Search Under Way As 3 Fall From Mt. Hood

[Sassygerl]

Good grief...the 3 climbers still on the mountain have a DOG (Lab) with them!!!! I just heard they are hunkered down behind a rock with a tarp over them and 2 sleeping bags. I'm hoping they can get them down safely today, although the weather looks rough!

 

[HeartofTexas]

I don't know how accurate any of the reports are at this point, but I heard on TV this morning that it's two men and one woman... and that there's a DOG with them. I also heard one report that said they had talked to them about an hour before the broadcast, and another that said they had last talked to them last night. I also heard there were only 2 sleeping bags between the 3 of them, plus one tarp. A man named Eric, who is one of the rescuers, said that one person is using the dog for warmth. Eric also said he didn't advise anyone to take a dog on a hiking trip like this. The last thing Eric said was that it might be possible to find them in the next couple of hours (he said this about 7:05 a.m. Central time), but that that the wind was blowing about 70 mph and that it was snowing about 1 inch an hour at the time. He said conditions were very, very bad.

 

[HeartofTexas]

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) - 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 as rescuers zeroed in on their position despite blowing snow and ferocious winds.

Russell Gubele, who was coordinating communications for the rescue operation, said a rescue team had reached the general area where the three climbers had found shelter behind rocks.

"They're not far away from the climbers," he said.

But rescue teams decided to camp out and resume their push at daylight because they can't seen anything and "it's extremely treacherous up where they are. One false step could be not good."

Battling winds up to 70 mph and blowing snow, rescue teams had worked through the night trying to locate the climbers.

Rescuers hadn't made visual contact with the three climbers - two women and a man - but were in cell phone communication with them. Gubele said rescuers last had cell phone contact with the trio at 3:28 a.m. Monday.

The three had gotten into their sleeping bags to stay warm, sheltering behind some rocks as rescuers worked through the night, Gubele said.

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

BTW, apparently it is two women and a man... but the DOG part is correct! Sorry for the incorrect reporting earlier... I think different news stations in different areas of the country are reporting different things.

http://www.katu.com/news/5931636.html

 

[luthersmama]

Now for my little rant....

Why do people think that it is a good idea to go climbing this time of the year!?!?!?!

OK, so these folks were pretty well prepared blah blah blah...but they are still putting the search and rescue folks at risk.

 

[kahskye]

Good grief...the 3 climbers still on the mountain have a DOG (Lab) with them!!!! I just heard they are hunkered down behind a rock with a tarp over them and 2 sleeping bags. I'm hoping they can get them down safely today, although the weather looks rough!

Yes, I heard the same thing. FoxNews said that the two women had head injuries. I just pray that they are all found soon.

 

[Peter Hamilton]

Now for my little rant....

Why do people think that it is a good idea to go climbing this time of the year!?!?!?!

OK, so these folks were pretty well prepared blah blah blah...but they are still putting the search and rescue folks at risk.

---Why do they climb this time of year? Its simple--some people like to trudge endlessly up a mountain in the deep snow, being very cold all the time, risking frostbite and , amputations and snow blindness and avalanches and falling off a cliff and falling into a crevasse and freezing to death---its fun!

 

[Pepper]

Now for my little rant....

Why do people think that it is a good idea to go climbing this time of the year!?!?!?!

OK, so these folks were pretty well prepared blah blah blah...but they are still putting the search and rescue folks at risk.

Poor dog.

 

[englishleigh]

Good grief...the 3 climbers still on the mountain have a DOG (Lab) with them!!!! I just heard they are hunkered down behind a rock with a tarp over them and 2 sleeping bags. I'm hoping they can get them down safely today, although the weather looks rough!

Why would ANYONE take a dog mountain climbing with them??? I think that borders on animal cruelty.

 

[Pepper]

Why would ANYONE take a dog mountain climbing with them??? I think that borders on animal cruelty.

Agreed. The people had a choice. I feel bad for the dog.

 

[ISPTRAX]

They'd better save that dog! Stupid people!!!!!!

 

[Peter Hamilton]

Apparently, these women fell 150 feet off a cliff and may have suffered concussions---oh and btw, did anybody ask the DOG if he really wanted to go on this trip

 

[curious1]

AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!! Those of you who know me or at least my posts, know where I am going with this one........


They had a choice to go up there and good for them, but they take the dog up there. Selfish stuipd bastards! This just really makes my blood boil. Hey if I ever go swimming with sharks why don't I just take my dog along? Idiots. :furious:

 

[englishleigh]

Yeah, at this point, I'm like, rescue the dog first!!! :furious:

 

[ISPTRAX]

And just think... that poor dog had to have fallen all that way, too. I'll be he's hurt!!!!

 

[curious1]

Yeah, at this point rescue the dog and tell the other two to find their own damn way out. :furious:

 

[scandi]

Mornin', I haven't heard any news yet this morning, but I guess they are still up on the mtn. Oh, FOX has it on now. You can only see 20' ahead of you up there this morning. And it has turned vicious here in Portland today - windy, rainy, spittin' and a sputterin'. On the mtn there are 50mph, 20 degrees, weather to get worse throughout the day. The rescue is now getting more difficult as that snow blows sideways. So the rescuers have to be very careful for their own safety.

I don't think of a Labrador as a cold weather dog, do you? I guess it isn't an uncommon thing, to take a dog climbing.

Ian is on Fox news now. He is on the Cascade Climber site and one of the Portland Rat rescue group. He says they need to get out of the wind, and they can stay warm for awhile. You go Ian! He was very involved when the 3 men were lost in December and the one who wrote all the nitty gritty posts about what was going on at that time.


So we still need to pray these folk will make it down off the mountain.

 

[curious1]

You know what's going to happen don't you.......These idiots survive and they start talking about how if they had not had the dog for warmth they would not have survived yada yada yada. And every idiot out there trying to prove something to themselves is gonna bring Rin Tin Tin along. The real mountain climbers and animal rights people better make sure drivel like that does not get out and they better be on every single morning show covering this telling people how dangerous it is to take their dogs with them.

 

[scandi]

I agree about the dog, and Ian did say that on the FOX interview. It isn't a good idea to take a dog mountain climbing.

There is another thing too that was pointed out on the Cascade Climbing site. These people didn't plan their trip around the weather. Saturday was a beautiful day up there, and they planned to stay the night up there and come down Sunday. Well the weather suddenly turned into a storm which was forcasted to happen. They should have taken that into consideration and not try to make it up to the summit. We know from the Dec fiasco that going to the summit is a 2 day affair.

 

[mrsjonnob]

If they leave that dog behind in the rescue, I am gonna be pissed. Why on earth would they do that? We have taken our dog to the snow... like to play and have snowball fights for a day... but climbing?? That is stupid.

 

[scandi]

I don't think for a quick second they would leave the dog. These rescuers are really great fuys from what I've read. The local group is called the Crag Rats, and I believe they are the first mountain rescue team that was formed in the 30's. Old traditions and values abound, and they have an amazing rescue record.

I did learn the rescuers spent the night camped out on the mountain.