Oregon Rescuers Find Climbers, Dog
The dog is credited with helping to keep the climbers warm.
TIMBERLINE LODGE, Ore. - Three missing climbers stranded overnight in a storm-whipped canyon were reached Monday morning by a rescue party that had set out before daybreak from this Mt. Hood ski resort.
The rescuers had known the general location of the climbers but efforts to zero in on them were hampered by poor visibility due to heavy snows.
The climbers include a woman who suffered head injuries Sunday as the trio tumbled into the canyon during a snowstorm.
"She is conscious and alert but has short-term memory loss," Rocky Henderson of the Portland Mountain Rescue said Monday morning.
The missing climbers had spent the night in an area of the White River Canyon that was icy and hard packed with snow. The climbers were unable to dig a snow cave, so they spread out pads and covered themselves with two sleeping bags near a large rock to help block of the night wind. They huddled beneath a tarp, along with their dog, a black shepherd-Labrador mix that had accompanied them on the climb.
Using their cellphone, the climbers made contact with searchers at the lodge throughout the night and into the morning.
In a conversation at about 7:40 a.m. PST, the group appeared to be cold but lucid and eager to be rescued, according to Clackamas County search officials.
Mountain locator units that the trio had carried with them had helped to narrow the search area to a portion of the canyon at the 7,100-to-7,500 elevation level. But it had not yielded a precise location. Unconfirmed reports were that the climbers were found somewhere around 11 or 11:15 a.m.
Monday morning, the snow was not as intense as Sunday evening. Volunteers had hoped to find the climbers with plenty of daylight left so there would be time for evacuation.
Timberline Lodge has served as the hub of the search-and-rescue effort. It's typically a take-off point for climbers attempting to summit Mt. Hood from the south.
The rescue effort included 16 searchers, who Monday morning headed east from Timberline Lodge at about the 6,000-foot elevation level and planned to drop into the canyon.
A second group of six searchers departed Sunday evening from a point farther east near Highway 35 to try and work their way to the climbers. That group made it above the 6,000-foot elevation level then pitched a tent due to hazardous conditions. They had planned to resume their search at daylight Monday morning, Henderson said.
The missing climbers were part of an eight-person group that ascended part way up the mountain Saturday in a planned two-day outing. Due to bad weather, they opted not to reach the summit Saturday and headed down the mountain Sunday.
The outing went awry as the weather socked in and visibility faded. The three-person climbing group fell off a steep ridge and tumbled down into a canyon.
After the fall, the climbers were unable to get back up the steep canyon wall, so they continued walking down through the canyon for about 40 minutes.
The other group of five dug a snow cave and was rescued by searchers late Sunday afternoon.
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