Posted on 12/18/2006 8:47:53 AM PST by george76
A missing climber found dead in a snow cave on Mount Hood was identified as a Dallas man who had placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family said Monday.
Searchers found the cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from Kelly James, who made a four-minute call to his family Dec. 10 just below the summit, said Jessica Nunez, a spokeswoman for the climber's family.
On Monday, a recovery team was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain over night because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve. The search for two other climbers also was to resume on the treacherous north side of Oregon's highest mountain.
His body was found in a second snow cave near the first, about 300 feet below the summit. Rescuers found two ice axes, a sleeping bag or pad and rope in the first. It was not known if any gear was in the second cave.
Monday's search would center on possible descent routes on Eliot Glacier and Cooper Spur, relatively lower levels of the mountain, in case the other two got down that far...
"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said Monday. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."
Searchers dug through the first cave to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues. The second cave with the climber's body was found a short time later.
It was not immediately clear which cave was occupied first, or why or when the climber, or climbers, decided to move from it.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Sorry for the roughness of my press conference summary, trying to get it out quickly.
Probably done with C130, infrared doesn't penetrate snow caves well. They don't think the climbers walked down, no evidence of that. They believe there was an accident.
Families are "a mess" waiting to hear news about their loved ones.
First snow cave, they spent a lot of time building, probably used a shovel, built very well, accommodated all 3 climbers.
He was testing his survival skills and he failed. Lesson learned?
Team will land on summit in helicopter. They plan to climb down from summit to the body, then retrieve it and haul it up to summit, where helicopter will bring it down.
Does anyone know how much food and propane these three took with them?
They might be elite Liberals (whitewater kayakers, etc.) who value their privacy and own the entire planet, but took a dare and a chance on becoming very, very public. Are they Liberals?
Some new and interesting info from this morning's news conference above.
Sounds like James was one of the two climbers who hiked over the summit and made the second snow cave. So, who was left in the first cave, or maybe fell leaving the other two alone?
Another presser at 2:00 local time.
We agree.
While I sympathazise with the families-especially at Christmas- it's too bad the climbers didn't think about their loved ones more than the adrenaline rush flirting with danger gave them.
Make no mistake, it is tempting fate, risking death, that makes people do this. They didn't have to die. They didn't have to climb ANOTHER mountain. Eventually danger-junkies know their luck will run out, but their arrogance makes them tempt fate.
It is NOT the same as risking your life to settle a new country, or defend it, or doing dangerous -but necessary- jobs.
These men thought they could overcome nature, and did it for the thrill of saying they could. They were wrong, just as others before them were wrong. Self-centered, senseless deaths. I pity them, because they threw away useful, productive lives to do something that didn't have to be done.
And I pity their families who know that.
The GPS radios can track almost anywhere...hiking, climbing, jeeping, skiing...
Many believe that it is a good idea to carry one in your car, too.
The above have a range of 2 to 5 miles...?
Seperately, there are satelitte radios and beacons that can be heard by aircraft, etc.
I am not an expert on the current technology, but I have carried rescue beacons on the ocean well beyond the sight of land. Never needed it, but it could have been activated manually or by the salt water.
There are other options, too.
They were? This is new information to me - can you provide a link?
Thanks.
The sherrif did a good job.
I am glad to see that he is being careful with the searchers safety.
You make several good points.
The weather has stopped me many times.
The old expression : ' the mountain will still be there tomorrow ' comes to mind.
I can't help but notice that they not only risked their lives, but they risked the happiness and futures of the people who cared about them.
The mother of the Brooklyn lawyer has clearly lost her sanity due to her grief - some of the quotes from her in the paper should not have been printed, it's not fair to quote someone whose mind has snapped.
The helicopter may drop off the recovery team on the summit, but the team may prefer to descend by themselves on the ground.
Walking off the mountain under one's own power is often prefered.
That said, my heart goes out to the families of these men. It's very hard to lose a loved one who is healthy and in the prime of life.
Good point.
The media should leave the families alone.
Hopefully the families can be granted some space.
It's easy to judge or prejudge another person's decision before having all of the facts.
But I wonder how many hunters on FR, still go hunting despite all of the fatalities involved in hunting.
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