jjmcgo

JosephH makes a good point about the added responsibilities on the moderators during this rescue. Veterans or newbies, we can all do things to help, like make a contribution and avoid flaming others. It's pretty obvious that there's a lot of good people here who would be fun to hike, climb, camp and hang out with.

There is a nice Dallas Morning News story that ran in a lot of newspapers about Kelly and Karen James' buying and remodeling their house in Dallas. I'm posting it here because I think it gives us a nice insight: http://www.projo.com/sharedcontent/features/housegarden2/072806ccwchgjameshouse.2e453b.html Our prayers are with all the families

Apparently, our prayers have been answered this week that all searchers return safely. Best wishes and grateful thanks to your family and all of you and your brother's associates. From a distance, the professionalism of the responders, volunteers, law-enforcement, military, technological and others has been very impressive. From all I have read, I would climb with anyone of these three, just as Nikko Cooke put his faith in Brian and Kelly. He had seen their expertise and good judgment in action. Kelly's phone had GPS and was the equivalent of the rental signal units. The rescue was hampered by weather, not a signal problem. The body was found where his cell-phone coordinates indicated. They went up in a favorable weather window with proper equipment. They almost undoubtedly had an accident prior to the start of the storms. When I was younger and this was my favorite thing to do, I was the first to say, "off the mountain now," and still had a couple of very close calls. Things change fast on mountains, in every season. Someone asked if the newbies will soon be going away? I lurk and post on Northeast hiking and climbing boards and recognized several posters here that post there. They are anything but newbies as you might have gleaned from one Easterner's posts about her experiences on Hood. We are a worldwide community of people with common interests and lessons learned from varied expeditions. I've learned a lot here in four days, prior to my first post, and I thank all involved. I join Ivan and many others in saying the next few days are not the time for criticisms and negativity toward the involved climbers. Real professionals, paid and volunteer, will do the proper review in the proper time frame. Now is the time for this community to support the families and searchers and pray for the rescue of the missing men.