an avalanche on Rax killed three mountaineers. In 1938 the organization was merged with the Deutsche Bergwacht. In 1946 (after World War II) the Austrian Mountain Rescue Service was (re)founded as Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst.

Due to its mountainous terrain, following the Second World War, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw a need for the development and organization of a modern-day equivalent of the mountain rescue service. The first mountain rescue "station", which consisted of professionally trained and semi-professional volunteers was founded in 1952 in Sarajevo and is the oldest continuously-functioning organization of such type in the present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the need arose even further, stations in additional cities were established as well. The Bosnian Mountain Rescue Union, although existent, acts merely as a supervisory-organization, as each station acts and finances itself independently, mostly relying on their distinguished municipal offices of Civil Defense.

In the five mountain national parks of the Canadian Rockies, mountain rescue is solely the responsibility of Parks Canada's visitor safety rescue specialists.

Large areas in all Canadian national parks do not have reliable two-way radio or cellular coverage. The use of SOS, satellite phone or two-way communicating send devices like Garmin InReach or SPOT is recommended.^{[by whom?]}

There is no charge to park visitors who require help as search and rescue costs are part of the visitor's park entrance fee. Parks Canada visitor safety specialists also manage highway avalanche control programs and publish a daily public avalanche bulletin between November and May.