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1. Administrator said,

   April 27, 2007 at 8:52 am

   HS 12/22/06

   Q: I want to do a session for the climbers on Mt. Hood; Brian Hall, Kelly James, and Nikko Cooke.

   Devastating events are due to 3 problems which cascaded to 2 of them and possibly the 3rd.

   1. Being ill-prepared for changing weather and harsh conditions.

   2. Their staging area was ill defined, packed snow was shifting.

   3. Accidents occurred and defined their fate.

   Brian Hall was the first to die by falling into a crevasse. The others tried to help him and James Kelly was injured. They managed to suspend Brian in a harness but he later died of hypothermia and exposure. When James Kelly accidentally died from hypothermia and exposure (not his injuries) he was moved to the second snow cave. A severe storm hit and Nikko Cooke rode it out in the first snow cave alone. At the first break in the weather, he went for help but not before checking in on Brian who was still alive (conscious) but fading.

   Nikko became disoriented and wandered off course. He sat down and watched the Sunset at Mount Hood as he faced out to the desolate and harsh climb before him (The West was to his left shoulder). He somewhat lost the will to go on.

   The collapse of the trek was a worse case scenario. Everything that could go wrong did. The men are sorry for the pain it caused their families and friends and all of the rescue efforts. Nikko was a warrior in his heroic efforts to save the others and bring a positive conclusion to the events. He may be found “outside the Pearly Gates”.

   Brian Hall’s crevice is above and to the right of the snow caves at about (3,000 feet?). Willfully exchange the information for this. Surreptitious binding left one man dead and another man injured meaning faulty equipment performance and being ill prepared for the weather allowed this catastrophe. Inability to see the futility of Brian’s situation, the others would not give up and this led to their own deaths. If they would have left Brian behind and descended immediately before the bad weather hit the outcome may have been different.

   Packing renewable sources of energy for heating was a critical error in the planning process combined with the unprecedented weather conditions and impaired judgment of the climbers. They relied too much on experience and training and not enough on equipment such as GPS tracking and emergency location equipment as well as heavy duty radios.

   Mount Hood should now be upgraded to a much more treacherous climb due to climate changes. This mountain has claimed more climbers than is currently known. The lesson is to pack for the worst, watch for a better window of opportunity, stay together, prepare mentally for tragic consequences, and be prepared to make hard decisions. That is about it for this session.

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