Rescuers try to reach three on Oregon's Mount Hood

William Mccall

Canadian Press

Monday, February 19, 2007

CREDIT: Associated Press Mountain rescue crews come off Mount Hood at Timberline Lodge near Government Camp, Ore., early Monday, Feb. 19, 2007.

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. - Three climbers who fell from a ledge on snowy Mount Hood got into their sleeping bags and huddled with a dog for warmth early Monday to await rescue as bad weather raged around them, officials said.

Twelve hours after the operation was launched, rescuers trying to reach the trio from below and above their position on Oregon's highest mountain were hampered by blowing snow and winds up to 112 km/h.

"The weather is terrible. We're still looking. We have teams still working," said Russell Gubele, who was co-ordinating communications for the rescue operation.

"They also have a Labrador dog with them that is cuddled up with them to help them keep warm," Gubele said. "My understanding is that they are experienced rock climbers, but not necessarily experienced in mountain climbing."

Rescuers hadn't made visual contact with the three climbers - two women and a man - but were in cellphone communication with them.

The three had gotten into their sleeping bags to stay warm.

"They are conscious; we are talking to them," Gubele said.

Still, officials were worried.

"There's always danger of exposure on Mount Hood," Gubele said.

At least one of the three had a mountain locator unit, which emits signals used to find missing or stranded climbers. Rescuers were using the signals to try to locate the trio's precise position.

"They're wet, shivering and cold," said Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's office. "Hopefully we'll be able to home right in on their exact location."

The two women appeared to have suffered some bumps and bruises and their male companion is in good condition, said Sgt. Sean Collinson, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's office. He said all three "were in fairly good spirits when we talked to them on the phone."

The drama began shortly before noon, when someone in an eight-person climbing party called emergency dispatchers to say three of the climbers had fallen off a cliff.

The climbing mishap occurred at about the 2,500-metre level on the mountain, which is about 95 kilometres east of Portland.

Battling snow and winds, a team of rescuers scrambled up the mountain to search. The other members of the party were told to dig a snow cave and wait for help.

One of the electronic locator devices was activated after the fall, authorities said.

The five rescued climbers were taken down to Timberline Lodge, a ski resort at the 1,800-metre level of Mount Hood, and all are reported in good condition, the sheriff's office said in an e-mail.

One of the five is Trevor Liston of Portland.

In a brief news conference at the lodge, Liston said he was optimistic for the chances of his three companions still on the mountain: "So far, they're doing pretty good up there from what we've heard."

Liston, who did not give his age, said he saw the three fall but did not say how it happened. The names of the other climbers have not been released.

The mountain can be treacherous, particularly in the winter. In December, search teams scoured Mount Hood for days in the hopes of finding a group of missing climbers alive. The bodies of Brian Hall, of Dallas, and Jerry (Nikko) Cooke, of New York, have not been found. Another climber in their group, Kelly James, of Dallas, died of hypothermia.

In the past 25 years, more than 35 climbers have died on the 3,425-metre mountain, one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world.

 

Here's Velvet, the four year old Lab, who was mistreated by her human companions.  I'll tell you, if this had taken place from a starting point of San Francisco, the animal rights groups would be passing new laws tomorrow.  As well they should.  In Or-EE-gone, the abused dog gets to go home with the same people who do need a weather vane to know which way the snow blows on Mount Hood.

Hmpf.

Susan 

Velvet helped save her fellow climbers with her body warmth after a tumble on Mount Hood.

Good girl!

Dog helps climbers survive

By Sarah Skidmore, Associated Press Writer, February 20, 2007

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. — Trevor Liston saw one friend, then a second, then a third disappear over an icy ledge on Mount Hood. A black Labrador mix plunged over as well.

That left Liston and four others wondering what had happened to their companions — two women and a man. They used a rope to lower one of their climbing party over the edge, trying to spot the trio.

But there was no sign of the three.

So the five remaining climbers decided to use a cell phone to call rescue authorities and ask for help as a snowstorm raged and winds howled at up to 70 mph.

The climbers’ fall was the start of yet another drama on Oregon’s highest mountain, one that had a happy ending Monday as rescuers reached the three who had slid about 500 feet.

All three, plus Velvet the 4-year-old dog, who had been clipped to a rope the trio of climbers had used, were transported off the 11,239-foot mountain Monday afternoon, accompanied by their rescuers.

“I’m really glad they were there for us. They did an incredible job. They were amazing,” said Matty Bryant, one of the three climbers, thanking rescuers.

“We’re soaking wet and freezing,” said one of two rescued women as she walked from a tracked snow vehicle to an ambulance. After the three got in, Velvet leapt in after them. The rescuers credited the group’s rescue to two things — one low-tech and one high-tech: Velvet, who offered warmth as the three climbers huddled overnight, and the activation of a radio transmitter the size of a sunglasses case that helped rescuers to the group.

“The most important part of this rescue is that they did everything right,” said Lt. Nick Watt of Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

Liston, who described himself as a veteran of Mount Hood climbs, said those in the party of eight had experience either rock climbing or mountaineering.

They’d known about the Mount Hood disaster that left three climbers dead in December. But Liston said that wasn’t the reason the group decided to bring Mountain Locator Units, devices that can send out electronic signals to rescuers.

“We’ve been up on the mountain for many years,” Liston said. “With the group we were going up with this time, we just wanted another extra level of security, just in case something happened, especially with winter conditions.”

In addition to Bryant, 34, a teacher in the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, the rescued climbers included Kate Hanlon, 34, a teacher in the suburb of Wilsonville.

The other woman, whose name was not released, was being treated for a head injury in Portland, said Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

“She’s going to be fine,” he said, noting that she had walked most of the way down the mountain.

‘Dog ... saved their lives’

Velvet, owned by Bryant, had minor cuts and abrasions on her back feet and legs caused by prolonged exposure to the snow. She was cleared to go home.

“The dog probably saved their lives” by lying across them during the cold night, said Erik Brom, a member of the Portland Mountain Rescue team.

As the group started out on Saturday, the weather was clear and Velvet was leading the way, Liston said. “She looked back every once in awhile to make sure we were OK.”

They planned to scale the mountain the next morning. But a storm started moving in. On Sunday, they started their descent with high winds and blowing snow making for perilous going.

“You had no visual reference around you to determine if you were going up or down,” Liston said. “You could make out a climber at 30 feet at best.”

After the three climbers fell, the remaining five made a distress call and hunkered down in a snow cave. Searchers brought the main group down to Timberline Lodge on Sunday evening.

Liston said he felt that he and his climbing companions were well-equipped for climbing Mount Hood in the winter — bringing with them cell phones, Global Positioning System gear and the beacons.

“We’d been in those conditions up on this mountain before,” he said. “We’ve walked out in whiteouts before. We didn’t know it was going to be that bad. But we were prepared that it might be snowing and blowing.”

‘Delicate balance’

Liston said he understands critics who say people climbing Mount Hood during the winter are putting not only their own lives at risk, but also the lives of rescuers dispatched when something goes wrong.

“It’s a kind of delicate balance,” he said, “about doing winter climbing, and pushing some of those limits, and not doing it, and only climbing in the summer in shorts and T-shirts.

“It’s kind of a point of pride you might say for a lot of climbers — that you can take care of yourself out there.”

Still, Liston said, “Things happen.”