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The trio were among a group of six people attempting to scale part of Colchuck Peak when the lead climber triggered the snow slide, according to local authorities. Four climbers were swept about 500 feet down the steep mountain, sheriff officials said. The three who died were a 60-year-old New York woman, a 66-year-old man from New Jersey and a 53-year-old Connecticut man, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said. A 56-year-old man from New York sustained non-life threatening injuries and was able to get down to the base camp. Two other survivors weren’t hurt, the sheriff’s office said. [Chelan County...

Tourism Department has issued Everest permits to 377 individuals so far, and the number is expected to rise close to 400.Nepal has introduced a quota system setting the maximum number of climbers that will be permitted to make an attempt on Everest in a desperate measure to prevent overcrowding on the world’s tallest peak as the country braces for a record number of mountaineers this season beginning May. Issuing a directive on Wednesday, the Department of Tourism said a specified number of mountaineers, selected on the basis of their climbing permit numbers, would be allowed to make attempts at...

A search team in the Indian Himalayas has spotted five bodies on the unnamed peak where eight climbers are believed to have gone missing a week ago. Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande told CNN Monday that the bodies appear to be partially buried in an avalanche on the peak in different locations. The bodies were identified following analysis of photographs taken by a helicopter that conducted an air survey of the area earlier in the day. The missing climbers -- four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and their Indian liaison officer -- went missing in the region of Nanda...

Eight members of a climbing expedition are dead and another is missing after a snowstorm at Nepal's Mount Gurja, police in the South Asian country said. The group -- five South Korean climbers and four Nepali guides -- were there to climb the Himalayan mountain. They were noted missing Friday when officials couldn't contact them, police said. .

GENEVA — An unexpected snowstorm coupled with high winds killed four climbers in the Swiss Alps and left five others in critical condition early Monday after they became trapped overnight and couldn’t reach shelter, officials said. A total of 14 hikers from France, Germany and Italy were left stranded in the Pigne d’Arolla region, police in southwestern Valais canton said. Authorities deployed seven helicopters as part of rescue efforts. The climbers were caught off-guard by high winds, snow and bitter cold, and were forced to spend the night outdoors, Valais police spokesman Markus Rieder said.

Newton (MA) police and firefighters teamed up tonight to arrest two men who may have been trying to climb a 1,000-foot radio tower on Chestnut Street in Newton. Ted Pendergast reports rescue crews arrived shortly before 9:30 p.m. Firefighters got the two men to the ground around 9:40 p.m. Boston Radio Watch reports it's the same tower from which a worker fell some 1,000 feet last October. It houses the main transmitters for SportsHub 98.5 and Jamn 94.5, as well as backup transmitters for a number of other local stations.

This year's Harry & Louise looks pretty effective.

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. - Three climbers who tumbled off a ledge on Mount Hood were taken away in an ambulance after they hiked down much of the state's highest peak with their rescuers — and a dog who may have saved their lives. "We're soaking wet and freezing," said one of two rescued women as she walked from a tracked snow vehicle to an ambulance. One of the women, whose name was not released, was taken to a Portland hospital and being treated for a head injury, said Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department. "She's going to...

Rescuers have begun climbing Mount Hood in an effort to find and help three climbers who slipped over a ledge near Illumination Saddle shortly before noon today. It's unknown how far down the mountain the climbers fell or how badly they are injured, said Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. Complicating the search: Snow and wind have created near-whiteout conditions. The climbers, whose identities were not immediately available, were in a party of eight people, Strovink said. Emergency dispatchers received a cell phone call for help from someone in the party, which is thought to be...

MOUNT HOOD, Oregon (CNN) -- Search-and-rescue coordinators assembled Sunday in near white-out conditions on Mount Hood in Oregon in an attempt to find eight climbers -- three of whom had fallen from a ledge, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement. The accident occurred at an altitude of more than 8,300 feet in the area of Illumination Saddle, said the office, which got news of the missing climbers at noon (3 p.m. ET). None of the three climbers who fell can be seen and none has communicated with the other five members of the party, who were...

Autopsy shows Mt. Hood climber not injured after all 04:59 PM PST on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 By kgw.com and AP Staff HOOD RIVER, Ore. -- Autopsy results Wednesday showed that Mt. Hood climber Kelly James, whose body was recovered Monday, was not injured as previously thought. AP Photo Brian Hall's sister, Angela Hall (left) and Sheriff Joe Wampler speak to the media. James did not have a dislocated shoulder as reported by authorities earlier this week. Furthermore, James' body showed no broken bones or injuries that would have prevented his mobility, according to the state medical examiner, Dr. Larry...

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...

The search to find two missing climbers alive on Mount Hood is over and it has now become a "recovery effort," Sheriff Joe Wampler said Wednesday. "We've done everything we can at this point," Wampler said. He made the remarks after personally piloting a Piper Cub over the 11,239-foot mountain for new clues. He found none. His decision ends a dramatic nine-day search for three climbers who went missing on Mount Hood on Dec. 11. One of three — Kelly James — was pulled out of a snow cave on Monday. For three days, the volunteers and helicopters scoured the...

Search turns a corner as hope for two climbers wanes Mount Hood - Planes inspect a small area and a scaled-back crew remains ready as talk turns to probing with poles Wednesday, December 20, 2006 MATTHEW PREUSCH and STUART TOMLINSON The Oregonian HOOD RIVER -- With searchers returning to their day jobs, helicopters back at their home bases and another storm blowing toward Mount Hood, officials are expressing little hope the search for two missing climbers will come to a happy end. "For all intents and purposes, things are kind of wrapping up," said Portland Mountain Rescue's Steve Rollins, who...

It starts with mumbling and stumbling. Then come violent shivers and then, paradoxically, a false sense of warmth that makes some people strip their clothes off. Eventually, they may curl into a fetal position as their muscles go rigid, their skin goes waxy, and the heart slows down, then stops. Whether two climbers missing on Mount Hood for more than a week are still alive is not clear. But if they are somehow still hanging on in the brutal cold and howling winds, perhaps hunkered down in a snow cave, they may be going through what veteran climbers say is...

Photos found with deceased climber Kelly James have raised worries about how long his two colleagues can survive on the brutal summit of Mount Hood, an official said on Tuesday. "We've got some pictures. Kelly James had taken some pictures of his climb," said Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler. "So we know pretty much what they had with them," he said. After examining the photos, Wampler said, "looking what they had with them, I'm pretty concerned about how long somebody can last out there."

HOOD RIVER, Ore. - Two climbers still missing on Mount Hood may have been swept to their deaths over a treacherous cliff by howling winds of more than 100 mph after they left their possibly injured companion behind in a snow cave to get help.

No one found in snow cave on Mt. Hood By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER The Associated Press Related Missing climber's trail in China elusive HOOD RIVER, Ore. – Rescuers searched a snow cave just below the summit of Mount Hood on today but didn't find any of the three climbers missing since last weekend, an official said. A sleeping bag, ice axes and rope were found in the snow cave, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. "I'm sure it is very frustrating for those guys on the mountain," Tiffany said at a news conference. "I...

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...

Relatives of three men missing in bitter weather on Mount Hood comforted each other and held out hope Friday that the trio survived, eight days after the lightly equipped men left for a two-day ascent. Winds were expected to gust to 100 mph Friday morning in the latest of a string of storms to hit the 11,239-foot mountain, and forecasters said rescuers' next shot to find the men probably would be Saturday. Kelly James, who like Hall is from Dallas, was believed to be holed up in a snow cave near the top, and the other two were thought to...