Clearer Skies Spur All-Out Search for Climbers
Dec. 16, 2006 — -- On foot, on powerful mountain machines and in the air, searchers launched an all-out assault today, racing to find three climbers missing on the highest mountain in Oregon.
For more than a week, weather has been the enemy on Mount Hood. Today, even with the winds, the blowing snow, the biting cold and the threat of avalanches, the skies gave searchers something of a break.
Similar weather is expected as the search continues Sunday.
In the shadow of Mount Hood, the rescue flight crews got a sendoff today unlike anything they have experienced, as the families of Kelly James, Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke hugged pilots, shook their hands and implored them to bring their loved ones home.
"I know my son's coming down today," said James' mother, Lou Ann Cameron. "It's my birthday … and he wouldn't miss by birthday."
"I want to the mountain to release our sons, and mountain has no right to keep our sons," said Cooke's mother, Maria Kim. "I can't wait to hug my son."
After a week of blizzard like conditions, today was the clear weather the families have prayed for, and the first good chance to rescue the three missing climbers who've now been on the frozen mountain more than a week.
"We have resources," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Chris Bernard. "We have the weather. We have a plan. We're going to get to work to save these people."
In what they called an all-out assault, 25 rescue climbers made their way toward the summit from south, and another 30 climbers from the north -- though by the afternoon they were headed back down after failing to reach the top amid white-out conditions.
Black Hawk helicopters with spotters and emergency medics flew a steady series of missions and a number of fixed-wing aircraft, including a C-130 military plane with specialized heat-seeking cameras, blanketed Mount Hood from the air.
The rescue teams were hand picked, each with an avalanche expert and attacked the mountain on what desperate families knew might be the last good chance to find the men alive.
Search teams have renewed hope that the three climbers might still be alive after finding a note the trio left at a ranger station before heading out last Thursday. The note detailed their supplies, including food, fuel and parkas.
Families Remain Hopeful
"These guys, they know what to do," said James' wife, Karen James. "They're fighters. We know that every night before they go to sleep, they go, 'We're coming down girls. We're coming down to you.'"
On Saturday's "Good Morning America Weekend Edition," Frank and Jason James, James' brother and son, echoed Karen's sentiment.
"Back in 1976, there were three teenagers who lasted 13 days on this mountain," Frank James said. "We are sure that if anybody can survive up there, my brother can do it along with these two guys.
"We're not giving up hope here at all," Frank James said. "We want them to get off that mountain."
"I know for a fact that he's holding on," said Jason, Kelly's son. "If anyone is well enough equipped for this kind of scenario, it's my dad."
At a press conference today, Clara Hall, mother of missing hiker Brian, said she and the other mothers are supporting each other and hoping for the return of their sons. And she said today that she has a new reason to hope.
"Whenever Brian climbed the mountain," she said, "our goal was every night we're going to look at the same moon. Last night, I saw the moon. I'm very hopeful about that."