Two of the climbers were from the Dallas area and one of the guys (Kelly James) has been found dead.
Some of local mtbers were friends with Kelly James...
Sad.
Some of local mtbers were friends with Kelly James...
Sad.
Mt Hood Tragedy
- Thread starter N8 v2.0
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Yes a HUGE storm blew in a day or two after they had planned to already be down.
Seriously...sounds like they were in over their heads. I wonder how many S&R people they've put at risk....
Difficult trek began on Wednesday
The trio left their car on Wednesday to climb the difficult north side of the mountain, Oregon's tallest peak, and had planned to spend two nights on the mountain, meeting friends at Timberline Lodge on Friday or Saturday.
Authorities were never able to re-establish cell phone contact with the climber.
None of the three men had climbed the mountain before. About 10,000 people a year start for the summit and on average 20-25 have to be rescued.
Hood River County Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said rescuers had hoped to begin searching Sunday night but weather made it impossible. The Oregon Air National Guard had a helicopter on standby to use if weather conditions improve.
James, 48, is a professional landscaper who lives in Dallas with his wife Karen and four children. His mother described him as an avid climber who scaled Mount McKinley, the Andes Mountains in South America and other peaks in Europe.
She said the three men planned to ice-climb the mountain's Northern face, but never made it to the summit, according to the phone conversation.
The trio left their car on Wednesday to climb the difficult north side of the mountain, Oregon's tallest peak, and had planned to spend two nights on the mountain, meeting friends at Timberline Lodge on Friday or Saturday.
Authorities were never able to re-establish cell phone contact with the climber.
None of the three men had climbed the mountain before. About 10,000 people a year start for the summit and on average 20-25 have to be rescued.
Hood River County Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said rescuers had hoped to begin searching Sunday night but weather made it impossible. The Oregon Air National Guard had a helicopter on standby to use if weather conditions improve.
James, 48, is a professional landscaper who lives in Dallas with his wife Karen and four children. His mother described him as an avid climber who scaled Mount McKinley, the Andes Mountains in South America and other peaks in Europe.
She said the three men planned to ice-climb the mountain's Northern face, but never made it to the summit, according to the phone conversation.
Before anyone starts calling Mike names, think about it.
Seriously, when you do something obviously stupid -- and we don't know all the facts here, so we're talking in general -- you put other people's lives at risk and you make your family suffer.
Those guys were definitely not in over their heads. They're timing was the only thing I can think was poorly planned.
S&R guys do their jobs (mostly volunteer groups loosely affiliated with county sheriffs) because they love what they do and they also share the common interests of the people in the environment they rescue. The S&R guys I work with have provided medical attention and rescue to each other on non-official outings more than once.
Blaming an experienced party is akin to blaming someone in an accident for putting medical teams on highways to save them. These weren't tourists who decided to rent snowshoes to see snow for the first time.
Lots of things can happen on a glaciated peak like hood. Unexpected or even unmapped crevasses, a fluke injury......whatever. You or I could fall on our heads and break our necks riding dh trails........doesn't mean we were biting off more than we can chew necessarily.
Given the timing around the holidays, the situation just sucks.
First SAR is a lot of fun, if you like to camp & hike and want to Volunteer I highly recommend it.
As far as these hikers I heard they are accomplished climbers, that planned on doing a quick hike up and down. They didn't bring provisions for a long haul because they didn't plan on being out there for that long.
From what I understood, one of the guys got injured near the summit, and they set him up in a snowcave while the other two went for help. When they found the body, ropes were set up in a standard configuration to identify where he was. The only thing that stopped him from being rescued was the storm which delayed the search.
We'll have to see what became of the other two, but the first one, it sounds like they did what they could.
We'll have to see what became of the other two, but the first one, it sounds like they did what they could.
yeah, that's just dumb and explains why one is dead and the other two are likely so.
Yes, it's sad, but you never ever step into the wilderness without the resources to be there several days.
No one "plans" on accidents, that's why you go prepared.
Dude it's easy to sit in your office chair and opine about how much better you would have done it. But you don't know the facts any more than anyone.
Do you really think that every hiker/climber who goes out for 2 days needs to take a week's worth of provisions with them? That's just retarded.
I was in tahoe nordic search and rescue the first year I was here. It helped me learn the area as well as meet some great people. I worked 3 jobs at the time and couldn't put in the time commitment though. Like I said, I still work with two of the team now. That's actually how I got my current job.
Not directed at you divi, more at people questioning the situation........No S&R team here would ever force their members into situations where the liklihood of injuring themselves is greater than that of accomplishing the rescue. It's inefficient at the very least.
Meh...either way, I'm fairly indifferent to this episode. There are many other more tragic things going on for me to shed tears over.....
This isn't about me -- and yes, I've done plenty of solo and small group multi- and single-day climbs -- and I've already said we don't know the facts, so my comments are NOT about this specific situation.
I am saying tho, don't go if you can't survive on your own or just too dumb to bring the resources. Hire a guide/group then.
Not to mention a two day trip becomes a 3 day trip as all the extra gear slows you down. That extra day increases the risk significantly.
How often do you backpack?
How often do you go out in winter on big peaks for one long or multiple days?
These guys know a lot more about mountaineering than you or I do. You don't just take a stroll up Mckinley, a mountain this guy had climbed before. I usually take enough to keep me alive 1 night beyond the plan but multiple day's provisions beyond what you expect makes the initial outing impossible within the desired timeframe.........and possibly even more dangerous as fatigue is increased greatly.
The only thing that kept them out is the weather. Like I said, my only issue is their timing with an incoming front.
Well then they could ride quads with trailers....oh! or fly up in a helicopter with all their gear!....hell that would make it a lot faster and safer too! Where were their heads?
(Is it too soon to joke?)
Seeing as though most of us would laugh while you die, it is OK for you to do it.
At least I got that going for me.....
Personally, I'll never understand people who climb mountains without skis. A several day decent can be had in a few hours if a good route presents itself. Plus stretchers/sleds can be made.
AGAIN... this isn't about me nor are my comments specific to this situation since we have so little info.
I'm just saying that I've heard of way too many rescues (in Colorado) because people don't go prepared properly.
Which is why my friends and I have taken wilderness courses and some of us have even taught them. And why I tell all my friends new to the mountains to take some courses and why I'm posting in this thread.
Go prepared and with knowledge, hire someone, or don't go.
I'm only asking you these questions because based on this post ^^, you seem to not know the answer to your own question and are judging these guys on lack of preparation. If you've done anything similar to this, which is sounds like you have....you KNOW that you don't bring a week's+ provisions for a 3 day outing. Do you?
The front that hit the PNW was gnarly. I'm sure you've seen the damage in washington on the news. Being up on an 11,000 peak during those storms would have required driving a tractor trailer up there with supplies. I'm sure there's very little that these guys were unprepared for. But whatever it was, obviously happened. That doesn't make them dumb.
Like you said, we have little information about the specifics of this trip. But we do know their backgrounds. It is ridiculous of you to project onto these guys incidents that occur because Colorado backcountry is highly accessible, and Colorado snow is generally very light and avalanche prone.
These guys were prepared and highly knowledgeable. Anyone that takes a course or teaches a course knows that we take calculated risks and sometimes events compound. Being ridiculously over-prepared for ANY eventuality means travelling slowly, heavily, and inflexibly... you may increase your chances of surviving such a storm but your also increasing your chances of being stuck in one, or pushing through a snowbridge, or getting caught in a slide. Every extra minute you're out is one more minute that something can go wrong. The nature of mountaineering is to balance these decisions and it is ALWAYS a well-calculated judgement call. It doesn't make you stupid OR unprepared to choose wrong.
The "hire someone" part makes me laugh. These guys were as good as any guide, and that statement makes it sound like nothing bad has ever happened on a guided trip.
to me it sounds like they didn't pay enough attention to the weather forecast. aside from that, i think they probably did all they could.
After watching that Everest show, it doesnt look so bad as long as you're not a middle aged biker with a bum leg or Asian. I bet these dudes just had some bad luck.
btw, redneck, you know all the Sherpas are "Asian"?
But the timing right after James Kim and the couple that got lost in the Santa Cruz Mtns calls into question these hikers' survival skills and planning. But I am sure they were qualified whereas the first two were not.
Also this weekend, I missed the trail turn off back to the car , and I got plenty of crap for being "Asian" and our proclivity to getting lost.
Haha, dont get mad francis, Im just kidding. I know the Sherpas are asian. Just pushing your asian buttons.
They officially called the search off, what a horrible time of year for this to happen....not that there is a good time of year of course.