Missing Climber Triathlete

The Coffee Shop
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Climber’s cell was on Tuesday night; family gains hope
Despite harsh weather that’s holding back search crews on Mount Hood, the families of three climbers missing there since last week received renewed reason to hope Thursday.

The families of Jerry Cooke, Brian Hall and Kelly James were buoyed this morning by indications that James turned on his cell phone at 10:55 p.m. Tuesday after the phone had been off, according to the Hood River County Sheriff’s office.

“That gave us great encouragement,” said Frank James, Kelly James’ brother. “My heart was in my throat when I heard that, because if it’s true it means that Kelly is alive and that he has his wits about him.”

T-Mobile has been “pinging” the phone every five minutes, but it appears to have been turned off since the signal late Tuesday. James called his family Sunday from where he was sheltering in a snow cave near the 11,240-foot summit, presumably injured.

“He said, ‘Brian went for help’,” Frank James said. But before Tuesday night there had been no signal from the phone since early Monday. The whereabouts of Hall and Cooke are unknown.

The FBI and a private phone tracking firm are both lending their technological know-how to help pinpoint James’ location using his cell phone. Unmanned aerial drones with cameras and heat-sensing equipment are also grounded by the high winds, rain and snow.

But even if they do figure out exactly where James is, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to get their by foot or helicopter today given conditions, rescuers acknowledge.

“We’re really just waiting for the opportunity to get up to where we need to go,” said Hood River County Deputy Sheriff Chris Guertin.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Kelly James’ wife, Karen James, said their spirits are high.

“My husband proposed to me on Mount Rainier, and we’re planning our 50th wedding anniversary there,” said Karen James, wife of Dallas climber Kelly James. “So I know he’s coming off this mountain."

Kelly James, Dallas triathlete and longtime climber, is mentally and physically tough, his brother said. He proudly wears scars from previous climbs, and in high school Kelly dislocated his shoulder during a wrestling match, but he popped it back in and returned to win the match.

“These are three very tough men,” he said.

For a second day in a row searchers are essentially playing a waiting game, stuck below the tree line and hoping for a break in the weather to make a dash to James’ presumed location. Such a trip would likely take between four and six hours.

Meanwhile, days drag by and snow continues to pile up at higher elevations, increasing the risk of avalanche, making any operations even more risky and cutting into the chance for survival.

Searchers vowed to continue the search at least though the weekend. Family members are staying together in Hood River, praying often, crying regularly and even laughing on occasion, said Frank James.

Tonight the Fellowship Bible Church, the James’ church in Dallas, is holding a prayer service for the climbers, their families and the rescuers.

“Our faith is threefold,” said Frank James, who directs a Florida seminary. “We have faith in Kelly and Brian and Nikko; we have faith in the rescuers; and we have faith in God. And there is little doubt that our faith is being refined these days.”

– Matthew Preusch

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It’s getting down to the wire for these men so let’s all hope and pray for a positive outcome.

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100 mph winds tonight up there, plus another foot and a half of snow.

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Tom,
I agree. I live in Portland Oregon and we have a storm coming in as we speak. We will have 40 MPH winds today, and 100 MPH winds up on the mountain. It looks like things wont clear until Sat. It is pouring down rain as i look out my office window, so I would say the mountain is getting lots of snow.

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**100 mph winds tonight up there, plus another foot and a half of snow. **

Let’s hope he’s holding out in a decent snow cave. I’m always surprised how warm they can be even when it is burley outside.

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This is hopeful:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/14/missing.climbers.ap/index.html
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A little OT but along the lines of searching for people when lost in the winter.

When I was younger I used to fight fires for Montana. Some mornings we would go out in a helicopter looking through an instrument called a Probye (spelling) Basically it was used to pick up hot spots that we would mark using IR technology. One other thing we noticed is we could see elk and deer on occasion.
Assuming you could fly I wonder if search teams use technology like this? It was 12yrs ago when I did this so you would think improvements have been made.
Just thought about this with the missing climbers and Kim’s death.

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Yes, it is simple infrared technology. Cops use it at night to track suspects. Don’t you ever watch any of those Fox shows, e.g. Cops.

Works best at night for contrast, I am not sure about daytime use, but the greater the temperature difference, the greater the contrast.

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Here’s a youtube video that shows the technology on the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (used in Iraq)…very similar to what they probably have on the C-130s that are looking for them. I worked with the Predators in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Night or day in the winter in the mountains they will stand out. Now if they are inside a cave, that will make it more difficult. But you can sometimes see the heat emminating from the entrance to the cave, depending on how far in they are. However, in blowing snow, the IR sensors won’t work as well.

The problem is actually finding the area to search. If they followed their planned route, the search would be narrower, and if they were able to get coordinates from the cell phone contact possible GPS or triangulation, even better.

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the snowcave will help, but only so much, IMO. the one night i spent in a snowcave wasn’t very warm at all, and there were several of us in there. (this was a planned trip, btw, not emergency shelter).
and i’m guessing it’s kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation: stay warmer in the cave, but harder to find.

i lived in portland for 4 years, Mt. Hood looks so peaceful and even from there - like you could walk up the side of it no problem. but i’ve seen video of climbs up it, and it’s just crazy. i know that there are easier and harder approaches, but the closer you get to that mountain the bigger it gets.

i actually knew a guy who was on the school trip back in 86 - he said that his stomach was bugging him so he had to head back. that’s why the guy’s alive.
the mountain looks so peaceful from portland.
-charles

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**Relatives of missing Mt. Hood climbers cling to hope **Updated 12/15/2006 9:31 AM ET By Joseph B. Frazier, Associated Press Writer COOPER SPUR, Ore. — Relatives of three men missing in bitter weather on Mount Hood comforted each other and held out hope Friday that the trio survived, eight days after the lightly equipped men left for a two-day ascent.
Winds were expected to gust to 100 mph Friday morning in the latest of a string of storms to hit the 11,239-foot mountain, and forecasters said rescuers’ next shot to find the men probably would be Saturday.
“They’re not quitters,” said climber Kelly James’ wife, Karen, as she locked hands in a single grip with climber Brian Hall’s sister, Angela, and Michaela Cooke, wife of Jerry “Nikko” Cooke, of Brooklyn.
“The most important thing about them is their spirit that they all share, and that they, they know what to do, and they plan so meticulously so that they can carry out the adventures that they have done all over the world,” Hall’s sister said.
Kelly James, who like Hall is from Dallas, was believed to be holed up in a snow cave near the top, and the other two were thought to have tried to descend for help. A signal from James’ cellphone placed him between 10,000 feet 11,000 and feet Sunday when he made a four-minute distress call to his family.
On Thursday, authorities said James’ phone was on briefly as recently as Tuesday. But for more than two days the phone had not responded to engineers’ signals, sent every five minutes.
In response to its “pings,” T-Mobile got a return signal from James’ phone early Tuesday, indicating the handset was back on, when it had been off, authorities said Thursday.
The Hood River County sheriff’s office initially said the signal was returned around 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, but later the phone company said the last signal returned from the handset came more than 20 hours earlier.
The sequence suggested James, 48, may have turned his phone off to conserve battery power, a possibility that brought hope to family members gathered near the mountain.
“My heart was in my throat when I heard that, because if it’s true it means Kelly is alive, and he has his wits about him,” his brother, Frank James of Orlando, said at a news conference Thursday.
Harsh conditions have thwarted rescue efforts since early in the week. Family members said Friday they’ve become close with members of the search teams as everyone has waited out the weather.
“We’ve become a family with these people,” Karen James said. “And we know that they’re just as passionate about finding our guys, and one climber-rescuer said with every step they take, they take with their heart. And we know that. That’s what keeps us going.” *Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. *

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There’s a book called ‘We Die Alone’ that tells the true, but completely unbelieveable, story of a Norwegian named Jan Baalsrud who escaped the Nazis in WWII after his covert commando unit was compromised and lived in the arctic, at one point in a snow trench, for weeks. If that guy could do it, these guys can. I suggest you all read the book. You’ll get a baseline in case you ever go through such an event. It is completely true and completely jaw dropping.

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CNN reports improving weather conditions in the area of the search.

C-130 aircraft equipped with infra-red imaging equipment are overflyng the area in an attempt to locate the climbers.

As weather improves CNN reports that search teams continue to move higher onto the mountain.

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/16/missing.climbers.ap/index.html
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C-130 aircraft equipped with infra-red imaging equipment are overflyng the area in an attempt to locate the climbers.

But then I saw this in the article:

The C-130’s equipment wouldn’t have detected body heat from a snow cave, according to Col. Jon Proehl of the Nevada Air National Guard, which provided the plane, said

The family spokesman is staying so upbeat and positive–appreciative of all of the efforts, etc. Truly seems like a first class guy. How many of us could keep it together? Reminds me of the Elizabeth Smart family continuing to maintain that they were getting their daughter back–and then they did. How many of us were thinking “no way”.

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Am I the only one who doesn’t think that it is right the taxpayers have to foot the bill for a search and rescue mission? I mean it seems like December is not the ideal time for a climbing excersion in the Pacific northwest. Clearly there is some questionable judgement by the victims that is leading to this elaborate search mission. If they are rescued, should the state/local gov’t send them a bill for the millions that are spent trying to save them?

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Am I the only one who doesn’t think that it is right the taxpayers have to foot the bill for a search and rescue mission

No, since you must have seen the headlines floating around online a couple days ago with that very thought.

But that would be another “gimme a break” sentiment from me. Let’s by all means bill the families for the money spent to rescue their loved ones. That’ll teach 'em.

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I just really thought about it today when I saw an article. I highly doubt that they will bill the families if they die. Although it is terribly unfortunate they are lost and possibly suffering, they did choose to go up there, at what point is it their fault they are in the situation?

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I understand the sentiment up to a point…sure, there were probably some bonehead mistakes that were made that contributed to them getting into the predicament, but I just cannot foresee any logical scenario whereby anyone gets billed for the search. Perhaps it makes logical cents (sic) but as human beings it makes no sense whatsoever.

We taxpayers foot the bill for lots of stupid shit—this kind of thing I can stomach, however.

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C-130 aircraft equipped with infra-red imaging equipment are overflyng the area in an attempt to locate the climbers.

But then I saw this in the article:

The C-130’s equipment wouldn’t have detected body heat from a snow cave, according to Col. Jon Proehl of the Nevada Air National Guard, which provided the plane, said

The family spokesman is staying so upbeat and positive–appreciative of all of the efforts, etc. Truly seems like a first class guy. How many of us could keep it together? Reminds me of the Elizabeth Smart family continuing to maintain that they were getting their daughter back–and then they did. How many of us were thinking “no way”.