One fatality on Mount Hood... (home, camping, live)

[Kimbercuddles]

Just wanted to let those people who are concerned about the three men on Mount Hood that it has just been verified that one man (identity not yet known) has been found in a second snow cave deceased.

I cannot even imagine what the families of these men are going through at the present time. My prayers are with them...may God somehow allow the other two to be found alive very soon.

[shannon94]

OOOOH how sad.....they have been on my mind alot the last few days. What a horrible time of year for this to happen too!! God bless them.

[Kimbercuddles]

I think that the very worst part right now is not knowing if they are still alive...and that one has passed away. It makes the odds a little worse for the other two...but miracles do happen.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Kimbercuddles

Just wanted to let those people who are concerned about the three men on Mount Hood that it has just been verified that one man (identity not yet known) has been found in a second snow cave deceased.

I cannot even imagine what the families of these men are going through at the present time. My prayers are with them...may God somehow allow the other two to be found alive very soon.

How tragic. I had to sniff a bit when I saw Mr. Hall's German mom tell him in German on television "Ich hab Dich lieb, komm bald nach Hause" which means: "I love you, come home soon". That is such sad news but for the weather to have been as horrible as it's been with that historic storm, I'm not expecting good news about the hikers. It's just terribly sad

[FL_TN_Nana]

Oh, how sad. We have thought about them so much. May God be with the families at this time - and our thoughts and prayers are with them and the two still missing.

[Kimbercuddles]

I hope they find the other two very soon...there seems to be another bout of bad weather on the way.

[Karla with a K]

our thoughts and prayers are also with them and their families.

[Nea1]

Great I come from the state that will be known for people getting lost and dying on our mountains!!! Another one gone, that is so sad, so many people misjudge the enormity of the place, they get turned around, or go where they shouldnt, or get stuck in bad weather. Seems like it happens every year.

[Dd714]

Sunday I was watching fox news and they noted they went into one snowcave and found a sleeping bag. I knew then at least one was dead. I have some cold weather camping experience - without that sleeping bag to keep your core body temperature up in minus 0 temps you are dead. A sleeping bag is a miracle in modern down-fiber technology. You wrap yourself up like a mummy and you will survive, you leave it behind and you are dead. I think he got greedy and tried to summit or got desperate and tried to climb down. The other two...went for help I guess, got lost and dissorientated in blizzard like conditions. Couldn't build a shelter. They're dead I think and they won't find the bodies until next spring. Very sad.

This may seem cold but, as trained as they say they were, they should not have been up on that mountain in winter time with a forecasted storm coming, over the tough route that they choose. Properly prepared they say - but they had no simple radio beacon which is a must for most mountain climbers. With that beacon the rescuers could have found them within hours. Sad for the families, sad for the rescuers that are putting their lives at risk. But the climbers paid the ultimate price for their stupidity.

[RodFarlee]

I have to agree with Dd714. They had a forecast of 2 days climbable weather, with a week of definite real bad weather to follow, as indeed it did, only a few hours sooner than forecast. They launched light, for a quick ascent, without a week's food and fuel. I've been up Cooper Spur in summer, and I've done a few stupid things in my life, but they were experienced and knowingly took a huge risk, with little chance if everything didn't go as planned. Why?

This is all about what happened before they launched, not what happened on the mountain. It's all about decision-making. It just doesn't make any sense. (Perhaps, knowing the forecast, they were aiming only for the ridge, but then got a break in the weather and decided to sprint for summit and got caught? That's at least more sensible. But there's no clues yet that's the case.) We may never know why, but trying to understand may save lives in future.