One Of The Lost Climbers Found Dead In Snow Cave

Mt. Hood body identified as Kelly James


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 Monday.



Searchers found the 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.

On Monday, a recovery team was expected to retrieve the body, which remained on the mountain over night because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve. The search for two other climbers also was to resume on the treacherous north side of Oregon's highest mountain.

The discovery of James' body 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.

James, 48, had told his family that his climbing party was in trouble and that Brian Hall, 37, also of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York City, had headed back down, apparently for help. James may have been injured.

His 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.

James' mother, Lou Ann Cameron, told The Associated Press she did not want to talk about her son and referred questions to the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

Monday's search 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, said Pete Hughes of the sheriff's office, the lead agency in the search.

"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said Monday. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."

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 the climber's body was found a short time later.

It was not immediately 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.

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This is very sad news. Everyone's hopes had been so high that the climbers would be found in time. Now, one family has lost a father and husband. All our heartfelt regards go out to Kelly James' family. This Christmas will be a sad one for them. Always.Please pray very hard for the rremaining 2 climbers. Pray that they are found alive and soon. If they are already beyond our help, then I pray they are at least found soon.

Search Continues For Three Missing Climbers

Search resumes for climbers on Mt. Hood




COOPER SPUR, Ore. - Cold rain lashed the base of Mount Hood on Wednesday as search parties headed back up the treacherous slopes to look for three climbers missing since the weekend.

A fresh team was joining the search Wednesday, and crews may get some help from heat-seeking, unmanned aircraft provided by a Colorado company and pinpoint cell phone detection equipment from another high-tech company, said Pete Hughes of the Hood River County Sheriff's Department.

"But if anybody is above the 7,000-foot range, we're not going to be able to get to them," Hughes said. "And we're probably not going to be able to get to them by Thursday either, unless there happens to be a break in the weather."

Even at the base camp at Cooper Spur, the wind hit 60 mph Wednesday morning and temperatures hovered in the 30s. At higher elevations, the teams have faced wind so strong it knocked them off their feet, plus poor visibility in blowing snow and a threat of avalanches. More stormy weather was in the forecast.

"The next 48 hours is not looking very good," Hughes said.

Plans called for two staging camps on the north and south sides of the mountain so teams can head to the summit quickly if the weather breaks, he said.

There had been no contact with the missing climbers since Sunday, when one reached his family by cell phone to say he was in a snow cave high on the mountain and his two companions had gone for help.

The rescue effort was hampered because the three climbers had taken one of the most difficult approaches to the summit, scaling the north side of the mountain where slopes tilt at angles of 50 or 60 degrees and feature become sheer walls of ice.

Higher flanks of the mountain have been scoured by wind up to 80 mph.

Kelly James, Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke had planned a "quick climb" on Mount Hood, traveling light to make the ascent as fast as possible, officials said.

Cooke, 36, a lawyer from New York City, and Hall, 37, a personal trainer who played for the now-defunct Dallas Rockets professional soccer team, are believed to have attempted a descent while James, 48, a landscape architect from Dallas, apparently remained near the summit.

James has the most experience — 25 years of mountaineering that includes Mount McKinley, the Andes Mountains in South America and peaks in Europe, his family said.

"My brother has been climbing for 25 years, and he would know what to do in a difficult situation," said Frank James. "He's been in a number of situations and always managed to get out well. I think that's a testament to his experience."

Frank James said it wasn't clear from his brother's four-minute cell phone call whether he was injured. His brother did appear to be feeling the effects of the cold and said he was worried about the weather, he said.

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Good luck. I hope these guys turn up safe and sound. Funny how these stories take on new meaning in the Christmas season. Everyone becomes so much more aware of "goodwill" and "love your neighbor". Would that this could go on all year long.

Merry Christmas to all of you and a very, Happy and Prosperous New Year.