Mount Hood Hiker's Wife Shares Clues in Spouse's Icy Death

Dec. 11, 2008 — -- Two years ago this week, Karen James' husband, Kelly James, disappeared with two other men on the snowy slopes of Mount Hood in Oregon. After an unprecedented manhunt, rescuers found Kelly James' body in a snow cave.

But when his life ended, James' search for answers had just begun.

"Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy" is the result of her tireless quest. The book shares the clues she uncovered, including photos from a camera found on the mountain, and the emotional last conversation she had with her husband.

Click here to read an excerpt of "Holding Fast," by Karen James.

"When we left the mountain, we later learned that the investigation did not end," James told "Good Morning America" today. "And from the cell phone and from pictures in his camera and what we got back from the snow cave, revealed what really happened on the mountain and what they went through."

According to her research, one of the climbers fell at about 10,500 feet on the 11,249-foot mountain, and her husband was hurt during the climbers' rescue effort.

"So they rigged up this ingenious rope system, put Kelly in the middle and the three of them walked parallel, climbed parallel to the summit to go down the easier side," James said. "But the storms had come in and it was so horrendous up there that they had to drop back and find a snow cave."

It was from one of two snow caves where the hikers took refuge that Kelly James, 48, talked to his wife for the last time.

"You gotta hold on, OK?" she told him during their last conversation. "Because I got the Christmas tree's all decorated. It's so pretty. I can't wait for you to see it. Just stay awake, OK? I love you."

"I look at that phone call as the biggest blessing, because I got to tell my husband that I loved him," she said. "That's how our journey ended. We didn't know it was going to end there. ... There's not another way I would end it, the way we were, except with an 'I love you.' And I think that's pretty powerful."

Mountainside Mystery

Kelly James, who was an experienced hiker, disappeared with two other experienced hikers Sunday, Dec. 9, 2006. But because of poor weather conditions, rescuers were not able to mount a complete search effort with helicopters until nearly a week later.

Once weather allowed, heat-detecting helicopters and dozens of searchers on foot launched a search.

Rescuers became hopeful on Dec. 18 when they found a "Y" made of rope in the snow -- a universal message from climbers to indicate their location.

Nearby, searchers found a hand-dug snow cave 300 feet from the summit. The cave was empty except for a sleeping bag, ice axes and more rope.

There were footprints, which led to a second snow cave and the body of the victim. An autopsy later revealed that Kelly James had died of hypothermia.

There was no note and no further sign of the other two.

Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard, said the hikers' families kept the rescuers -- many of them volunteers -- motivated to continue the search, despite the dangers they faced with the avalanche conditions on the mountain.

"I want the mountain to release our sons," Maria Kim, the mother of one of the other hikers, said at the time. "I can't wait to hug my son Jerry."

But after an 11-day search, Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler told The Oregonian that the "hopeful survival period" had ended.