mr_bean

I will be in the immediate vicinity of this crag over the weekend and would love to hook up with someone working on the cracks. In my ten years of climbing, I have really never gotten into trad so I won't be the lead but where I lack Uber in trad, I make up for it in funny stories and belay technique. My crack skills are also novice so I will probably be topping out at 11+ crack climbs this weekend but I don't mind holding your hang dogging ass for an hour as you work the moves on putting up one of the 12+ that exist in the area. Drop me a line if you are going to be in the area and woulds like some company. mr bean

This Seattle Times Article is the most recent and most detail filled I have seen. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003579311_webmounthood19.html

The MLU works when activated (dependant of course on not being blocked or inside a crevasse). The local press and the rescuers themselves are being very active this operation in promoting how effective the MLU was for the first 5 people at narrowing the search to within 50 feet of their snowcave. This party was exceptional in that they apparently had two MLU between the 8. It costs 5$ to rent, seems to work better than nothing at all, and of course is not a replacement for a GPS/compass and map. No one has ever advertised as such. I don't understand the resistance to the thing within our community. It is one more piece of gear I take intended to ensure I get off the mountain alive and as a complement to my regular equipment. Best of thoughts towards all in inhosbitable conditions.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/sns-ap-mount-hood-climbers,0,3647573.story?coll=ny-leadnationalnews-headlines Does anyone have any more recent details? Thanks go out to the volunteers for their tireless efforts. I hope they stayed warm last night as they camped out on the hill.

I have a Canon SD630 I bought a month ago and I would heartily recommend it to anyone. Check out some shots I took in Thailand two weeks ago with it to get an idea of the potential. I bought an underwater housing for it as well.

Does anyone know if Flir has been involved or contacted? Being located in Portland, it seems a no brainer that the world's premier maker of IR imaging devices should be involved in the effort. I can only imagine they would love to help if they have a tool that works in this situation.

Yup, stay home and warm if you are not part of the organized search. Don't even drive up to chat with the crews. Bringing boxes of hot food is always welcome in my experience but support is best from afar. In my experience, I have seen what happens when family members and friends insist on helping by independently searching. It is a clusterfuck. Searchers must spend limited resources getting them off the mountain or back to safety instead of in their patrols. It is also incredibly disheartening to a search crew looking for sign to stumble onto a random yahoo with good intentions, who is usually misidentified out of hope as the target of interest. I only know these things now because I was that yahoo. The clouds are breaking south of Portland, hopefully they continue that way towards the mountain.

As someone who has been through this experience before with SAR from the side of the family (just search old posts), I want to express my sincere thanks to the searchers for their efforts. From my own experience this is a time when the world feels like it cannot get anymore unfair. Knowing there are people as you few willing to do so much really can be the only light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you

People who are dragging down the gene pool...

Bill: I don't recall if we have met climbing at the Butte before but if you are there as often as it appears, we most likely have. Sorry for the bottles thing, who knows if it was the Bible kids or not. I have also been there over the years when things mysteriously crash out of the sky and smash on the rocks to my side. The shrapnel alone made me want to kill the fucker up top who could be so callous. Regarding the cans, I remember ~four years ago on a cleanup with I think it was "SAVE" and Access Fund installing some cans on chains up top. The cans lasted weeks, max. The cans and chains were ripped out and tossed over the cliff for us to clean the next go-round. I am one of Rocky Butte's biggest fans but I have climbed there once in the last 10 months because I tire of the same old bullshit. More glass chards, more chopped bolts, more trash, more kids stealing gear or fucking with the rope while we are on the climb, more car break-ins, yade yada. After my crew spent hundreds repairing chopped breakfast crack gear with the highest quality stainless glue ins and some jackass with a pry bar ganked them out the next week, I have practically thrown in the towel. It is sad because I used to climb there twice a week and have personally hauled 4 tons of trash from that site. I feel vested in the area and its history yet tire of fighting the punks and their trash and my own climbing community purist douchebags who don't know that most of those routes were manufactured in every way to begin with. What in the hell are you being purist about when the climb itself was manufactured by a guy with a sledgehammer/drill dangling over the cliff with a high power pressure washer? Sorry for the rant, I feel your pain. Sending a lighter version of the letter more in tone of "How can we partner together to better address a shared concern?" would be more effective I feel. AndyBean

I am now quite familiar with Grouse Mountain's terrain, having spent the better part of 48 hours scrambling around its depths during the last two days of the organized search effort. I am in awe of the incredible outpouring of help from the Canadian citizens and government. I would like to think such an effort would be put forward for every person lost but know that I was witness to a unique event. The amount of dedication and concern so many people demonstrated will humble me for the rest of my life. North Shore Rescue and all of the other various teams travelling from far locales were incredible in their dedication to just doing what was right in a time of need. These were all incredible people that one could never thank enough. Some had been out for 10 days straight in the most rugged bush I have ever had the pleasure of encountering on a 60 degree slope, day after day after day. Away from their families, and paying jobs, these people were out there to help find someone they had never even met. Some NSR travelled directly from Mount Logan and their own personal rescue operation to aid the technical search teams in Vancouver. These folks are the salt of the earth and it was an honor to have been in their presence. I can go on and on about the incredible things these people did; from the mother whose own son was lost for six days donating food for an army, to all the random people throughout the region who stumbled through incredible terrain looking for David Koch, and to the one who just on a hunch went back after the operation was closed to a spot that had been searched three or more times prior-finding David at last. Thank you.

I have zero personal familiarity with the topography of Grouse mountain. What you describe is very different from the news reports that mention cliffs and ravines and many acres of difficult terrain for searching. I wanted to thank those that have offered suggestions and through the board and through PM. Thanks as well to knelson for the tip that put me into contact with King5news.

JMace, there are several inconsistencies in the information relayed between agencies, the media, and the family members. In everyone's effort to get the word out, some details seem to get mangled. I too noticed this discrepancy and am trying to get clarification. I was told that David was unfamiliar with the region prior to this trip but in this case think it best to yield to the article which purports to quote his wife, Suzanne, directly on the matter. Recently reviewed video surveillance shows David was not well equipped, sandals for shoes, for a hike down the hill so close to dark and perhaps had no intention of hiking down so late in the day.

Here is a link to a brief news article on the situation. My partner's cousin, David was in Vancouver on his first trip to the northwest on a work trip. Staying in Vancouver, he took last Wednesday (05/25) to go on a hike on Grouse Mountain. Cameras videotaped him at the base and at the summit but never again at the base. Grouse Mountain is not a physical mountaineering challenge but I thought the community here might be an avenue to information we can better use in finding David. Hope is dwindling at finding him alive and time is running short. Search efforts are being scaled back and his sister and family are hoping to find some person who saw him on that day. If you or anyone you know was at Grouse Mountain (working/hiking/riding/visiting), please contact me directly. According to the news reports, it is not even clear David went for the hike that day but any information those of you familiar with the area could provide would be welcome. Additionally, any of you with ideas on how to get this covered tonight on Seattle stations to make sure no one in the Seattle area saw David that day, your insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, and wish us the best. AndyBean