Officials fear climbers lost on Mt. Hood
Search begins
today
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:42 PM PST
PORTLAND (AP) — Two men failed to return from a climb on Mount Hood as planned, and a search for them might start Tuesday at daybreak, the authorities said.
The men, described as experienced climbers, were due off the mountain Monday afternoon and have not answered calls to a cell phone they are believed to have been carrying, said Detective Jim Strovink of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Conditions on Mount Hood were described as blizzard-like late Monday and early Tuesday and the vehicle the men took to the mountain remained at Timberline Lodge.
Strovink said the men might have left the 11,239-foot mountain with other people, and it’s too early to say they definitely got caught in the bad weather.
But search and rescue teams were preparing to look early Tuesday.
Many rescue efforts have taken place on the heavily climbed mountain over the years, including two high-profile searches last winter.
Three out-of-state climbers died in December 2006 after getting caught in a blizzard. Two months later, three hikers and a dog named Velvet were saved after falling over an icy ledge.
More than 35 climbers have died on Mount Hood in the past 25 years.
