Posted on 12/13/2006 8:23:48 AM PST by george76
Three climbers stranded on blizzard-ravaged Mount Hood selected one of the most difficult approaches to the summit, a decision that is hampering rescue efforts.
The trio scaled the north side of the mountain, which offers a view of Mount Rainier but is treacherous, with slopes of 50 or 60 degrees and occasional sheer walls of ice.
For rescue crews, the site has been made even more forbidding by snow-laden winds rushing over the steep slopes at speeds up to 80 mph.
"Those are the strongest winds I've ever been in — knock you down, hands and knees," said Lindsay Clunes of Corvallis Mountain Rescue, one of the dozens of searchers who have been looking for the three climbers since last weekend.
Kelly James, Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke had planned a "quick climb" on Mount Hood, traveling light to make the ascent as fast as possible.
They had not been heard from since Sunday, when James called on his cell phone from a snow cave just below the summit. The Hood River County sheriff's office said it would mount another full effort early Wednesday.
Cooke, 36, a lawyer from New York City, and Hall, 37, a personal trainer who played for the now-defunct Dallas Rockets professional soccer team, are believed to have attempted a descent while James, 48, a landscape architect from Dallas, apparently remained near the summit.
Even if crews locate the missing climbers, bad weather may prevent them from climbing high enough to rescue them, said Deputy Pete Hughes, a sheriff's spokesman.
"The next 48 hours is not looking very good,"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
"It's all about time and weather," said Chris Guertin of the Hood River County sheriff's office, which has been coordinating the rescue effort
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_121306ORBmthoodclimbersLJ.621e59f.html
Taxpayers are most assuredly paying for this.
LEO's don't provide medical aid. You know that, so let's not get into it. Now, how many police officers does it take to "handle the media"? And what are they "handling"? Be specific.
And they are handling this situation, as opposed to dealing with their other tasks.
Again, what are they "handling"? I've never seen or heard of law enforcment being involved in mountain rescue. They have no training in it either, so it seems they;d just be in the way.
No, but I gave up being a loser Libertarian 20 years ago.
It was reported one of them has a phone, he called his Dad, but has not been heard from since. The cell company keeps pinging his phone, it is on, but no one answers.
I just don't like liars and deniers of truth. Law enforcement IS working on this.
Fair enough. They're operating in a coordinating role for the mountain rescue teams. Which makes sense since the Oregon Emergency Management office designates all county sheriffs as head of that county's search and rescue.
Now, are you crying about the 5 days salary for the sheriff and a couple of subordinates to get involved in this. What would it be? $2,000 or $3,000?
I notice that Hood River County has a full time Marine Officer for rescuing kayakers and windsurfers from the Hood River.
FWIW, I don't care. If they weren't doing this they wouldn't be on payroll? This is part of what a sheriff's dept does. If they weren't doing Search and Rescue, they'd be training to do Search and Rescue. Those kinds of costs, like the war in Iraq costs, need to be compared to the cost of them doing something ~else~, not calculated in a vacuum as if there'd be no cost but for this event.
Not crying about anything. You were just posting an OBVIOUS untruth. Law enforcement IS working this deal. The volunteers are extremely valuable...but you were negating my peeps.
Glad you figgerd it out....
How dare you call me a liar. I clearly said they "should not" be involved.
I stand corrected on that point, but my discussion from the get-go has been about the mountain rescue team, not about the coordinators of the effort (which apparently is the case in Oregon, all county sheriffs run county search and rescue efforts).
Regardless, don't change the topic, the tax expecnditure is trivial in a county with a $150 million school budget.
What is that? 25 cents per taxpayer? 10 cents?
What is your problem? I said "should not be". If they have a "coordinating" role by Oregon statute then I stand corrected and edified. It is not done that way in other states.
Sure it is. I have NEVER ONCE heard of a rescue mission where local/state law enforcement have not been involved.
Give me a break, motorists in trouble and pregnant women don't usually take the unecessary risk of climbing Mt Hood in bad weather with hurricaine level gusts of wind and record setting percipitation. Stupid is as stupid does.
Thanks for the ping!
Only one climber, the possibly injured one, is in a snow cave, near the summit. The other two headed down the mountain to get help. Who knows what their situation is.
Good job at trying to educate those that refuse to learn. Those that argue so long against you, have probably never had a great moment in the country. They are the great "what iffers" and freedom robbers, they don't even know of the role they play into. I've also seen some other great freepers that are stand up supporters of freedom here.
By the way, the rescue teams in this area are always soliciting public funds and also receive some money from the county.
• NEW: Searchers no longer hear a signal from one missing climber's cell phone
• NEW: Weather keeps search for missing climbers below 7,000 feet
• One climber believed to be in a snow cave at 10,000 feet, out of rescuers' reach
• A new snowstorm is expected Thursday
from CNN
Parks need to issue all visitors (including Al Gore) GPS systems so they can be tracked in the event that they get themselves lost.
It is reckless to expect others to risk their lives over irresponsible behavior. Climb if you must but take along ALL the appropriate gear (including communications).
Yeah, this is really looking stupid. They didn't have accesss to a weather report showing the storm coming in off the Pacific from 1,000 miles away? Then they leave a note at a Ranger shack saying they're "travelling light" on the ascent as the storm is approaches? It's like hearing of 3 "experienced fishermen" rowing a skiff out to sea before a hurricane. Something ain't right here.
Then wouldn't they have sent another cell phone call during the recent weather lull? Is it reasonable that 3 experienced climbers would schedule their climb to coincide with the onset of a well-forecasted severe storm?
Not that I'm disagreeing with you but perhaps they're 'laying low' in Mexico.
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.