SummitPost.org

saintgrizzly wrote:

gwave47 wrote: I don't think anything I have ever attempted or will ever attempt is risky enough to need rescue, unless something just seriously goes wrong.

"...unless something just seriously goes wrong."

That's what it's all about.

Rather like not needing/never needing a rope. Until you fall.

So, it's "best" to have the rope with you, just in case ...

http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Mi ... XjD0Q.cspx

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. -- The effort to find two climbers missing on Mt. Hood is now a recovery mission, officials announced at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

"The weather has not been on our side," said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts in announcing the decision.

The fathers of the two climbers still missing on Mt. Hood expressed gratitude to rescuers for their efforts.

"They have done everything that they could do," said David Nolan, father of climber Katie Nolan. "We know that Katie is in heaven," Nolan added. "She has lived a life that is exemplary." "Katie loved the mountain so much she wanted to be buried up there. And right now she is," said Nolan.

John Vietti, Anthony Vietti's father, also thanked searchers and expressed his faith in God. "This has not shaken our faith, it has strengthened it," said Vietti.

Vietti said the last correspondence he had with his son was a handwritten note included in a birthday present Anthony sent to his mother, expressing his love and his anticipation for seeing his parents soon. "That was the last correspondence we had with him, and we will always cherish it," said Vietti.

Thanks Rick, for the balance.

Missing climber, Katie Nolan was a friend of mine in college- a very small college in Philadelphia.

I will always remember her as one of the kindest people I have ever known.

Wasn't his gear scattered around where he was found?

"Investigators reveal that Gullberg may have died while trying to rescue Nolan."

Luke's body was found at 9000ft. That's below Illumination Saddle (the route back to Timberline Lodge). He wouldn't have descended to that level intentionally. He clearly fell to that point.

There's a bergschrund at the head of the Reid Glacier. That's where I'd be looking for his missing partners when the weather clears.

My sincere condolences to the families and friends of the 3 climbers. I hope Katie and Anthony are found.

This morning's Oregonian had a theory that officials had about what happened (keep in mind this is just a theory) based on what they saw.

"Thompson, 32, also a sheriff's deputy, served as operations director, shuttling between the trailer and a room next to the first-aid station in Wy'east. There, several people sat around a table and hashed out theories about what became of the climbers.

Their biggest clue arrived Monday when a medical examiner declared that Gullberg had succumbed to hypothermia. Until that point, the working theory was that Gullberg had died in a traumatic fall.

But it was the families of the three climbers who provided crucial information to put some pieces together, Thompson said.

Family members told rescuers that Gullberg was the strongest among three experienced climbers and that Vietti had wilderness medicine training.

It was only one of many theories, but at a news conference Tuesday, Thompson offered the leading scenario:

There'd been a serious climbing accident high on the headwall of Reid Glacier in which Nolan lost a mitten. Gullberg gave her his gloves and took the remaining mitten for his descent.

Thompson expanded on the scenario Wednesday, saying perhaps Vietti, with his medical background, stayed behind with Nolan. Emphasizing again that it was a theory, Thompson suggested that Gullberg's path to hypothermia could have begun with the strenuous task of digging a snow cave.

In his deteriorating condition on descent, rescuers deduced that Gullberg shed Nolan's green Outdoor Research mitten and his light-gray Black Diamond climbing helmet in the delirium of hypothermia."


Link to story online

They could be in the berg but my guess after being there many times is that if they fell, they would have fallen over it and ended up lower. It's steepens above the berg and if you are falling from higher, it's not usually a big gaping one. But, I don't know the condition of the berg last Thursday/Friday or if they indeed fell.

If the above theory is accurate, they might be in a snow cave up higher which has now been covered over by the 36+ inches of snow we've received since then. It may be a while before they can be found.

I don't think they had a shovel with them, so although I would have dug a snow cave in their situation, I don't think they could have...

My sincere condolences to family and friends of the 3 climbers.
My thoughts and prayers go out to you.

twoshuzz wrote:Was posting that pic with the probable COD really necessary ?
Public forum, family, friends and all...

If you want to see the respectful way in which the northwestern climbing community reacted, check out:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... s/926831/1

As far as I can see, no speculation, sermonizing or finger pointing in the entire thread.

they've been keeping close tabs on that thread and have been removing disrespectful posts and moving some to other topics.

I think that's why it is that way.

tkoooooooooo wrote:they've been keeping close tabs on that thread and have been removing disrespectful posts and moving some to other topics.

I think that's why it is that way.

I think you're right. But, nonetheless, many positive comments, rather than critiscm.

OPB's (Oregon Public Broadcasting) show Think Out Loud did a program on Wednesday about the rescue attempt and the discussion on whether climbers should carry MLUs. Two of the guests work for Portland Mountain Rescue, and another is a climb leader with the Mazamas. The show is available to listen or download at http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/mt-hood-search/

twoshuzz wrote:Chief,

Was posting that pic with the probable COD really necessary ?
Public forum, family, friends and all...

Ah, it came from the local Portland Area KGW News Media Website and was on the local News, with the "timeline" story.

Viewed by thousands in the NW.

No disrespect intended. Just letting folks know the OCOD.