Posted on 12/18/2006 8:47:53 AM PST by george76
My heart also goes out to the grieving families of this particular group of fools.
A climber who gets stranded on Mt.Washington NH is subject to pay the cost of the rescue operation..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalanche#Beacons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPIRB
These are cheap. A fraction of the operating cost of a chopper.
Colorado has a hiking, fishing, hunting fee that helps pay for the searches.
If you have proof of payment, the rescue is 'free.'
Thanks.
Here is some good stuff, too.
http://www.casanovasadventures.com/catalog/dir/dir.htm
"First snow cave, they spent a lot of time building, probably used a shovel, built very well, accommodated all 3 climbers."
Why then a second? Is it above or below the first? Perhaps an accident occurred and the survivor attempted to return to it and could not find it.
I don't care if they are liberals or conservatives. They are people and they and their family deserve our prayers.
By the way, many of us Republicans like to hike, take care of our planet and enjoy the outdoors. That comment was really uncalled for in my opinion. Judge not!
Thanks for the advice, but it was a question, not a comment. They are public now, no longer private citizens.
sw
Thanks for that info, did anyone speculate why they left the snow cave?
Another climber said last night on TV that weight is such a factor that carrying a GPS device with them just isn't an option like it is for say, skiers, as an example.
I also read yesterday on another FR thread about this that Mt Hood isn't that big a deal to climb - the poster said average Joes and grannies just walk right up it - so I'm a little confused about all the drama involved in this.
With one guy hurt ?...they may have wanted to get help.
or he may have already died and they wanted to get off the mountain ?
lots of guesses
I saw the news conference. Doesn't sound like they're going to find the other two does it?
Kelly James' cell phone had GPS. That is how they were able to zero in on his location. The other two did not have GPS. I haven't even heard if they had cell phones. However if there was an accident-as it now appears, the cell phones wouldn't have helped anyway I guess.
There are GPS devices that work with satelittes and there are radio devices that transmit and receive 2 to 5 miles.
Some radio devices just give a continous beep and others can be used for two way talking.
Different prices, weights, battery life, etc.
The ones used by backcountry skiiers generally have one frequency for broadcasting the signal. When there is an avalanche event that covers one skiier, then the other skiiers need to switch their radios from transmit to receive to find the first guy.
There have been over 130 deaths on Mt Hood in the last hundred years by contrast Mt Everest has killed about 175 in the same time period. So going be the numbers, Hood isn't a walk in the park.
It all depends on what route you take...they took an advanced route that requires technical climbing skills.
It does not look good.
If the last two climbers decended in the wrong area...apparently there are other bodies in that area that have never been recovered.
I agree with you and wondered if anyone would mention something like this. I'm of the opinion that anyone with a wife and/or kids is VERY selfish to pursue an extremely dangerous hobby such as this. They put rescue personnel in danger trying to save their butts, but even worse, when they get injured or killed, their families suffer. All because they HAD to climb a mountain.
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