Climbers stranded on hood as we speak

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giggy

giggy

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Hikin' the scree on Shasta....
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So much of this SAR stuff going on here in the Pacific Northwest...sure hope these guys make it. There's a winter storm blowing in right now and there are high winds up high on the mountain. I hope their "experience" leads these guys to make some good decisions and get down alive.
 
sounds like they were heading up the cooper spur, but instead of climbing the 45-50 degree snow, they were going to head up a gully/chimney, etc.. via the north side. This past summer I headed up the south side via the old crater and did the knife edge traverse and your looking down the cliffs on the north side - and its damn steep, makes huntington ravine feel flat :eek: - I can't even imagine having a bad day on that terrain. Sounds like one of the guys busted his leg up and they have been in a snow cave since - or at least some of them.

http://www.i-world.net/oma/routes/photos/hood-n.gif

sounds like the were prepared though - just having some tough luck.... :( :(
 
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Jerry Cooke, the Brooklyn climber and lawyer is one of the climbers and an active poster on neice.com a site many of us visit here in the NE.

Lets hope they makes it off the mountain alive.
 
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thanks Jay - I am going post that reply here - man they must be getting hammered. far cry from being 50 degrees and sunny last july.... really hope this one ends well. Its getting some press now too - it was in the boston herald and WBZ radio all last night.

http://www.katu.com/news/4890971.html

"Just got down off the mountain and unfortunately all 3 are still missing. Conditions were pretty rough up there today. We started up the south side but were only able to get to 9000 feet. There was zero vis and it was snowing buckets and very windy. We were very concerned about avalanche conditions. From what I understand, the teams on the north side encountered similar conditions. The sheriff called us back around noon because of the storm that was coming (with predicted 90 mph winds at the 7000 foot level). The storm hit around 1:00 and all hell broke loose as we were descending in total whiteout conditions. Fortunately, all the searchers are down safe and sound. Unfortunately, no teams were able to make it to the summit today so James must spend another night alone up there. I sure hope he's able to hang in there.

DonV - I heard the information about the climbers being seen in the TJ A-frame. I assume you called the ranger station - thanks very much. That was definitely the right thing to do. The info on their route will really help us out when we can get teams up there. "Somewhere below the summit on the north side" is a very difficult place to search so any info to help us narrow it down is helpful.

The cell phone companies are working some magic to try and pin-point cell signals. There's some speculation that they might be able to get a bead on the 2 that went for help.

As far as folks who want to help out, I'm not sure if there's any way you can get formally involved in the search. In today's litigious society, I suspect the sheriff would be wary of putting "civilians" to work. But, if you do happen to be up there back-country skiing (in Considerable to High avalanche danger) be sure to keep an eye out and have a cell phone handy.

Here's to hoping these guys can make it through another night
 
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thanks doug, I have following this pretty closley. It was all over fox news last night. I do hope it works out for the best. It seems they have a good resume and should know what to do - but that weather seems pretty nasty - storm after storm after storm.

Over on cascade climbers - there was specualtion that the three topped out and were coming down the south side route when they got into trouble. I guess they were serching "the fall line" heading down into zigzag canyon.


giving postive thought their skill and experiecne will get them through this.

On a side note - the 2 knuckleheads on WEEI sports radio (dennis and callahan) called them "idiots" for hiking in the "snow".
 
giggy said:
On a side note - the 2 knuckleheads on WEEI sports radio (dennis and callahan) called them "idiots" for hiking in the "snow".
Click to expand...

I guess we're idiots in the same way the '04 Sox were! ;)

Seriously though, my thoughts and prayers are with these guys and really hope that they make it through alright. Please share any other info you get on this.
 
giggy said:
thanks doug, I have following this pretty closley. It was all over fox news last night. I do hope it works out for the best. It seems they have a good resume and should know what to do - but that weather seems pretty nasty - storm after storm after storm.
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Definitely a "survival situation". Hopefully they will make it.

Over on cascade climbers - there was specualtion that the three topped out and were coming down the south side route when they got into trouble. I guess they were serching "the fall line" heading down into zigzag canyon.
Click to expand...
Looks like a typical BBS--the usual mixture of fact and fiction. Some of the posters do seem to be knowledgable and at least one seems to be on one of the SAR teams.

The one phone call from the individual in the snow cave near the summit reported that they had summited and split up on the way down. It also appears that their original plan was to go up the N side and descend the S side.

On a side note - the 2 knuckleheads on WEEI sports radio (dennis and callahan) called them "idiots" for hiking in the "snow".
Click to expand...
You expect different? Plus the various authorities saying that they should have this and that piece of safety gear. Just the usual...

Actually, the coverage from the Oregonian (see the link in my previous post) looks pretty good.

Doug
 
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My thoughts are with the climbers and their families. This really strikes close to home in the sense that these guys are in our extended community and are in trouble.

om mane peme hung
 
I just heard on the way home that the guy up top's cell phone was turned back on, so that looks like good news for him. The other 2 I have not heard anything about.
 
Chip said:
I just heard on the way home that the guy up top's cell phone was turned back on, so that looks like good news for him. The other 2 I have not heard anything about.
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The latest reports (eg http://www.oregonlive.com/newslogs/oregonian/) say the this occurred 10:55 pm Tuesday. Nothing has been heard from the phone since Tueday night.

They were hoping that this is an indication that the phone was being turned on and off to save the batteries. IMO, it could be read several ways...

Doug
 
Boy, the media is really on this one. All over the TV, Radio news. My guess is they are all holed up, waiting out the weather.
Supplies must be getting very low though. Hope they have plenty of fuel....
Damn, I wish the weather would break!
 
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