Rescuers Cling To Hope For Lost Climbers
Hope is fading for those three climbers stranded near the summit of Oregon's Mount Hood, but searchers and family members say they're not giving up.
Kelly James, Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke had planned a "quick climb" on Mount Hood, traveling light to make the ascent as fast as possible.
They had not been heard from since Sunday, when James called on his cell phone from a snow cave just below the summit. The Hood River County sheriff's office said it would mount another full effort early Wednesday.
"We have not given up hope in the least," Kelly's brother Frank told reporters Wednesday morning. "I think everyone is kind of numb at this point. We're all holding on."
The trio scaled the north side of the mountain, which offers a view of Mount Rainier but is treacherous, with slopes of 50 or 60 degrees and occasional sheer walls of ice.
For rescue crews, the site has been made even more forbidding by snow-laden winds rushing over the steep slopes at speeds up to 80 mph.
"Those are the strongest winds I've ever been in — knock you down, hands and knees," said Lindsay Clunes of Corvallis Mountain Rescue, one of the dozens of searchers who have been looking for the three climbers since last weekend.
Searchers Tuesday took advantage of a break in the weather to look for the three climbers.
Rescuers are receiving Kelly's cell phone signal, reports CBS News Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman. It continues to register a signal with the carrier, T-Mobile.
Photos: Search For Oregon Climbers
"The phone is actually still actively working but no one is transmitting or using it," said Hood River County Sheriff Joseph Wampler.
A simple locater unit, available for rent for $5 a day at nearby shops, would have told searchers exactly where the men are, said Steve Rollins, president of Portland Mountain Rescue.
Instead, "we don't even know what side of the mountain they're on," he told The Oregonian newspaper.
But even if crews locate the missing climbers, bad weather may prevent them from climbing high enough to rescue them, Hughes said.
"The next 48 hours is not looking very good," he said.
James has the most experience — 25 years of mountaineering that includes Mount McKinley, the Andes Mountains in South America and peaks in Europe, according to his mother, Lou Ann Cameron of Bryant, Ark.
"If anybody could survive, these conditions, really, it would be Kelly James. That's just the kind of fighting spirit he has," brother Frank James said.
Cooke, 36, a lawyer from New York City, and Hall, 37, a personal trainer who played for the now-defunct Dallas Rockets professional soccer team, are believed to have attempted a descent while James, 48, a landscape architect from Dallas, apparently remained near the summit.
By late Tuesday afternoon, the search was called off as blizzard conditions obscured the summit.
"Avalanche danger is very extreme right now. That's our biggest concern. Then the visibility goes down again; that's a problem, too," said Capt. Mark Ross of the National Guard's 304th Rescue Squadron, based in Portland. "It could be cloudy enough that the GPS may not pick up a signal, and then it gets real difficult."
Frustration was evident Tuesday among the search teams, who could see blue sky high above through the wind and snow, but were straining against the gusts on the slopes.
"It's a little frustrating but we can't risk this many rescuers to get to someone," Aaron Lee of Corvallis Mountain Rescue told CBS affiliate KOIN-TV.
But Chris Guertin, another sheriff's deputy, said searchers are not giving up.
"I am not going to say hopes are diminished," he told The Oregonian. "We're not going to throw in the towel and will keep searching as long as we can."
It's "definitely worth doing," agreed Ross. "I've found people who have been in the snow for longer periods. Kids even."