Posted on 12/18/2006 8:47:53 AM PST by george76
A missing climber found dead in a snow cave on Mount Hood was identified as a Dallas man who had placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family said Monday.
Searchers found the cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from Kelly James, who made a four-minute call to his family Dec. 10 just below the summit, said Jessica Nunez, a spokeswoman for the climber's family.
On Monday, a recovery team was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain over night because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve. The search for two other climbers also was to resume on the treacherous north side of Oregon's highest mountain.
His body was found in a second snow cave near the first, about 300 feet below the summit. Rescuers found two ice axes, a sleeping bag or pad and rope in the first. It was not known if any gear was in the second cave.
Monday's search would center on possible descent routes on Eliot Glacier and Cooper Spur, relatively lower levels of the mountain, in case the other two got down that far...
"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said Monday. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."
Searchers dug through the first cave to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues. The second cave with the climber's body was found a short time later.
It was not immediately clear which cave was occupied first, or why or when the climber, or climbers, decided to move from it.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Maybe when the water got into it? A short?
I think--since we know he was frozen solid when found-the shoulder that looked misshapen--probably was just frozen the way he was laying on it.
The most beautiful picture--for us mountain lovers!
God bless all involved with this horrible accident!
Probably even more valid. There is now no evident reason he would have been left behind, and I must emphasize again, the very last thing they would do as climbing partners is to separate in any way.
What bothers me now is that he was found wearing a "lightweight" jacket, and was not in possession of his gear rack (rock/ice accessories). He seemed to have only a pack (which may have contained other items). Add to that the idea he left his axes and ground pad at the belay point (if in fact they were his, which I am still inclined to believe).
What this means to me is that he must have been deep in the throws of hypothermia long before entering the snow-cave, as "casting off" things and stripping off clothes (where is his heavy coat?) happens near the end of the hypothermia cycle.
Perhaps the "small cave" at the belay station was James' initial attempt to "dig in"... Perhaps he was severely hypothermic before he decided that his little "cave" wasn't working out so good and in a mild state of dimentia, left his axes and etc, and wandered off to the primary cave- Throwing his rack along the way and shedding clothes to be taken by the wind.
I dunno. :(
-Bruce
If you scenerio is the true, which I believe it is, getting back to the real snow cave in 100 mph winds was no easy task. I was once in extremely high winds, in the dead of winter, trying to get from point A to point B and it was horrible. I did find a slight shelter from the wind along the way to catch my breath.I can imagine James getting more hypothermic along the way, and probably losing things as he went to ease the burden of his path. The things he shed could very well be buried by now.
I wonder if the sheriff and others will change their theory in light of the autopsy. Why would someone volunteer to stay behind with a half of an orange, light clothing and no equipment.
About the phone call home, everything he said sounded lucid and truthful except for the questions pertaining to his buddies. He said that one was flying a plane, the other went down to town to get help. It makes me wonder about the phone connection and if the son misunderstood about the buddies or if there was a clue in the statements.
The son did say he immediately knew his father was in trouble by the sound of his voice.
It did strike me that the relationship between the husband and wife was one of protecting the other from harsh facts. He told the son more info than he told his wife. And her response to him was the same.
Phone call:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/121606dnmetclimbers.11dd082b.html
I agree that there's no valid reason for them to be split up, or if they had to leave him they would've done better by him.
If James were more hypothermic than the others at first (a possibility), if the others were trying to get down for help they would have done better by him (assuming they could). Tried taking him with them (he looks small compared to the others, to me) or leaving him with as much as they could to protect him if it came to that.
As for his not having on a heavy coat and shedding it earlier, are we certain he was wearing a heavy coat? Wonder what was in the backpack. I only ask because now they're saying these men weren't outfitted to withstand such harsh conditions or a prolonged climb. For example...no sleeping bags?? Are there pictures of them that confirm heavy coats?
I haven't the time to keep abreast of all the details.
Thanks...
I doubt if he had a heavy coat with him. The sheriff said that after seeing the photos, he was even more worried about their ability to survive, because they were lightly equipped. I take that to mean he could see what kinds of jackets, etc., they were wearing. Plus, James was found with no insulating-type jacket, just a waterproof jacket. So my uneducated guess is they were dressing light, as they were planning on a quick ascent and decent. When you are physically active, you don't need many warm layers. That's my guess.
Here is a link to the most up to date info.
http://www.summitpost.org/album/252008/mt-hood-rescue-overview.html
Yeah, especially on a steep, slippery slope with no gear and no visibility...
If we assume they spent the night, and woke up early on Saturday, is it possible the entire scenario might happen before the storm rolled in?When did the storm actually hit?
For instance, if the accident occurred before 10 am, and the storm hit late... like 4pm, is it possible he could have followed such a scenario as I proposed and still make it to the big cave in moderate winds (at least alot less that hurricane) and daylight?
-Bruce
Thanks, but I can't find the "info"! Is there a link to click on?
It takes a minute to load. Underneath the video's is an update and timeline. It say's "here's what we know". The pictures are all on that page as well as videos taken by some of the rescuers.
I went back and checked, and there are a lot of links. Besides the timeline, the pictures and videos, there are links to the latest news, etc.
See, that doesn't work for me...even a perfect day up there has to be in the teens, and probably below zero. we're talking 10300ft, that is positively polar.
When working, I can see being in a light jacket (better not to sweat), but the minute one is still, like when on belay, or whil waiting on point, or even just at rest stops... The minute one would stop moving, one would get cold REALLY fast.
Lightly equipped would include layered personal warm-wear by necessity. It might preclude a bivybag, stove, less rope, etc...
-Bruce
Over at the cascade climber forum a rescue worker said that given what was found it seems the climbers had a choice. Either to keep moving or start dying. In other words, the climbers knew that either way there was not much of a chance that they would survive because the weather had turned treacherous. So in regards to this thought, it could be, James chose to stay behind. Not to sound gloomy but perhaps he wanted his body found for the sake of his family. His wife was interviewed by Katie Couric tonight and without coming out and saying it, in the last conversation with him, it seems his wife knew and he knew, he would not make it. And she said something about the position of his fingers. When the rescue worker removed James glove to get a look at his ring, James had made it easy to be identified by the position he put his ring finger in.
I saw the interview with James' wife on (gag)CBS News(gag) tonight. One thing his wife said was that James' body was found, he had his lefthand glove off, and he had all his fingers folded in except for his ring finger, leaving his ring finger showing. Isn't that interesting?
She also said that in his phone call, they both knew it was the kind of phone call that no one wants. So they were kind-of "acting" during the phone call, acting like everything was okay when they both knew it wasn't. I guess that helps me understand why he didn't come out and give details about what happened. (Although if it was me, I'm pretty sure I'd spout off as many details as possible.)
Part of Transcript.
Couric: Karen, when word came that they had found Kelly, what did they tell you?
James: The sheriff came in and he said, "I have bad news. We have a body and it's deceased. And we need to identify it." I said, "look for Kelly's ring." The rescue worker that came to see Frank, he found Kelly, he said that when he walked into the cave it was so peaceful, and so serene. And there was Kelly. He was lying on his side with his head on his pack like we've seen a million times when he's been camping. And he had taken off his right glove, and he folded every finger back except the signature ring and put it out. And he knew. He wanted to be identified, and he wanted to come home to us. And when we told the kids, they were so proud of him because he had, he was still thinking of us, to say "look who I am, and it's time to come home."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/21/eveningnews/main2291454.shtml
One thing that struck me is how she said they both acted like everything was okay, knowing otherwise.
Every couple has their way of doing things, but I guess I am more of a say it as it is. I would say I am dying and want to tell you the following (after giving basic relevant info. to find me) and then if they found me great but at that time I would be surrendered and honest.
Yet we never know until it happens to us and maybe that truth in and of itself would be too much to handle and would take the focus off what needed to be said. Who knows. Either way it is hard and he did seem to be somewhat delirious at that point as well. My sense then is that when they were looking for him she felt very strongly that he was already dead. Yet held out a grain of hope.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.