Posted on 12/17/2006 7:53:05 AM PST by george76
HOOD RIVER, Ore. -- None of the three missing climbers on Mount Hood were found in a snow cave near the mountain's peak, authorities said Sunday.
Rescuers who reached the cave found a sleeping bag, ice axes and rope, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.
ap plug
Wow, what a sad and infuriating story! God bless you for the work you've done.
My husband (spectre) told me that these men knew the dangers they were going into, and like you, there is a point where the risk and safety of the rescuers should be a priority even when it is their job to save others.
sw
The same motivations drive those men and women on that mountain right now. We were stationed in Seattle in 1995, when two National Park Rangers died in an attempt to rescue some climbers on Mt. Rainer. The news was all about the climbers, not about the Rangers.
Every hour we keep those people on the mountain and in the air we increase the odds against them.
' ...there are "fresh prints"...'
I wonder how fresh they are ?
After the hurricance force winds...month old prints may be frozen solid on rock outcroppings while Thursday's prints may be gone.
sw
Thank you.
This situation could have been resolved quickly as to GPS location. No, not some expensive and heavy radio : a lightweight T shirt with a transponder wire in the neck. With a simple organic battery it would respond to a precise, directed signal from a plane. This would also be of use to lost hunters, kidnapped or lost children. Why hasn't someone developed such a product and gotten it on the market? It would have saved these guys lives...
" There are some treacherous crevasses high on the south side route, let's hope they are not in those. "
These three apparently are strong experienced climbers, but they apparently have never climbed Mt. Hood and they did not have a guide.
I agree : hopefully they did not...
I was asking my husband about that sort of GPS tracking device...a chip perhaps.
It should be mandatory, IMHO.
sw
spent over 30 years in the Coast Guard.
I am hearing reports that it may have been a sleeping pad they found...not a sleeping bag. Seems to be some FOG OF NEWS on this item.
That may be true, but it isn't consistent with what I have previously read.
No, the cave they found was on the north side. About 300' below the summit.
There is alot of fog.
Some of it comes from the talking heads... Most do not know basic climbing terms nor concepts.
They constantly confuse basic terms like : hiking and climbing... never mind a discussion on the many different uses of different types of ice and snow axes.
running up and down stairs...from computer to TV.
I hope that info is the true story, rather than the first version.
I hope it was just the pad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.