Rescue Operations Under Way for 3 Hikers Stuck on Mount Hood
Saturday , December 12, 2009

Rescue crews found no sign of three climbers missing on Mount Hood after a daylong search Saturday in "miserable" weather.

A Clackamas County sheriff's spokesman said the climbers, two men and one woman, are experienced and well-equipped. They were not immediately identified.

Detective Jim Strovink said the trio were making a technical ascent of the west side of the 11,239-foot volcano near Reid Glacier.

The glacier ranges in elevation from about 6,000 feet to 9,800 feet. The upper extent of the glacier is known for crevasses.

The three climbers were expected back at 2 p.m. Friday. They do not have a radio beacon but they do have a cell phone.

Strovink said there was a brief signal from the cell phone called a "ping" about 1:30 a.m. Friday but it was apparently made as the climbers were leaving Timberline Lodge to begin their ascent.

Strovink said at 5 p.m. Saturday that rescue crews were debriefing and making plans to resume their search on Sunday.

He described weather conditions on the mountain as "cold, icy and treacherous."

Strovink said about 30 searchers focused on the area around Reid Glacier and tried to get up to the 9,000-foot level.

He said family members had been notified and some had joined rescue crews on the mountain.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580098,00.html

I hope these people are found alive and safe. Hopefully they were prepared properly for an emergency while out there.

They have found the body of one young man, and are still looking for the other two. (I live in Oregon). We've had some rough cold/freezing weather here lately, I pray they can find them soon.

(CNN) -- Rescuers are looking for two missing hikers after finding a third dead on the slopes of Oregon's Mount Hood, but the search has been hindered by the threat of avalanches, a sheriff's deputy said Sunday.

The hikers began their climb at about 1 a.m. PT Friday. Authorities received a call that they were missing at about 10 p.m. Friday, said Deputy Scott Meyers of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

They planned a fairly easy, "semi-technical" hike in which they would come down the south side of the mountain, Meyers said.

Authorities followed what they believed to be the planned path, and on Saturday found the body of one of the hikers, identified as Luke T. Gullberg, 26, of Des Moines, Washington.

Search and rescue personnel were unable to locate the others -- Anthony Vietti, 24, of Longview, Washington, and Katti Nolan, 29, of Portland, Oregon.

"This is still called a rescue operation, at least for a couple days," Meyers said Sunday, meaning authorities hold out hope of finding the hikers alive in the freezing conditions. "We have reason to believe one of the two missing hikers has a bivvy sack, kind of like a lightweight sleeping bag. The female hiker is fairly well prepared for this climb -- she did have some stuff to warm up with."

"We're looking at the area where we found the body," he said. "We think they may have dug into that area and just can't get down."

But the threat of avalanches "is too high to go forward with a full ground rescue operation," Meyers said.

Another deputy, Jim Strovink, said there is "a high level of danger for avalanche potential on Mount Hood."

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft was coming to help in the search, and an Oregon National Guard helicopter was flying around the area where the hikers might be, authorities said.

When the avalanche danger lowers, three teams will head to the probable areas, Meyers said.

"It could be today, it could be tomorrow," he said.

Temperatures were in the 20s overnight, with winds higher up the mountain.

The mountain rises 11,239 feet above sea level, with a vast base that stretches over 92 miles (148 kilometers). It is the highest mountain in Oregon, a dormant volcano with steam constantly spewing from holes, according to the Web site mthood.info.

Hikers' families 'grieving and hoping' chaplain says

(CNN) -- The search for two climbers missing on the frigid slopes of Oregon's Mount Hood faced new perils Monday as the threat of an avalanche kept ground teams off the mountain through the morning.

Avalanche conditions were even more severe than Sunday when they thwarted the search, the Clackamas County, Oregon, Sheriff's Office said. A third climber who had hiked up the mountain with the two early Friday was found dead Saturday.

Rescuers hoped for a small window of opportunity in the weather between noon and 4 p.m. PT (3-7 p.m. ET) Monday when ground teams perhaps can work their way up the 11,200-foot mountain, authorities said.

In the meantime, the search relied on high-resolution photos by aerial surveillance teams. Search and rescue personnel were examining them "for any trace of the missing climbers," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Authorities hold out hope the two -- Anthony Vietti, 24, of Longview, Washington, and Katie Nolan, 29, of Portland, Oregon -- may be found alive. The hikers may have brought some equipment to stay warm with and may have dug into an area waiting to be rescued, Deputy Scott Meyers said Sunday.

The body found Saturday was identified as that of Luke T. Gullberg, 26, of Des Moines, Washington.

A friend wrote Saturday on Gullberg's MySpace page, "I love you dude and miss you."

His grandmother, Marjorie Gullberg, said she will miss his smile. "He was just like my son. He did everything for me," she said, according to CNN affiliate KPTV-TV in Portland.

Dennis Simons, a chaplain for the fire and police departments in Sandy, Oregon, spent time with the families of all three. "They're grieving and hoping. There are thousands of people around the world praying that Katie and Anthony will be found alive," Simons told reporters, holding back tears.

Simons described all three as devout Christians and experienced, well-equipped climbers, CNN affiliate KATU-TV in Portland reported.

Meyers, the Clackamas County deputy, said the three had planned a fairly easy, "semi-technical" hike in which they would come down the south side of the mountain.

They began their climb at about 1 a.m. Friday PT (4 a.m. ET). Authorities received a call that they were missing at about 10 p.m. Friday.

Gullberg's death is the latest of many climbing accidents on Mount Hood, KPTV reported.

The worst occurred in May 1986 when nine people, including seven Oregon students, died after digging a snow cave during a sudden storm.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/14/oregon.missing.hikers/index.html

They still have not found the other two hikers. Probably won't, at least not alive. There was about 2' of snow dropped last night, and another foot expected tonight. Conditions are horrible, hindering the search party. Tonight will be the 5th night they have been missing. My prayers go out to their families.

The news this morning says there is less than a 1% chance the two hikers will be found alive. Around 20 people have died on this mountain. People need to learn to respect the elements, and be properly outfitted. Heck, for $5 they could have rented a GPS - could have helped save their lives!

Search suspended for 2 hikers lost on Mount Hood

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/15/oregon.mssing.hikers/index.html

(CNN) -- Citing the threat of avalanches, officials Tuesday suspended the search for two hikers missing since Friday morning on Mount Hood and held out little hope they would be found alive.

"Could they be alive?" asked Dr. Terri Schmidt, physician supervisor for American Medical Response in Clackamas County, Oregon. "Yes. Is it very likely? No."

The specialist in emergency medicine noted that time is not in their favor. "What we know is that at about 48 hours -- two days -- the chances of finding somebody alive after that go down to about 1 percent."

She added, "At some point, we have to say it's time."

Still, she said, Anthony Vietti, 24, and Katie Nolan, 29, have several factors in their favor: "They're young; they're healthy; they -- as far as we can tell -- are relatively experienced and relatively well-equipped."

The body of a third hiker, 26-year-old Luke Gullberg, was found dead Saturday from hypothermia.

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said Tuesday that, despite the odds, the the search operation had not moved into a recovery operation.

In fact, the search was not continuing in any form. Operations coordinator Nate Thompson bemoaned the heavy snow that fell over the weekend and forced the suspension. "A lot of our clues are now covered," he said.

Steve Rollins, a team leader with Portland Mountain Rescue, said the avalanche danger would not permit rescuers to venture out any time soon.

"Slopes that do not normally avalanche are avalanching now," he said. "I don't see that we're going to have conditions that will permit us to put anybody safely on the ground in the foreseeable future."

Thompson hypothesized that the hikers may have been involved in an accident and that Gullberg, the most experienced of the hikers, may have broken away from the others and begun to backtrack in an effort to seek help.

Above his body, rescuers found a water bottle, a helmet, a harness, a camera and camera case and a mitten belonging to Nolan.

"Maybe Katie lost a mitten in an accident," Thompson said. If Gullberg did indeed seek to return for help and Nolan lost one of her mittens in an accident, he may have left his gear, his pack and his supplies and gloves with her, taking the lone mitten, he said.

But descending can be more difficult than climbing in some places. "If there was some form of an accident and Luke did downclimb, this is a much more difficult descent," he said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Dalton told CNN that some 15 inches of snow had fallen at an altitude of about 6,000 feet between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, when temperatures were just below freezing.

The three hikers, all from the Pacific Northwest, set out at about 1 a.m. Friday (4 a.m. ET), on what was to have been a fairly easy, "semi-technical" hike in which they would have descended the south side of the mountain, said Deputy Scott Meyers of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Vietti's home is Longview, Washington; Nolan's is Portland, Oregon. Gullberg was from Des Moines, Washington.

Gullberg's MySpace page is filled with photos of him hiking in various places.

The mountain rises 11,239 feet above sea level, with a base that stretches across 92 miles (148 km). It is the highest mountain in Oregon. Mount Hood is a dormant volcano with steam constantly spewing from holes, according to the Web site mthood.info.

Gullberg's death is the latest of many accidents on Mount Hood, KPTV reported. The worst occurred in May 1986 when nine people, including seven students from Oregon Episcopal School, died after they dug a snow cave during a sudden storm.

So very sad. They probably won't recover their bodies until spring unless the snow melts sooner. My prayers are with their families.

I echo River Rafter and wil pray for ther family also.