OR OR - Kelly James (dead), Brian Hall, 37, Jerry Cooke, 36, Mt. Hood Climbers, Dec 2006

[Ca-Sun]

Here's the pic of the footprints. You can save it, then zoom to about 400% for a better view.

 

[Karole28]

Thanks Guys!

I was really hoping for a good ending. But, I'm really growing disheartened as the days pass now.

I hope Kelley James' family can find some kind of peace through this.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Buzz, I just looked at the photo of the footprints and wanted your opinion about something.

At the bottom of the photo you see the prints going straight up and they get faint for a while and then you see they turn left and think that is a cave they built. And then you see the footsteps exit that area and turn left and continue straight up the mountain.

Do you think that is the first cave, and that when Kelly exited it he followed their footsteps up a little ways, lost, and then started building another cave? I don't see footsteps going back down the mountain.

Also, to the left of the footprints I see what looks like where something slid down. Is that from rocks, or could it be from where they came back down. The Sheriff said they think they came back down to the cave area, and I'm wondering if that slide area meant anything to them.

Thanks Sweetie Scandi

It's a slightly warmer day today, but it's still very cold at altitude.

Today's Sunrise: 7:42 AM
Today's Sunset: 4:24 PM

Scandi, weren't you mentioning that another storm is supposed to arrive by Wednesday morning--it was mentioned that is won't be as large as the last one (that's good news), but it is still expected to be a sizeable storm.

I'm getting a feeling that tomorrow will probably be the end of the organized search. Once the storm moves in, it will be at least another few days, before the searchers could possibly get back up on the mountain; that makes it Saturday, and that means two full weeks on the mountain for the other two climbers without adequate food, or fuel. I think that is where they will possibly pronounce them "Lost, and presumed dead" and wait for spring.

It will be a very sad ending to a long, and sad, drama.

I'm lighting a candle in memory of Kelly James, Brian Hall, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke.

 

[sweetmop]

It's a slightly warmer day today, but it's still very cold at altitude.

Today's Sunrise: 7:42 AM
Today's Sunset: 4:24 PM

Scandi, weren't you mentioning that another storm is supposed to arrive by Wednesday morning--it was mentioned that is won't be as large as the last one (that's good news), but it is still expected to be a sizeable storm.

I'm getting a feeling that tomorrow will probably be the end of the organized search. Once the storm moves in, it will be at least another few days, before the searchers could possibly get back up on the mountain; that makes it Saturday, and that means two full weeks on the mountain for the other two climbers without adequate food, or fuel. I think that is where they will possibly pronounce them "Lost, and presumed dead" and wait for spring.

It will be a very sad ending to a long, and sad, drama.

I'm lighting a candle in memory of Kelly James, Brian Hall, and Jerry "Nikke" Cooke.

I join you in lighting a candle for these souls... and praying for their families.

 

[scandi]

Me too! I never even expected this outcome and found myself in a state of shock yesterday. Now I'm in a little state of disbelief these two guys just disappeared. They must have been roped together. On that link you posted Buzz i read where two girls had reached the summit and one of them slipped, taking the other girl with her down a long fall to their deaths.

I hope they spot something today, maybe tracks down to the cravass area.

It is really cold here today - 29 degrees overnight, and my car was iced up till about 10:30am. I'm going to the dollar store this afternoon to buy some D batteries for my little ole' radio - candles too. There are people in Portland as of right now that still don't have their electricity back. Mine flickered a bit yesterday when we got that sudden wind. It sucks royally to be without power, as almost everything I do or use involves the use of electricity.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Too bad there wasn't an area near them where they could slide down the mountain on something of theirs.... it might've helped them down a little quicker. But then again, I am so ignorant when it comes to mountain climbing ... I don't even know if that would be possible. It seems like it would be a long way to slide down anyway, so my idea is probably pretty nuts.
I am just hoping for a miracle. It's so sad to see their families distraught like this, and it's very sad thinking that these two men are somewhere stranded, weak and cold. It's so cold here at 30 degrees, I could only imagine how cold they must be.

I am too chicken ... I would never go moutain climbing or even skiing. I have no sense of adventure.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Kelly James' passion for adventure took him around the world. He scaled treacherous peaks in Europe, South America and Alaska.

He even proposed to his wife on a mountaintop.

The 48-year-old Dallas landscape architect was found dead Sunday in a snow cave near the peak of Mount Hood, Oregon's highest mountain at 11,239 feet. (Watch climber's brother talk about learning of his brother's death )

He and two climbing companions were stranded on the stormy mountain more than a week ago.

The two other men were still missing Monday and feared dead.

"He passed doing something he loved," said family spokeswoman Jessica Nunez, whose voice broke frequently. "So many people in this life don't pursue their passions."

James' mountaineering experience has included Alaska's Mount McKinley, North America's highest peak at 20,320 feet; the Andes Mountains; and peaks in Europe, according to his mother.

He asked his wife to marry him on Mount Rainier, near Seattle.



More: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/18/climbers.profile.ap/index.html

 

[PrayersForMaura]

what a very handsome man:


Climber died 'doing what he loved'

Kelly James' passion for adventure took him around the world. He scaled treacherous peaks in Europe, South America and Alaska.




Rest in peace, dear Kelly .... the world is thinking of you.
Prayers to your wife and four children.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Timeline: A Chronology Of Events

The following is a chronology of the climbers’ scaling of Mount Hood and the subsequent search for them. To read The Oregonian’s news story covering that day’s events, click on the date:

Wednesday, Dec. 6: Three climbers leave their car at the Tilly Jane trailhead near the Cooper Spur ski area, with plans to climb Mount Hood. Kelly James, 48, and Brian Hall, 37, both of Dallas, Texas; and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y., all have extensive experience climbing, including Mount Rainier and Denali. They intend to spend at least two nights on the mountain and meet friends at Timberline Lodge.

Thursday, Dec. 7: Climbers spend the night in the Tilly Jane warming hut.

Friday, Dec. 8: The climbers take the North Face route near Cooper Spur up Mount Hood.

Saturday, Dec. 9: After reaching the summit, Hall and Cooke leave James, who apparently was injured, in a snow cave and go for help.

Sunday, Dec. 10: Friends notify Hood River County sheriff's deputies that the three climbers are missing. A limited search is launched. At 3:45 p.m., James calls his family on his cell phone, calling from just below the summit near Eliot Glacier.

Monday, Dec. 11: Searchers track a ping from a cell phone at 10,300 feet, transmitted about 4:20 a.m., helping them narrow down where James is stranded. Heavy snow and strong winds force the rescue teams down the mountain after one group reached 8,500 feet. The families of all three climbers arrive in Hood River.

Tuesday, Dec. 12: The last ping from the cell phone comes about 1 a.m. An estimated 40 searchers hit the mountain and a Black Hawk helicopter joins the search. However, the weather keeps climbers from going past 7,200 feet on the north side of the mountain and the helicopter to no higher than 6,000 feet. Reports of snowshoe tracks do not yield any clues.

Wednesday, Dec. 13: Weather limits searchers to the treeline. Unmanned drones are brought in, but the weather grounds them as well.

Thursday, Dec. 14: The climbers’ families’ hopes are temporarily buoyed by reports that James activated his cell phone at 10:55 p.m. Tuesday. However, it turns out the last contact with the phone was a ping at 1:51 a.m. Tuesday. Two drones are launched with negligible results and the weather again limits searchers to the treeline and lower.

Friday, Dec. 15: Winter storms stymie any climbing, and teams hunker down at Timberline, Cloud Cap and a base in Portland for a full push Saturday.

Saturday, Dec. 16: Expert climbers -- 30 on the south face, 40 on the north face -- head up the mountain before daybreak. Attempts to build a base camp at 9,00 feet are scrapped by midday bad weather. One team reaches 10,000 feet but is turned back by wind. Helicopters circle, one sighting what the crew thought was two people on the north face. The report turned out not to be true. A C-130 military aircraft circled at higher altitudes and continued overnight employing heat-sending infrared. All teams are called off by midafternoon.

Sunday, Dec. 17: Searchers find the body of one of the lost climbers – later identified as James – in the afternoon. The day, clear and sunny, begins with hope among rescue teams. But just after noon, they discover a snow cave in the area where they believe James made a distress call with his cell phone. There was equipment inside and footprints outside. Searchers later discover a second snow cave nearby with James inside. Searchers said they remain hopeful of finding the other two climbers alive. �

Monday, Dec. 18: Family members confirm that it was the body of Kelly James found in a snow cave on Sunday. Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler says searchers fear that the other two climbers might have fallen. Searchers focus on Eliot Glacier and an area just below the Newton Clark Glacier know as “The Gullies” by air.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newslogs/...e_oregonian_news/archives/2006_12.html#216508

 

[Sassygerl]

Kelly apparently had an injury at least to his arm....possible broken arm from what I gathered from the press conf. So sad I'm starting to lose hope for the other two...they should have surfaced by now.....I will hold on though and pray for a miracle!

 

[LaMer]

Buzz, thanks for keeping up with the timeline

I noticed this post at CascadeClimbers, the poster was a member of the team on the mountain on Sunday.

Also.... they have started a new thread.

To answer a question. It seems that the climbers did summit because faint tracks were found near the summit plateau leading towards the Wyeast Route. Most likely they were not trying to descend down the Pearly Gates (as per news reports) but looking
for the Cooper Spur route. They miscalculated (got lost) and
descended too far SE to the Wyeast Route instead and dropped approx 350 ft. There they discovered their error, traversed East about 150ft and built a snow cave (big enough for 3) to await the next morning. The next day James remained in the cave, one or two? climbers traversed further East on very steep terrain towards the Cooper Spur crest. There they continued their decent another 100ft down the crest. They then chose to go further to skiers left beyond the crest where they established another smaller cave and the rap anchors on steep terrain. After that.... is a mystery that left behind one backpad pad, some pickets? and 2 technical axes in the cave. There is evidence that the rope was cut.

Please appreciate the conditions that these climbers were facing. To error is human and maybe some were made that day. But its also likely that they fought long and hard to make it down. They operated for a time under extreme conditions and as a human being and as a climber I have to respect that.

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/620496/page/1/gonew/1#UNREAD

God Bless them and bring them home! Also Bless the recovery teams! I thank them for their dedication.

I truly admire the sheriff, he is so dedicated to finding Brian and Nikko, he is not going to give up. He did a great job with the earlier briefing, hope everyone saw it. He did mention, he was troubled with the ice axes being left behind. Maybe there was a reason, or they had what they needed.

 

[LaMer]

Kelly apparently had an injury at least to his arm....possible broken arm from what I gathered from the press conf. So sad I'm starting to lose hope for the other two...they should have surfaced by now.....I will hold on though and pray for a miracle!

Sassygerl, what did I miss, as I don't recall anything about his arm. Was this the press conf just a few minutes ago? I missed that one.

I was thinking maybe he had had some chest pains (heart problem), as he told his wife he was so tired and exhausted--just speculating tho...and I hate to do that too. sorry...

 

[Sassygerl]

Sassygerl, what did I miss, as I don't recall anything about his arm. Was this the press conf just a few minutes ago? I missed that one.

I was thinking maybe he had had some chest pains (heart problem), as he told his wife he was so tired and exhausted--just speculating tho...and I hate to do that too. sorry...

The press conf. was about 30 min ago and the sheriff mentioned the arm injury, then a reporter asked, "like a broken arm?" and he replied, "yes".

Reporter on Fox just now confirmed the broken arm And to imagine him trying to dig a second cave....too much.

 

[Buzz Mills]

The winds came back up this afternoon:

http://www.nwac.us/products/OSOMHM

I wonder when we will hear the autopsy report on Kelly James, to have an idea as to the extent of his injuries.

 

[Buzz Mills]

"Obvious arm injury" saddled Kelly James, authorities say
Authorities say that Kelly James -- the missing Texas hiker whose body was found in a snow cave on Mount Hood -- had an "obvious arm injury" that may have hindered him from descending the mountain.

Recovery specialists brought Kelly's body down from the mountain this afternoon.

They said tattoos, jewelry and other markings on his body made it clear to officials that it was James' body.

"He had an obvious arm injury," said Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler.

One of the searchers said James was found in a "fetal position" inside the cave. He was fully clothed when he was found.

So far, rescuers have not discovered any signs of the other missing hikers -- Jerry "Nikko" Cooke and Brian Hall. They have been missing for nine days.

All searchers have cleared off the mountain and the search likely will resume on Tuesday.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newslogs/...e_oregonian_news/archives/2006_12.html#216941

 

[scandi]

Hi Sassygerl,

We were wrong about that as the cave situation about which was which was confusing.

The first cave they built on Friday that was nicely made was where they left Kelly James. It was the one they all stayed in that first night before the others left Sat morning to go for help. This is also the cave that Kelly died in and where they found him.

What I'm not sure of now is where the circular pattern of tracks were, but they must have been outside of the big cave that the searchers found last. He was delireous and must have gone outside after the guys didn't come back as soon as he thought they should.

So the cave they built after they left Kelly was not really a cave but a carved out space to tuck in away from the wind. It is shown in that photo with the rope arrow. And it is the photo that shows the arrow going up and down not sideways as we first saw it. The Sheriff pointed that out today. Up to the right of that Y you see a ledge with a big rock. And you can see their footprints as they came over the cornice of ice and snow above that rock and then where they walked across that ledge.

Where they tucked in is shown to the right of that rock, and you see all their footprints and tracks right there. They then made the Y with the rope and left the extra ice pics, etc in that little hollowed out space. And then they dont't know what they did as I don't think there are any other tracks out of there, so they might have used that anchor and went down the mountain, then slipped. That Y is right at the tip of the Elliot Glacier that is closest to the summit.

Scandi

 

[Sassygerl]

Hi Sassygerl,

We were wrong about that as the cave situation about which was which was confusing.

The first cave they built on Friday that was nicely made was where they left Kelly James. It was the one they all stayed in that first night before the others left Sat morning to go for help. This is also the cave that Kelly died in and where they found him.

What I'm not sure of now is where the circular pattern of tracks were, but they must have been outside of the big cave that the searchers found last. He was delireous and must have gone outside after the guys didn't come back as soon as he thought they should.

So the cave they built after they left Kelly was not really a cave but a carved out space to tuck in away from the wind. It is shown in that photo with the rope arrow. And it is the photo that shows the arrow going up and down not sideways as we first saw it. The Sheriff pointed that out today. Up to the right of that Y you see a ledge with a big rock. And you can see their footprints as they came over the cornice of ice and snow above that rock and then where they walked across that ledge.

Where they tucked in is shown to the right of that rock, and you see all their footprints and tracks right there. They then made the Y with the rope and left the extra ice pics, etc in that little hollowed out space. And then they dont't know what they did as I don't think there are any other tracks out of there, so they might have used that anchor and went down the mountain, then slipped. That Y is right at the tip of the Elliot Glacier that is closest to the summit.

Scandi

Thanks Scandi! So Kelly apparently did stay put and did not move....

 

[LinasK]

HOOD RIVER, Ore. Two climbers still missing on Oregon's Mount Hood may have plummeted to their deaths over a massive cliff near the summit.

Brian Hall, of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, of New York, left their injured companion behind in a snow cave to get help.



Sheriff Joe Wampler spoke grimly about the chances the pair were still alive, particularly if they had not found refuge in a fresh snow cave. He says climbing equipment found on the mountain _ including two slings and two aluminum anchors driven into the snow _ led rescuers to believe the pair had tried to secure themselves to the steep slope. That was the last sign of the two. more at link:http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=5831431&nav=2FH5

 

[jilly]

Hi Sassygerl,

We were wrong about that as the cave situation about which was which was confusing.

The first cave they built on Friday that was nicely made was where they left Kelly James. It was the one they all stayed in that first night before the others left Sat morning to go for help. This is also the cave that Kelly died in and where they found him.

What I'm not sure of now is where the circular pattern of tracks were, but they must have been outside of the big cave that the searchers found last. He was delireous and must have gone outside after the guys didn't come back as soon as he thought they should.

So the cave they built after they left Kelly was not really a cave but a carved out space to tuck in away from the wind. It is shown in that photo with the rope arrow. And it is the photo that shows the arrow going up and down not sideways as we first saw it. The Sheriff pointed that out today. Up to the right of that Y you see a ledge with a big rock. And you can see their footprints as they came over the cornice of ice and snow above that rock and then where they walked across that ledge.

Where they tucked in is shown to the right of that rock, and you see all their footprints and tracks right there. They then made the Y with the rope and left the extra ice pics, etc in that little hollowed out space. And then they dont't know what they did as I don't think there are any other tracks out of there, so they might have used that anchor and went down the mountain, then slipped. That Y is right at the tip of the Elliot Glacier that is closest to the summit.

Oh man....this is just horribly sad. Scandi did you catch the press conference at 2 pm today. The Sheriff said they had found a rope which appeared to be cut with a knife. I wonder what this was all about.

eta The Sheriff was very concerned about this, the glove(s) and ice pics.

 

[Lurker Steve]

Not sure if this has been posted, but the Oregonian posted a map:

http://tinyurl.com/tj9qh

FYI, the CascadeClimbers discussion has a new link:
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/620496/page/1/nt/3/fpart/1