sketchfest Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Search Is On For Overdue Snowshoer Volunteers Look For Portland Man PORTLAND -- Search and rescue experts are looking for an overdue snowshoer on Mount Hood. Fred Frauens left Timberline Lodge at 10 a.m. Sunday to explore the Hogsback area. His wife, who was waiting at the lodge, reported him missing in the around 6 p.m. Frauens is an experienced hiker but has little mountaineering experience. Apparently, he was poorly equipped, was not prepared to stay overnight and was not carrying any electronic devices, such as a cell phone or emergency locator. The freezing level dropped to 3,000 feet, and up to four inches of snow was expected Monday. The Clackamas County Search and Rescue Unit, as well as volunteer searchers with Portland Mountain Rescue, Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, Multnomah County Explorer Post 631 and the Mt. Hood Snowmobile Club, joined the effort on Monday. Anybody know this guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necronomicon Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 sketchfest said: ...not carrying any electronic devices, such as a cell phone or emergency locator. Now what????? Seriously, though, I hope he's OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Huh. The Oregonian article says they're concentrating on searching in the hogsback area... but it was so socked in Sunday, I seriously doubt he could have made it up that high. I skinned partway up the south side with a friend on Sunday, starting about an hour after this guy started. Visibility was so bad that we turned around a few hundred feet above Silcox shortly after noon - you really couldn't see a damn thing. I've been up the south side more times than I'd care to admit, and I doubt that I would have been able to navigate all the way to the hogsback without using a compass... unless maybe the cloud level was just above the top of the Palmer... ? Was anybody else up there on Sunday? We saw a handful of climbers heading down. Hope this guy's okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attitude Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Roger said: Huh. The Oregonian article says they're concentrating on searching in the hogsback area... but it was so socked in Sunday, I seriously doubt he could have made it up that high. I skinned partway up the south side with a friend on Sunday, starting about an hour after this guy started. Visibility was so bad that we turned around a few hundred feet above Silcox shortly after noon - you really couldn't see a damn thing. I've been up the south side more times than I'd care to admit, and I doubt that I would have been able to navigate all the way to the hogsback without using a compass... unless maybe the cloud level was just above the top of the Palmer... ? A compass? isn't that one of those 10 essentials thingies? Only posers and gumbies carry that crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-rock Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 It was quite a whiteout Sunday afternoon. Got thick just above the top of Palmer and stayed that way until Timberline. It all moved in a bit before 11am. Some of the worst visability I've ever been in. I remember myself thinking the whole way down - so this is how people get lost up here... Hope everyone endss up ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 b-rock, how was the climbing? sounds like it was clear above the palmer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-rock Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Ya, it was clear above the Palmer, at least while we were there. Tried Leuthold's but kept getting pelted hard by falling ice after the sun hit the ridges, so we turned back just before the hourglass. Otherwise solid snowpack and good climbing conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Know_Fear Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 I was climbing on the N. Side Sunday. We saw that stuff come in. It wrapped around the mountain, then came over it. We were above the clouds until 2-3 p.m. Then all hell broke loose. I've never seen wind like wind like this. We drove to Timberline around 6 p.m. and there was an inch of new snow on the ground. The forcast Sunday was for partly sunny skies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 yeah - the visibility already sucked at Timberline when we started up a little before 11:00, and it just kept getting worse, along with the wind. It seems unlikely that this snowshoer would have made it very far up the hill before getting off route in that whiteout. This probably explains why we haven't heard anything from iain all day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluck Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 My climbing partner & I were last off summit from South side slog and damn near last off the upper mountain via South. Ran into a guy with yellow snow shoes & a snow board at the top of the Palmer @ about noon. About the right age. We spoke briefly, but he didn't indicate he was headed for Hogsback. His quote was "damn, the higher I go, the higher the clouds seem to go". No prob. getting down the ski run from 8500', even in very low vis, as you can follow out of bounds wands for the ski area. Wouldn't want to board in those conditions though. Can't image the guy we met going up as we indicated very high winds and strong potential for intense suffering. But who knows.... hope they find the lost guy & he is safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyclimb Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 climbed the south side on sunday. Sumitted at 9:30, storm blew in at 9:00, cloud level 9,500. Talked to the guy on his way up at 11:00. He was at 9,000. I told him that the clouds leveled at 9,500 and it was sunny up above. Seemed like an experienced climber, so i said nothing. I heard this report yesterday about him never coming back down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 sounds like he was really motoring, and made it above the clouds by shortly after 11:00. The paper reports he is a marathon runner... skyclimb, I'd assume that you called PMR and told them you talked to the guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 I hope you've relayed this info. to the SAR folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigA Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 skyclimb said: ...Talked to the guy on his way up at 11:00. He was at 9,000. I told him that the clouds leveled at 9,500 and it was sunny up above... Are you sure this was the guy and are you sure of the altitude? His wife said he left the lodge (6,000 feet) at 10:00am....that would be 3,000 feet in one hour! It can be done, but the conditions were not optimal for it on Sunday (I was decending with b-rock and funguy at this time). The snow was soft and the wind was blowing. Just wondering. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 Have they not found the guy yet? His chances can't be good after all this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-rock Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 Not yet. Got a call a couple of hours ago; they are going through the climber regs for Sunday looking for info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 Not only have they not found him, apparently one of the rescue teams got lost and spent the night somewhere in zig zag canyon - sounds like it was an explorer post team, not iain's crew. Here's the latest: Oregonian article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 winds are around 100mph at the top of the mile today. fun search'n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEWSTIPS Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Just to update you guys..... the search for the missing snowshoer on Mt. Hood has been called off permanently. the sheriff made the decision today to "demobilize search efforts" due to "extreme avalanche danger" and white-out conditions. Officials met with the missing man's family and explained that the survival rate at this point is "zero". BACKGROUND Press Release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Dept. *** UPDATE *** MEDIA COORDINATOR CONTACT FOR SEARCH ON MT. HOOD March 3rd, 2003 9:15 AM PREVIOUSLY RELEASED: The Clackamas County Search and Rescue Unit and volunteer search groups will be searching this morning for a missing 49 year-old Portland man who was snowshoeing in the Hogs Back area of Mt. Hood but failed to return at 5:00 p.m. last night. Fred Frauens, 49, left Timberline Lodge at 10:00 a.m. yesterday and failed to return at 5:00 p.m. His wife, who was waiting for him at the lodge, reported him missing at about 6:00 p.m. The Mt. Hood Ski Patrol did a hasty search of Timberline's boundaries last night. Mr. Frauens is an experienced hiker but not a mountaineer. He has very little winter survival experience and was poorly equipped. He does not have any electronic devices such as a cell phone or a mountain locater unit (used to send out a signal in the event of an emergency.) Searchers with Portland Mountain Rescue, Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, Multnomah County Explorer Post 631 and the Mt. Hood Snowmobile Club will be heading out at first light this morning. The weather today is forecasted for freezing below 3000 feet, wind 10-15 mph, and snow of up to 4 inches. The command post is set up near Timberline's Day Lodge. Contact Info: Sgt. Nick Watt, Clackamas Co Sheriff's Dept Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 My condolances to his family and thanks to the SAR folks for all their hard work and the risks they took in trying to find this fellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Conditions were steadily turning brutal up there, we're all very disappointed we could not bring him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 Better one missing person than 10. You gotta know when to call it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpine_Tom Posted March 7, 2003 Share Posted March 7, 2003 rbw1966 said: My condolances to his family and thanks to the SAR folks for all their hard work and the risks they took in trying to find this fellow. I echo RWB. Thanks for putting in all the hard work and risks, SAR, and my condolences to the family and loved ones. It's a sobering thought, this guy probably headed out for an fun day of noodling around with his snowshoes, meet the wife in time for drinks and dinner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Have there been any recent updates on this guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Nope, not that I've heard. There's many feet of new snow since that search now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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