Ruedi

http://www.summitpost.org/album/252008/mt-hood-rescue-overview.html I afraid to post and suffer the abuse but go to the above for a pretty good summary. Watch the youtube videos.

I can't tell the difference between the moderators and newbies. The high post members must be editing their profiles to look like they have been here awhile.

If Mr James wasn't hurt then why did they split up? Something wrong here?

http://www.summitpost.org/route/155414/cooper-spur.html Summitpost.org has a wealth of information, history, and photos. To answer psistrom earlier; I think it's just above the Chimneys area of the NF above Cooper Spur. Check out http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150189/mount-hood.html#chapter_2 as well.

http://www.johann-sandra.com/mountaindir.htm You might find it here. Under Mt Hood their is a choice for routes.

Welcome to the Cascade Climbers Forum Ed. What Makalu7 just said needs to be repeated and broadcast to all who venture into the wilderness over and over. Thank you for your post from I'm sure lots of personal responsibility and anziety while spending most of your life climbing. If you're not Ed Viesturs then you have learned everything he has whild attaining and acomplishing all the the climbing goals we all have. Thanks again and this needs to be repeated over and over. Prayers to the families and let them know that we are here in support.

They need to fly the C130 in a wider sweep around the base of the mountain to look for targets.

OK. This guy is not going to say much because they need to talk to the families. Don't speculate but this is where Kelley James should be and he obviously left. They know more but probably won't release it until later. Leaving the summit speaks volumes.

Gary Tiffany (spelling). Found two ice axes, sleeping bag, etc. No people. Damn They self rescued up to the summit and then where. They would have taken their stuff to self rescue.

Another press conference soon. You would think the guys in the media would have a scanner and would have found the tac freq's being used. They didn't ask if anyone would spend the night at the summit.

They just said they will leave the summit at 4 pm that's two hours from now. I can't understand why someone doesn't say anything about the guy probing the snow on the Y you can clearly see?? It looks like there is one guy probing on the ridge below the summit.

I don't have the link but it is KOIN-KPTV so google it. Please be nice. There is plenty of room and banwidth here to have a few questions outside the lines. Looks like it might take some time however.

The CNN guy that is interviewing the Capt Mike from the Sherriff's office is doing a fantastic job of interviewing. He is asking all the right questions and obviouly understands common sense. It looks like they are digging an anchor hole in the summitt. I assume to rig up ropes to dsecend and or bring up things and or people. They could fly them off using the Chinook right from the summit. I don't think they can land however. It looks to unstable and not flat. He could hover with just the backend but that could break loose an avalanch? Just thinking outloud.

If you jumped in your car to go get a six pack and you ran into a closed freeway due to construction and there was a 10 mile backup with no way to get off the freeway. Did you check traffic.com to see if there were any accidents? No. These guys went to great lengths to be safe. We can't ever second guess them. It's just like Katrina and everyone was trying to fix blame. It was a 175 mph huricanne for petes sake. It's going to hurt someone. Same thing here.

Foot prints go towards the summit and disappear. You would think with drifting snow that the footprints are recent or very recent. That may be great news. This is strangly similar to the high school kids that spent 13 days in a snow cave in 1975. I hope this one has the same outcome.

Turn on your TV.

The video shows lousy zero degree F weather with wind. I would be in the Snow Cave until someone knocked on the door. It looks that bad on the summit. I hope all three are in there having a beer!

Fox says that the Chinook is dropping them on the summit and then they will work their way down from the summit to the site.

Sorry bad spelling again. I type too fast!

Yes. 406 mhz satellite Epirbs send a message that gives your GPS coordinates to a central place. They know where you are, who you are and any message of a couple of lines like I'm climbing here and such. Very expensive however. I carry a portable Ham radio and there are lots of repeaters all over the area so you are always in contact. You can be hundreds of miles in the bush and still hit a repeater with a hand held Yagi antennae. The whold thing ways a couple of pounds and it's a great peace of mine. I climbe and hike with elderly and you kids and it's a long way to the hosptical if my father in law has a heart attack or someone slips and gets hurt. There is a lot more important news coming on this Forum so I'm out. Best to Carolyn James and may god be with the families at this point. I think we are going to know in the next couple of hours the outcome. Chears to everyone and keep praying. Glenn Sliva

Thanks for reading. He's in a pickle and probably knows that everyong is searching and that's bugging him. That's good, it keeps him thinking. I hope he stays put because the pros from Dover (Mash) are on the way. They need to summit and go down to him. We the public are with you and you can't believe how many are saying "oh the climbers on TV, thoughts and prayers to the families". We're with you!

They left a note that said that if they had problems ascending they would return the way they went up. Correct me if I'm remembering wrong. Their main plan was to climb the north face and then over the top and down the south side. I think I saw a report that they found snow shoes in their suburban but I'm not sure. If you don't have snow shoes or skis then you would have to post hole it to move around. This would be very tough in high winds. They need to get to the north face to see where Kelley James is. He is the best clue to where the other guys are. Sorry if I am repeating anything here.

Sorry for my atrocious spelling again. The media homes in on the negative and points that out to create a "story". I would like the facts along with the "story". If the (insert governmental person here) says blah blah blah but I'm worried about if they (stashed their gear) then the media says "It was reported today by the leapfrog county sherrif that the climbers may or may not have stashed their gear..... ". Please mr editor don't cut the facts out and then have a misleading story follow. OK I'm done whining and I promise to say only positive things from hear. What a super job the SAR/Sherrif/Military/???? are doing. I say SAR but there are many groups Crag River Rats, PMR, etc and forgive me if it's not Crag River. Wow. There is even a mention of retired 20 year veteran SAR coming in on this one. We have all connected to these brave men because we know or we are them. Mountaineers and Climbers are very special people because climbing is just like life. We learn to work as a team and rely on your buddie, especially in ice and snow conditions. My hearts out to everyone here and there.

Remember what Oddball said in the move Kelly's Heros? "Don't give me those negative ways". Look these guys did their homework, left several notes, had the right gear. They knew when the weather rolled in that they were spending the night. I'm sure they have studied the history of this mountain. By their posts on this web page and others they knew what could happen if the weather rolled in. So what did they do? left notes, took overnight emergency food, shelter, and water. (snow cave, bivy sacks, fuel all in the note and notes). One more thing: the media keeps mentioning that they stashed their gear. Why would they stash their gear if their route was up and over the mountain. If you were not going to return by the same route why would you stash your gear and have to go back and get it? I think they have everything with them. I'm sending them positive waves and of course praying and asking for god to keep them strong.

Ok by.