OT: Search Over for Mt. Hood Climbers

[Hershey]

The press conference is on now- they are calling off the rescue search for the two remaining Mt. Hood climbers and will resume a recovery search to recover bodies when the weather permits. Very sad for the hikers and their families. However, by choosing to go up that mountain in winter, the hikers assumed this risk; that was a dangerous thing to do. The mountain looks beautiful from a distance, but when they take close-ups of it, it looks so very dangerous! May all three mountain climbers rest in peace.

Edited to add: The sheriff, who was in charge of when to call off the search, flew over the moutain himself in a small plane, just to make sure he couldn't see anything else before calling off the search. You can just tell how badly he feels.

[missitaly]

Hi Hershey -

I thought I heard someone say the remaining two could have possibly fallen off a cliff? In any event, there's no chance they are still alive. It also makes me wonder why they would want to do this when it's so treacherous. But it sounds like all of them were very experienced (and "adventurers" to boot), so I'm sure they thought it would all be okay. Very sad.

[pandagirl]

You know, I'm sorry for the hikers and their families, too, but they all made a dangerous choice entirely of their own free will.

I saw one of the friends of one of the still missing hikers interviewed the other day and he said that the guy had once been stuck on a mountain in Colorado for four days and he had so many great stories to tell about the experience. I found myself thinking: well, gee, who remimbursed the taxpayers the tens of thousands of dollars that search cost? And what about this one?

[Hershey]

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missitaly:
I thought I heard someone say the remaining two could have possibly fallen off a cliff?
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Hi, Missitaly. That was one of the theories about where they hikers were. They were either holed up in another snow cave taking shelter, or buried on the mt. somewhere from an avalanche or from the ten feet of snow that have fallen since they started out, or they were clinging to the mountain but blown off down the cliffs/gullies in the 100 mph winds that were raging on the mountain. Of course, if they were in a snow cave, they wouldn't have been blown off in that wind. That was one of the scenarios because from other signs, it was thought they were on the part of the mt. known as the gullies, where other have fallen to their deaths down the steep drop.

IMO it that is a stupid sport to do in the middle of winter, when the sides of the mountain are icy and there are snowstorms. The cave where the dead climber was found has been describes as being cut into ice on an almost verticle side of the moutain. Yikes!!

Pandagirl, I hadn't heard that about one of the climbers before - about being stranded on another mountain side. Interesting.

[Mel]

It's very sad for the families & especially for the men & women who 'failed' at rescuing the climbers. I'm sure they feel awful when they don't have a happy ending.



I don't know that I'd say there is NO chance they are still alive. The survivors of the Andes plane crash in 1972 were thought to be dead and nobody believed they would be found.

Btw, one of the survivors wrote a book about the experience & if you enjoyed "Alive" by Piers Paul Read, you'll want to read this new account.

"Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home" by Nando Parrado, Vince Rause

SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMtinyurl.com/y4rys7

Excellent book.

[Acura]

I feel really bad for the families. When people risk their lives doing what they love, I think it is fine. Searching for those climbers endangerous many lives, I have a problem with that.

[Hershey]

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Acura:
Searching for those climbers endangerous many lives, I have a problem with that.
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While I basically agree with this statement, I heard one of the rescuers being interviewed on Fox or CNN yesterday and he said they volunteer their time and expertise to do that so that people who love to climb mountains can still partake of that hobby. The rescuers are willing to endanger their lives so they can continue to do what they love and others will rescue them too if necessary. In other words, they are "enablers."

[Curvigirl]

I heard there is another man who once survived 17 days in a snow cave before he was rescued? (It was a news tease and I didn't watch the news so I don't know any details.)

I also heard experienced climbers who say that people who go up there know the risks they are assuming and take responsibility for themselves--and they wouldn't want their actions to imperil others who might try to rescue them. It's just too dangerous. So the decision to stop now before anyone else gets hurt seems justified.

[Mel]

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Hershey:
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Acura:
Searching for those climbers endangerous many lives, I have a problem with that.
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While I basically agree with this statement, I heard one of the rescuers being interviewed on Fox or CNN yesterday and he said they volunteer their time and expertise to do that so that people who love to climb mountains can still partake of that hobby. The rescuers are willing to endanger their lives so they can continue to do what they love and others will rescue them too if necessary. In other words, they are "enablers."
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I think that's a bit of an exaggeration... to call them 'enablers' but I understand what you're getting at.

The same can be said of rescues on the water... the Coast Guard risk their lives too.

[Hershey]

I can't help but wonder if any of them could have been saved if the weather hadn't prevented a search in the first few days after they were reported missing. If I were a family member, that would haunt me for a very long while.

[Danielle]

What I find really sad, is there was a device they could have rented, that could have helped rescuers find them..I think it was a $5.00 rental.

It's a device that beeps, and rescuers hold another device that picks up the beeps and helps to locate climbers.

[Hershey]

Danielle, that is sad.

The autopsy results from the climber who was brought down were just announced on NBC news. Surprisingly, the coroner said Kelly James had no debilitating injury (the theory was his shoulder had been dislocated and that injury threw the party off its climbing schedule). Not surprisingly, the cause of death was hypothermia, and James had been dead for several days before he was found.

[Skeeter]

Aw, how sad. May they rest in peace. And for the families of these hikers -- may they find some solace in knowing these guys died doing what they loved to do.

Godspeed.

Skeeter

[Mel]

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Danielle:
What I find really sad, is there was a device they could have rented, that could have helped rescuers find them..I think it was a $5.00 rental.

It's a device that beeps, and rescuers hold another device that picks up the beeps and helps to locate climbers.
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I think all climbers & hikers should be legally required to use GPS systems when they set out.

[Hershey]

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Mel:
... the Coast Guard risk their lives too.
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That's their job they are paid to do (not to minimize them risking their lives).
Except for the folks from the sheriff's dept. and the national guardsmen, these rescuers were volunteers. Those are the people I was talking about as to why they do it. As I posted, I heard one talking about it.

[PIA]

I have been following this story but wanted to clarify....was this intended to be a quick few day climb? I heard they didn't have supplies or dressed properly.......

Thanks!

[Hershey]

Pia, yes. They were only going to go up for a couple of days, a quick climb.

Until the autopsy results today, the theory from authorities was that Kelly James suffered a debilitating shoulder injury and took shelter in a cave (from where he called home on his cell phone) while the other two went to get him help. So, the injury was unexpected and probably delayed everything for the climbers. I don't know what the theory is now that the autopsy showed no debilitating injury. When Kelly James called home he said there was a problem.

We may never know what happened up there that they didn't follow their schedule. And the bad weather set in of course that kept the rescuers from going out at first. The winds were fierce on the mountain; the other two could have been blown off.

[PIA]

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Hershey:
Pia, yes. They were only going to go up for a couple of days, a quick climb.

Until the autopsy results today, the theory from authorities was that Kelly James suffered a debilitating shoulder injury and took shelter in a cave (from where he called home on his cell phone) while the other two went to get him help. So, the injury was unexpected and probably delayed everything for the climbers. I don't know what the theory is now that the autopsy showed no debilitating injury. When Kelly James called home he said there was a problem.

We may never know what happened up there that they didn't follow their schedule. And the bad weather set in of course that kept the rescuers from going out at first. The winds were fierce on the mountain; the other two could have been blown off.
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Thank you Hershey for clarifying the story.

It's such a shame and this time of year doesn't help. You are right, we might never know what really happened during their climb.

[Mel]

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Hershey:
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Mel:
... the Coast Guard risk their lives too.
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That's their job they are paid to do (not to minimize them risking their lives).
Except for the folks from the sheriff's dept. and the national guardsmen, these rescuers were volunteers. Those are the people I was talking about as to why they do it. As I posted, I heard one talking about it.
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I understand but it's really the same concept.... paid or volunteer... people are willing to Do that job.

I think it must be a terrible, terrible feeling to fail at a rescue mission when that's what you train for all year long.

[Hershey]

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Mel:
I think it must be a terrible, terrible feeling to fail at a rescue mission when that's what you train for all year long.
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I agree, but I also think from hearing the sheriff that these rescuers, including the sheriff, feel they did absolutely all that they possibly could to try to rescue these men.

[Mel]

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Hershey:
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Mel:
I think it must be a terrible, terrible feeling to fail at a rescue mission when that's what you train for all year long.
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I agree, but I also think from hearing the sheriff that these rescuers, including the sheriff, feel they did absolutely all that they possibly could to try to rescue these men.
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Oh, I don't doubt for a minute that they didn't do all they could.

The only thing I'm getting at is the emotional toll it takes on a rescuer when he/she fails.

Logically & psychologically are two very different things.

[Sparks]

This whole tragedy really upset me; thinking of those guys out there, beyond cold and all alone. It's horrifying. God Bless them and the families they left behind.

[Hershey]

The brother of the climber who was found is going to be on Larry King Live in just a few minutes (after Donald Trump comments on Rosie. Trump is on the phone now).

[oregongirl]

A friend of mine is the public health officer for the county where Mt. Hood is located in Oregon. He says that the hiker found dead *may* have had a dislocated shoulder that was re-located (don't know the medical word) when rescuers lifted up the body to bring it down the mountain.

[Hershey]

Thanks, oregongirl, your post was very interesting.
Since James Kelly did call his family from the cave to tell them there was a problem, something certainly must have happened....