Hikers' Bodies May Not Be Found Til Spring
History and mountain experts suggest it might be spring before the bodies of Brian Hall of Dallas and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke of New York City are found. The search to recover them will continue, but only as time and resources permit.
With more snow on the way and risk to the searchers, some members of the Hall and Cooke families agreed that the search should end, the sheriff said.
"We wouldn't be doing this today if they hadn't been part of that decision," Hood County Sheriff Joe Wampler said at an airfield news conference. "These folks are all outdoorsmen, they know, but some are not ready to say no yet."
A new snowstorm and a lack of resources influenced the decision, reports . Wampler decided the time had come to realize that Hall and Cooke would most likely not be found alive.
"That's the end of our longest, hopeful survival period, based on the conditions on Mount Hood," said Wampler. "Right now, we're going to let everybody go home for Christmas."
Undaunted by punishing snowstorms, rescue crews headed into the mountain soon after Kelly James of Dallas used his cell phone on Dec. 10 to tell his family that he and two companions were in trouble.
Exclusive: Katie Couric will interview Karen James, widow of Mount Hood climber Kelly James, on Thursday's CBS Evening News at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT, and on Friday's The Early Show.
"There were no disabling injuries documented by either the autopsy or X-rays," the report said, and James had been dead for several days before his body was found.
What happened on the mountain is a matter of conjecture based on James' telephone call, photos taken by the climbers, and such evidence as two ice axes and a climbing harness found by search crews.
Authorities say James might have been injured in a fall, prompting Hall and Cooke to go for help. The two climbers then might have fallen or been blown off a cliff, buried by an avalanche or died of hypothermia.
Morale among searchers had been high, buoyed by pizzas sent by the climbers' families and socks by local businesses, the sheriff said.Photos: Search For Oregon Climbers
But most of the volunteer mountaineers who helped find James and recover his body had returned to their workaday lives by Tuesday. National Guard helicopters also had returned to their bases.
Wampler said the search had been risky, including operations near the summit where rescue teams located James' body and climbers and military personnel winched it off the mountain.
The three experienced climbers had planned on a quick, lightly equipped ascent on Mount Hood. But a quick climb in December is shortsighted, the sheriff said.
"A minimum climb this time of year is three days, not just one day, three days," Wampler said. "You plan on having to stay out there in case something happens."