Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Search Called Off for 2 Remaining Lost Mt Hood Climbers 12/20/06

After nine days, the search has been called off for the 2 remaining climbers (hopefully as) survivors. If you recall, they found one of them dead, inside of a snow cave, frozen and injured.

I'm so very sad and heartbroken for those poor men and their families. I can only imagine how devastated the families must be to not know, yet have to assume that these men have died. Since there's a huge storm coming in and visibility increasingly became worse, they had to stop the search and rescue efforts today. What saddens me most is that when they resume the search efforts, it will be for recovery rather than rescue.

From what I read today, the climber they found likely suffered a dislocated shoulder, and his friends went for help. At some point, the poor man suffered and died from hypothermia. The searchers found some equipment which led them to believe that the 2 remaining climbers fell into a precipice or were trapped in an avalanche, buried in snow. Right now, there's really no way to tell, and if that's true, then I wonder how likely it would be to ever find them.

The sheriff spoke in an interview today. It was very difficult to watch and listen to, but here's the link anyway. Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler 12/20/06: click here

Full Coverage: Missing Mt Hood Climbers

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