145
Yes, 145 is used by Gendarmerie and Securite Civile in French Alps - including Chamonix (Mont Blanc) area, but their operating weights are way different from REGAs 145, that is why in Switzerland EC 145 is considered as unsuitable for high (Swiss criteria for high is a bit different than most of us) mountains. They do HEMS operations, meaning a lot of stuff is taken on board, compared with Gendarmerie... which is more SAR style in high mountains. And don`t forget they had two fatal chrashes in high altitude with 145 (both in the same area) that were (this is rumor!) related with performance limits (tail rotor authority/LTE)
Agree that EC 145 is good HEMS and hoist rescue platform - but not too high. I had a chance to try it in Zermatt area few months ago and was positively surprised on performance, as I also always thought of EC 145 as underpowered machine for mountain ops.
Once 429 is flying around with hoist it will give a run for money to 145 methinks, as it will be cheaper and relatively more powerful than 145.
REGA is - from what I have seen during several visits - a very professionally run organisation and reasonably well funded too - almost every second adult Swiss is a supporter (patron) of REGA! So it has a very good reputation and people are queueing for the job.
Good luck with your dreamjob!
hoistop