aggressivepedestrian Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Just saw this news item on cnn.com about a rescue on Mt. Hood. Sounds like they probably came due south from Crater Rock, ending up in Zig Zag Canyon, but, of course, the story doesn't really say. Anybody have details? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Rescuers followed a signal from the group's mountain locator device, Watt said. Musta been one of these . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Actually, it was more likely a Mt. Hood specific device known as the "mountain locator unit," or MLU. It's just a radio transmitter that can be rented at local climbing shops - local SAR just follows the signal to the lost party if a rescue is needed. I think these may have been developed after that OES disaster in the 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 They brought a fancy locator beacon but they apparently did not bring a map and compass, or a GPS. Those things also would have been a good investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Map and compass skills - hmmm, what a concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Just a compass alone would probably have done it... it sounds like they made the standard follow-the-fall-line-in-a-whiteout mistake, and ended up too far west. Of course, we don't know any details yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalX Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Apparently they had little to no supplies. It seems to me that if you were going out on Hood on a day of expected snowfall, you'd bring enough gear to last a night. How hard is that? a couple cliff bars and a down jacket. --eternal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 PNW weather's too unpredictable to take for granted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 They were a group of five climbing Leuthold Couloir with oncoming bad weather. The wound up traversing the summit rim in the dark and a total whiteout, digging a snow cave on the summit. We found them in their cave this morning and helped them down the South side in some truly horrible weather. The south side route is really funky right now. The hogsback has shifted very far east from the past few years, and there was terrible windslab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 They had an MLU which we used to track them. They also had a GPS and were dressed for the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Right on, glad everyone is ok. Hood in a storm...sucky sucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 right on iain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 good example of why it's better to wait for the actual facts to roll in. the news reports made it sound like the party just got off route on the way down after climbing the south side... not a word about spending the night in a snow cave on the summit. nice work iain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 You have to give them credit for their survival skills. The outcome could have been much much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr._Natural Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Iain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Iain 's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggressivepedestrian Posted January 13, 2003 Author Share Posted January 13, 2003 Right on, Iain. By the way, KATU has a better story on its site. However, it doesn't say what an oustanding job PMR must have done to get five exhausted climbers down the mountain in miserable weather and dangerous avy conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Story I saw on the news said that several different agencies were involved in the rescue. The climbers dug a cave 100 ft from the summit. Interestingly, the 5 guys who climbed Leutholds had parked next to us at about 4 a.m. Saturday morning and were gearing up as we left the parking lot for the east crater rim. I was making small talk briefly with the bigger, bearded guy and he said they were headed to Leutholds. I overheard one of his partners mention the transciever and I kind of chuckled to myself. Good thing they had it with them, although they seemed competent and well-prepared. Conditions on Leutholds must have been quite a bit different then they were for us because we were back to the car by 11:30 a.m. Glad everyone is safe and sound. Good job Iain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 By the way, the news reports I watched said the group of five had a cell phone and called down to let everyone know they were ok and didn't need a rescue. If this is true, why did they mobilize SAR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 I talked to them as they departed the path up to Crater Rock for Leutholds at about 5:30AM. They seemed to be making good time on the ski slope. We summited well before 10:00, so they were going very slow. The snow conditions yesterday (crusted snow and ice) probably made Leutholds much more difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Good question. I was surprised to see all 5 were in good shape and wondered why they hadn't set out to get down somehow. Apparently they were told when they called in to stay in the cave until someone reached them. One of them said they didn't know where they were and needed help finding the pearly gates. Gives you an idea of how bad the weather was up there. The gates and chute were totally different from a week ago, and maybe even yesterday from when you climbed down it. Certainly the strangest southside climb I've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 (edited) I was hanging out with the girldfriend of that bigger, bearded guy (Keith) on Fri. afternoon, driving back from Hood River as the clouds started to move in. Glad to hear he and the rest are ok. The Oregonian finished its story in this morning's paper with a quote by Keith made while in the snow cave: "What do you guys want to climb next?" Classic. Edited January 13, 2003 by Winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 That guy was classic with that full rimed up beard. Must have weighed 6 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Glad everyone was ok. Any idea what part of the mountain the snow cave was, and were they near the Pearly gates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 It was a little ways down from the summit rim about 100 meters to the west of the pearly gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.