Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Climber found dead on Mt. Hood; 2 missing

I know this isn't Whitney news but it is always so sad to read about the death of a fellow mountaineer. Hoping the two missing climbers are found alive. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the climber who died... he was only 26 years old.
msnbc

Its sad and also frustrating to keep reading about deaths like this that happen during well foretasted storm events. Mt Hood seems to get several of these types of incidents every year.

Agreed. This nasty storm was predicted at least five days in advance. I don't get it - especially when this peak is so easy to get to. Change your plans and come some other day.

People sometimes push to attain their mountaineering goals, driven by peer pressure, weekend/work time limitations, the false notion of invincibility that some younger and/or experienced climbers seem to have, etc. Many times there is pressure to complete a goal after having planned for a long time and travelled a long distance (such as the long trip from the Mid-West or East-Coast to climb Whitney).

It is not shameful to give up and turn back when conditions might lead you or your group into unreasonable danger. The mountains will always be there; you can always return and try again. Remember, there is nothing romantic about dying in the mountains.

...or heroic. Heroes die in the line of duty, and they rarely choose to be where they are at the time of their demise.

As Froggie (Navy Seal) puts it:

"Hiking is not a combat mission; you are allowed to abort!"

B

Like this quote.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the exact same incident happen a few years back on Hood? As far as I can remember they found one of the guys dead in a snow cave or something, and no trace was ever found of the other two guys (or did they eventually find them in the summer?)..

Hate to see history repeating itself..

Unforunately, not everyone is, shall we say, historically aware.

December 7, 2006...

No trace, no recovery...

Climbers now "presumed dead". Search operations called off. Switching to recovery.

http://www.examiner.com/x-5181-Jackson-Weather-Examiner~y2009m12d15-Mount-Hood-Climbers-likely-deceased-due-to-the-extreme-weather

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/12/mt-hood-climbers.html

http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Mis...Wzy6MXjD0Q.cspx

KMTR.COM:

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. -- The effort to find two climbers missing on Mt. Hood is now a recovery mission, officials announced at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

"The weather has not been on our side," said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts in announcing the decision.

The fathers of the two climbers still missing on Mt. Hood expressed gratitude to rescuers for their efforts.

"They have done everything that they could do," said David Nolan, father of climber Katie Nolan. "We know that Katie is in heaven," Nolan added. "She has lived a life that is exemplary." "Katie loved the mountain so much she wanted to be buried up there. And right now she is," said Nolan.

John Vietti, Anthony Vietti's father, also thanked searchers and expressed his faith in God. "This has not shaken our faith, it has strengthened it," said Vietti.

Vietti said the last correspondence he had with his son was a handwritten note included in a birthday present Anthony sent to his mother, expressing his love and his anticipation for seeing his parents soon. "That was the last correspondence we had with him, and we will always cherish it," said Vietti.

Am I correct saying this is the deadliest mountain in the lower 48? This seems to happen all the time on Hood, and it's rarely just one person.

A few thoughts...
* Some say it's a numbers thing. So many attempt Mt. Hood.
* Inexperienced & unprepared climbers.
* Unpredictable weather changes.
* Large ice formations near the Hogsback and Pearly Gates on the south side that dislodge and have knocked climbers off the mountain.
* Climbers get lost on the north side and descend down the fall line leading to drop offs. Some climbers have fallen; others get caught in bad weather unprepared.
* North side routes are technical with glaciers hosting crevasses and icy conditions.

Hmmm ... I don't think so, but it might be close. Whitney can be deadly, too. I think at least 2 died this year on Whitney - the fellow who was found below Muir, and a woman who slipped on the MR late last winter. There may have been others this year - I believe one fellow died as a result of AMS, but I think he was over on Old Army Pass.

I think the total deaths are much more on Mt Rainier.

http://www.seattlepi.com/ghostsofrainier/fall302.shtml

http://www.seattlepi.com/ghostsofrainier/rain.shtml

Raw video (no audio) of the ground and air search for the missing climbers:

http://www.kgw.com/home/related/Sky-8-over-Mt-Hood-climber-search-79252067.html

I found this link last January (the story was re-posted in August). The article is a compilation of climbing fatalities on Mt. Hood dating back to '59 excluding this recent incident. I noted no fatalities from '59 to '75... most likely there were but not recorded in this article.

m.c., Ridgeline, cool links - thanks. Lotta good information. I suppose what was in the back of my mind about Hood is all those multiple fatalities. I suppose it goes with the territory of glaciated mountains like Rainier, Hood and Adams. I had no idea so many had died on Rainier over the years, even excluding plane crashes.

Imagine what the numbers would be for Whitney if it was glaciated . . .

This is from a friend of the climbers. Excellent read!

http://bencrawfordlife.com/