1 body found in cave
HOOD RIVER, Ore. — A missing climber found dead in a snow cave on Mount Hood was identified as a Dallas man who had placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family said today.
Searchers found a snow cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from Kelly James, who made a four-minute call to his family Dec. 10 just below the summit, said Jessica Nunez, a spokeswoman for the climber's family.
A recovery team today was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain overnight because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve. The search for two other climbers also was to resume.
The discovery brought a sad conclusion to a long week of anxious optimism in the search for three men on the 11,239-foot mountain.
Family members had relied on intense religious faith, along with confidence that the extensive mountaineering experience of the trio would save them from a week of blizzard storms and single-digit temperatures that kept search teams and helicopters at bay on the treacherous north side of Oregon's highest mountain.
Pete Hughes, of the Hood River County sheriff's office, the lead agency in the search said the search for the two other climbers would center on possible descent routes on Eliot Glacier and Cooper Spur, relatively lower levels of the mountain, in case the other two got down that far.
"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said today. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."
Searchers found a snow cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals traced from James.
He told his family the climbing party was in trouble and that the other two had headed back down, apparently for help. He may have been injured.
James' body was found in a second snow cave near the first, about 300 feet below the summit. Rescuers found two ice axes, a sleeping bag or pad and rope in the first. It was not known if any gear was in the second cave.
"We remain hopeful," said Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard. "We are going to still collect information and pursue the rescue of the two other climbers."
Near the first snow cave, helicopters had spotted rope that had been intentionally laid out in a Y-shape, which climbers often use to indicate their location. There also was an ice spike and footprints, apparently headed up the mountain, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, a spokesman for the Hood River County sheriff's office.
Searchers dug through the first cave to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues. The second cave with James' body was found a short time later.
It was not clear which cave was occupied first, or why or when the climber, or climbers, decided to move from it.
Weather conditions have been harsh since the three were reporting missing, with heavy snow and wind gusts of up to 100 mph. The snow stopped Saturday, but wind of up to 50 mph blew the fresh snow, hampering visibility.
There has been no communication since a week ago Sunday when James made the cell phone call, and none since the climb began from Brian Hall, 37, also of Dallas, or Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York City.
Braibish said Sunday that the families gathered here had been told that one fatality was confirmed but that there was no positive identification.
"Our hearts are going out to the families right now," said Braibish.
