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

[Ca-Sun]

Sunset is at 4:27PM; I wonder if any of the climbing teams have plans for staying up on the mountain tonight, to continue their search tomorrow, as moderate weather is again expected. Seems it takes so much effort, and time, to get up to that altitude, that they would be better off staying up there.

Some of the searchers are planning to spend the night on the mountain instead of returning to Cloud Cap Inn. They set up a base camp somewhere around 8500'.

 

[scandi]

Hi Buzz, They just said searchers will stop at 4 as it starts to get dark then. FOX isn't reporting anything now about the 2 climbers seen about 11. And then there was a report that they had spotted some items on the snow. But
Claudia Cowen {sp} just came on and said they have spotted nothing yet.

The guys at CC seem to think they would hear the C-120 from inside their caves. If they don't come out that means they can't move. Brian is in exceptional physical shape, so I'm sure he and probably all of them have been doing isometrics inside their caves.

FOX says they will have a spot on this a 2pm PCT

 

[RoughlyCollie]

From what I can tell, Tie In Rock, where the mystery men are, is around Cooper Spur. Isn't that where the men said they would descend, in case of emergency?

Here's a comment I read online:

" Not as well-known as the Government Camp and Timberline Lodge area on the south side of Mt Hood, the north side is much more dramatic and wild. Here are the largest glaciers, the tallest cliffs, the best chance to experience the true beauty of the mountain. You access the area up the gravel road that ascends from the little ski area at Cooper Spur - just off Oregon route 35, about 25 miles south of the town of Hood River. There is a campground - Cloud Cap - at the end of the road. You can access the Timberline Trail and go south or west from here. Or you can wander up to the top of the Cooper Spur, overlooking the awesome north wall of Hood and the Elliott Glacier. This walk takes 2-3 hours and goes up to Tie-In Rock at 8500 feet where the Cooper Spur climbing route begins."

 

[Ca-Sun]

From what I can tell, Tie In Rock, where the mystery men are, is around Cooper Spur. Isn't that where the men said they would descend, in case of emergency?

Yes, that is the route they said they would be taking in the event of an emergency. It's also what is confusing to the rescuers because that takes takes longer and is more dangerous to descend.

 

[scandi]

No RC, Coopers Spur is on the North side where they are holed in they think.

First FOX said there would be no news conference at 2pm, and now they are saying there wil be a news conference in 40 min. That's interesting. What do you make of that?

The news conference is by the air national guard. Maybe about something the planes have spotted, right.

 

[Ca-Sun]

Just found this:A team of searchers is planning to mount a rescue of two people spotted about 11 a.m. near Tie In Rock, located on the Cooper Spur route of Mount Hood’s north side.

The route where the rescuers are focusing their efforts is the same the trio of stranded climbers said they planned to take down Mount Hood. No identities were confirmed.

A helicopter will airlift a team of searcher to the location.

 

[scandi]

So at around 11:30 or so FOX announced the 2 climbers had been spotted. Then at around 1 FOX announced the Sheriff's office says nothing has been spotted. Now a news conf they had cancelled for 2pm has been rescheduled and is going forward.

I bet 2 of the climbers have been spotted and they will tell how they are going to retreive them. What do you think?

 

[Ca-Sun]

The news conference is still scheduled. Oregon Live is saying the two MAY be the 2 missing climbers - no confirmation yet.

 

[Ca-Sun]

Update to earlier article:

[font=arial,sans-serif]Saturday, December 16, 2006[/font]

[font=arial,sans-serif]Searchers may have found two climbers; rescue operation planned

A team of searchers is planning to mount a rescue of two people who may have been spotted about 11 a.m. near Tie In Rock, located on the Cooper Spur route of Mount Hood’s north side.

The route where the rescuers are focusing their efforts is the same the trio of stranded climbers said they planned to take down Mount Hood. No indentities were confirmed. However, doubts about the report surfaced as rescuers were mounting the plan to go to the climbers.

A helicopter will airlift a team of searcher to the location.
[/font]

 

[HollywoodBound]

If they are 2 of the lost climbers I wonder why they did not wave/signal to the helicopters.

 

[scandi]

At 1:03 Oregonlive gave that report Buzz, but on FOX they just now said nothing of importance has been spotted. FOX was the first to announce the spotting of the 2 climbers around 11:30. What's up?

 

[Ca-Sun]

Live press conference at 2:00 pm on most stations regarding the missing climbers. www.katu.com is one of them.

 

[Ca-Sun]

This is a pic of Tie-In_Rock

 

[Ca-Sun]

Hre is another pic showing the route they probably took.

 

[scandi]

That photo really gives a great perspective. It makes sense the 2 men could be the climbers and they made it down to 8000' to huncker down. There seems to be some level area there. I hope it is them as they will know just where Kelly James is.

Well, the presser is late. Oh, here it is!

 

[Sundayrain]

Good Afternoon, Scandi. You sure must have been tired to sleep so long.

I'll be happy to post Sunday's beautiful poem, once she gives us permission. I keep checking all 5 places to hear about those 2 climbers spotted on the mountain - we'll hear something soon.

HI....well thank you.....Sure you can of course..........
Either I was with the little guys today taking them shopping.......or
I was having this computer worked on ........I havn't been on to answer..I kept trying to find places to hear about the climbers while out.
Sure please post it.......I did it really quick again. But, I just feel so much ......for these people.......
Looks like what they thought was people (per fox) was probably Rocks!
Oh MY........

 

[Sundayrain]

Good morning,

I woke up really early and fell back asleep - can't believe I did that! Day of all Days. LOL

Sundayrain I really loved your poem it was so perfect. I hope one of their family members read here so theiy could read it too. Or maybe Ca-Sun could post it there at Cascade Climbers so the family could find it as they do read over there. That would be so nice.

What do you guys think about the 2 men they spotted from the air? Pretty odd coincidence they would be right there, and why would one man be prone on the ground if it was a rogue climber? Well I'll be on pins and needles untll I hear. What a true assult this was on the mountain

They just announced there will be no presser at 2 today. Probably too busy running the search which makes sense. I just hope anything new comes on as breaking news on the tube, which I am sure it will.

Scandi

Thanks Scandi..........I told Ca-Sun she has permission......go for it........Another fastly done poem.......I just get so upset when I see the family members. .........Looks like the guy on CNN ( upps, it wasn't Fox) said...what they saw was rocks.......Ah....darn, so, so.......disappointed.

 

[Sundayrain]

Hi Sundayrain,

I just watched Greta who had a stellar and long segment on the Mt Hood rescue. James' wife and Hall's sister were on, and they were just as you said, full of hope, knowing their men were going to walk off the mtn.

And it was interesting as we are all wondering about the other 2 men, but Kelly's wife said they all think they hunkered down right below where Kelly James cave is.

That gives me a good feeling that they will come out first and go up to open his cave for him if he is injured. And he must be injured creating a life or death situation, or they would have hunkered down with Kelly right off the bat IMHO

Scandi

Yes, I origionally had thought there were 3 wives.......What I saw the other morning. Early, Early.....was the two wives and the blonde lady was a sister. I have since seen her talking on other shows. ...But, the two wives and the sister were holding hands and hugging.........they are a strong group. The one wife said ( forgive me it was early and I am bad with names)...how much faith they have. How much they believe in the Lord and also how much they loved their family. They felt because of these things.......they will hold on. In another interview yesterday .....one of the wives and a brother were so happy to hear from the man who had been on the mt for 17 days in a snow cave, years ago. They thanked him, over and over for helping them have faith.........tears were all around. I think I almost saw Soladad tear up for the first time ever.

 

[Ca-Sun]

HI....well thank you.....Sure you can of course..........
Either I was with the little guys today taking them shopping.......or
I was having this computer worked on ........I havn't been on to answer..I kept trying to find places to hear about the climbers while out.
Sure please post it.......I did it really quick again. But, I just feel so much ......for these people.......
Looks like what they thought was people (per fox) was probably Rocks!
Oh MY........

Thanks, Sunday. I just posted it. A lot of the relatives of the climbers are reading there, and I am sure they will receive comfort when they read what you have written.

I am so disappointed that the 2 climbers they spotted turned out to be either rocks or SAR - although I find it odd they don't know which for sure.

 

[scandi]

Hi Sundayrain, See, Carolyn James just posted on the Cascade Climbers site. She is married to Kelly's brother Frank. If the poem had been posted she would have read it and then shared it with her family.

Right now is a good time for the family to realize we all have strong hopes for their men still coming off the mountain even though they weren't spotted today. They have to go through the whole night until the search starts again around 4 or 5 in the morning.

I wish the guys would show themselves. I guess I'm living in Neverland, but if they really did see 2 men, maybe they went back into their hole when the helicopter went back down to refuel.

The Blackhawk just left to go back up to the mountain again, and it will fly till it gets dark and then the C-120 will continue on.



PS: I find that odd too Ca_Sun!