Posted on 12/17/2006 7:53:05 AM PST by george76
Fervent hopes and a brief break in the weather brought no satisfaction to relatives and friends of three climbers missing on the dangerous north side of Mount Hood.
The clear, cold morning turned foul by midday Saturday, before searchers on two sides of the mountain and helicopter crews retired for the night because of weather and darkness, finding no trace of the three men.
The Hood River County sheriff's office, a lead agency in the search, said efforts would continue Sunday.
On Saturday, a C-130 with infrared heat-seeking capability from the Nevada Air National Guard took to the skies over Mount Hood for a second day and was to continue around the clock with alternating crews.
After that, "we'll have to see," said Sheriff Joe Wampler.
Cold also hobbled rescue efforts, as some searchers on the north side had to come down because of facial frostbite.
The temporary weather break paved the way for the biggest push yet since the three men, two Texans and a New Yorker, were reported missing a week ago Sunday on what was to have been a quick climb of the 11,239-foot peak.
Ground searchers reported visibility as low as 20 feet as 50 mph winds kicked soft snow into a near-whiteout mist.
"It wasn't quite the dream picture we had hoped for today. But there is the chance tomorrow...
Before dawn, 25 rescue mountaineers began making their way up the south side and another 30 started from the north side, Wampler said. Both teams started at about 6,000 feet.
"I know my son's coming down today," said Lou Ann Cameron of Bryant, Ark., mother of Kelly James...
"It's my birthday. He wouldn't miss my birthday," ...
"The mountain has no right to keep our sons."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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.
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