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3 Lost on Mount Hood


cluck

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we're always looking for competent climbers who want to lend a hand. We don't teach people how to climb, but we do teach climbers how to rescue.

 

My experience with NPS mountain rescue has been the same. You can teach folks to set up rope systems, do first aid, and lots of other rescue techniques. But as far as climbing skills, those are mostly brought to rescue teams when outside climbers decide to get into rescue activities. All mountain rescue outfits would be glad to have talented mountain climbers join their ranks. Hopefully some of you will be able to get involved and be available to help out in the next rescue. Good luck to those three taking shelter in snow caves right now.

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[more shameless plugging] I can only echo cluck's, Jason's, and mtn mouse's comments.

 

And responding to letsroll, it took me over four decades on this planet before I finally decided to "give something back". I was also worried that SAR/MR would cut into my personal climbing goals, but at about the same time as cluck, a few months after the Hood/helo thing, I decided I needed to do it for myself as well as others. You reach a certain point in your life when your maturity level takes over, and you decide it's not all about you anymore. [/end more shameless plugging]

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According to the news video ( http://www.katu.com/news/4905801.html?video=YHI&t=a ) the last phone call was from the north side:

loc.JPG

The diameter of the circle is 500m

 

Nice screen-shot. Our graphics department just approximated that circle... so it may not be perfect. I've been talking with lots of people involved in the search up here and I'm getting conflicting information about where that signal came from. Apparently the last ping came from a tower Southeast of Mt Hood.

 

Also, ABC News is reporting that Kelly made a 911 call at 0745 Monday morning, but the call dropped out...

 

Tough to sleep nights down here when you know how miserable it is up there.

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I saw this quote in OregonLive website:

 

____________________

Despite assurances that they will keep up the search, rescuers are beginning to show signs of wearing thin.

 

"The skilled type of people who can operate in this environment are pretty limited," Wampler said. "We're running out of people. We had 40 up yesterday, and after a day of climbing, they're done. They need a couple of days' rest."

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1165985714267120.xml&coll=7&thispage=3

_____________________

 

I wonder what Sheriff Joe meant by that...

 

Edited by jfmctlaw
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MtnHigh.....what elevation was you at when that picture was taken?

 

I have never climbed and dont ever plan to, but straight ahead looks pretty steep....would one go to the right from where this picture was shot?

 

Sure is a beautiful view......I too hope them guys get to enjoy that view again.

 

Best to oyu all!

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Either to the right up the glacier to the skyline then up the ridge to the top (Sunshine), up the broad ridge and snowfield just left of center to the summit (Cooper Spur) or straight up either of the twin gullies in the center of the picture. There's a several other routes in the picture, or partially hidden around corners.

 

The picture was probably taken from about 6500' above Cloud Cap.

 

Awesome pic

Edited by mike_m
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from the article: "The phone continues to register a signal with the carrier, T-Mobile, though no one has tried to use it, Wampler said."

This is a good sign. Phone would turn off within few minutes if the battery gets cold. It's amazing though that the bettery still runs - my cell phone works at max 6-7 days if always on and I do not talk on it.

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Apparently the phone is no longer responding to pings as of Tues afternoon. Speculation was that the phone 1) was off, 2) has a dead batt, 3) or had moved enough to lose reception.

 

They were pinging the phone every 5 or 10 mins, not sure why, and I have no idea how much of a power drain it is for the phone to reply to the ping, but I'm sure the cell phone engineers know what they're doing.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=nation_world&id=4848223

Edited by jfmctlaw
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Great photos SOL and MtnHigh. SOL, could you or someone elaborate on which gullies are which in your photo? is Cooper spur on the left and Eliot Headwall on the right? What's the ~ elevation of the top of your photo? I'm trying to wrap my mind aroudn what I'm seeing here. Is Zig Zag the off the fall line to the far right? If fgabtit and Hall were to descend Cooper would they have to rap most of the way or combo rap/downclimb? Looks fairly exposed most of the way down, where's the best feature to take refuge and bivy on those routes? Prolly nuthin till the treeline or dig in. Major + waves and vibes from NE Climbers.

Cant wait for the TR FGBit, you're a hard man.

 

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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

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Several peeps have wondered if they could show up and help search. Those of us in SAR and Mountain Rescue have responded to you all that others in places of power will pretty much say, "We won't let you, it's an insurance thing."

 

To that end, I provide this message for your general consumption:

 

Due to the ongoing SAR incident on Mt. Hood I thought I'd remind everyone of the policy on resource requests from Oregon.

 

There is no interstate mutual aid agreement in effect with Oregon. Therefore, we can not issue a Washington State mission number in support of such requests and any volunteers responding will not be covered under the Emergency Worker Program.

 

If we do receive a request for resources from Oregon (usually from an Oregon based LE agency or state emergency management) we always make this clear to them and ask for a point of contact. We will then advise those Washington State jurisdictions with the appropriate type units of the request from Oregon and emphasize that no Washington State mission number will be issued and that any volunteers interested in responding may contact the Oregon jurisdiction conducting the operation to determine what coverage, if any, there is.

 

Of course, the same policy is in effect if the request comes directly to the your agencies or volunteer units from Oregon counterparts.

 

The above message is from the WA State SAR Coordinator at the Emergency Management Division in Olympia. It's as high as it gets.

 

What does it mean? It means that if you are in SAR/MR in Washington, and you show up at Mt. Hood to help, you will not be covered by any insurance that WA State would normally provide if you repsonded to a mission in your home state. Essentially, you're on your own if you get hurt/killed/lose gear.

 

If you're NOT in SAR/MR, they won't even entertain your joining in the search. To put it succinctly, "they don't know you."

 

As mentioned before, join up with Mountain Rescue before an emergency arises, so that you are trained in mountain search and rescue techniques (which are rather different than self-rescue techniques you may already know) and prepared when another episode like this comes around again.

 

As a Mountain Rescue member for over three years now, I would dearly love to go and help, but I cannot in good conscience put my family at risk without the coverage that WA State would provide if the scene were north of that big creek.

 

Here's sending out massive quantums of positive energy to those that have, can, and will respond to the search call.

And to the three they're looking for.

 

 

 

 

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