*** Survival on Mount Hood ***

Wed Mar 15 22:57:48 1995
Message : #23423857    From: stevew@teleport.com
Length  : 187 words
Subject : Being prepared to survive

Org.  : Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016

Hi all!

As some of you may have heard, three college students were climbing
Mt. Hood several days ago when they got pinned down at the 9,600 foot
level in a blinding snowstorm.  Rather than get themselves killed trying
to walk around in the zero visibility, they dug in and stayed tight.

They emerged three days later after the storm had passed a little bored
but quite all right.  As they put it, "We would rather stay and worry
people than try to make it back and risk dying."

One of the reasons why they were successful in such harsh conditions
is because they were prepared...plenty of food, good equipment (and
the right equipment for just such a possibility) training and clear heads.
Without those things, they very easily could have died.

Sometimes we think the adventures we all talk about in this newsgroup
are "fun", but they can quickly become quite serious.

  - Steve

-----------------------WILLIAMSON IMAGINEERING-------------------------
              WWW: http://www.teleport.com/~stevew/index.html

          the NET GAZZETTE!  The ONLY web page you'll ever need!

(stevew@teleport.com)


Mon Mar 20 18:41:03 1995
Message : #23638693    From: John R Mudd
Address : jrm@pgroup.com
Length  : 289 words
Subject : Re: Being prepared to survive
Org.  : The Portland Group, Inc.

The three climbers were students or otherwise associated with Reed College.
As I recall from the news reports, one of their friends realized that the
three were not back on Sunday, and alerted the authorities and the parents.
I cannot remember whether they had checked in when starting their climb.

They were gone for two-three days total.  It was not three days after the
storm, and they were only overdue one day.

The climbers were all experienced and were properly equipped for the weather,
although one mentioned on the news that "the forecast for the weekend was
clear."  One of the local TV stations was filming up at Mt. Hood that
weekend, and from the footage I saw, it was definitely *not* clear, with
visibility of maybe 30-50 meters.  But the weather on that mountain certainly
changes quickly.

Probably the one thing that they should have done was to have taken a beacon
with them.  They are available for $5/weekend rental at REI and some of the
local outdoor shops, and won't send out an signal until activated by the
climber.  It's a simple sash that goes around the upper body.  One of the
local schools donated the equipment after losing 8-10 lives on Mt. Hood
a few years back.

IMHO it was pretty stupid to go without one in the middle of the winter.
They would have saved a lot of people a lot of trouble, money, and worry.
Perhaps the authorities over-reacted, and perhaps not.  In today's society,
I can very easily see a lawsuit if the climbers had died and the authorities
hadn't done anything.

(John R Mudd)

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