1 Dead, 2 Missing on Mt. Hood

Multiple news agencies are reporting on 1 dead and 2 climbers missing on Mt. Hood as of Saturday, December 12. They left the Timberline Wy’east Day Lodge at 1:00 a.m. Friday morning for a 12 hour climb up the Reid Glacier but never returned. Friends alerted Search and Rescue (SAR) when they failed to return as scheduled.

Yesterday 26 year-old climber Luke Gullberg was found dead near 9, 000 feet. Climbing gear was found strewn randomly on the glacier. Angles in this area reach 60 degrees. 30 SAR personnel were involved in the efforts on Saturday and reported  the area was avalanche prone and  conditions were dangerous. Sunday no foot searches were launched based on the conditions and a military helicopter was requested to continue the search.

The climbers registered their plan at the Lodge but were not carrying any type of locator beacon. The other climbers are 24-year-old Anthony Vietti  and 29-year-old Katti Nolan.

Mt Hood has been the scene of multiple deaths and rescues over the past decade. 10, 000 people attempt Hood each year and there have been 130 deaths. Rescues are highly publicized and in fact, Hood was the scene of a helicopter crash in 2002 shown on national television during a rescue attempt. In 2006, 3 climbers died in a highly visible search. The worst event was of 9 students who died in a storm in 1986.

With every search, regardless of the result, a debate is fueled as to who should pay for SAR; should climbers be forced to carry locator beacons such as SPOT devices or should climbing be allowed at all. The debate is usually emotionally filled. In 2007, the Oregon legislature tried to mandate locator beacons for all climbers but the measure failed.

Climbers argue that mountains and climbing are part of everyone’s domain and should never be regulated. The other viewpoints speak of huge costs incurred by the hundreds of people and equipment in avoidable situations. However, this is rarely cited for rescues by the Coast Guard. Climbers account for 3.4% of the SAR activity in Oregon; hunters and other people getting lost account for the majority of searches.

Often, the point is ignored that SAR individuals are for the most part volunteers. Climbers argue that regulating climbing would reduce the experience. As climbers know, sometimes incidents in mountains occur that are unavoidable and are just part of mountaineering. However, it is true that climbers will, through ambition or otherwise, put themselves in situations that could have been avoided such as ignoring weather forecasts or not carrying locator beacons given the risks of winter climbing.

Personally, I always carefully evaluate weather and avalanche conditions plus the forecast; I now own a SPOT locator beacon and always carry sufficient gear to survive overnight even in harsh winter conditions. Yet, one day, I too may need the services of SAR. To that end I an annual Colorado Search and Rescue Card, CORSAR, for $3. While this is not insurance, by purchasing a CORSAR card I am contributing to the Search and Rescue Fund, which will reimburse teams for costs incurred in a search and rescue.

My condolences to all the families involed and let’s hope the remaining two are found safe. Oregonlive has an excellent summary of the situation.

Update: Monday 14 December

Multiple aircraft conducted air searches on Sunday and will resume today when the weather allows. It is still termed a search effort at this point.

Update: Wednesday 16 December

With substantial new snow falling on Mt. Hood over the past two days, no ground and limited air searches have taken place. With no contact now for 5 days, a doctor at the mountain today put their survival chances at 1%. Officials changed the status to a recovery mission as of late Wednesday.