Mount Hood climbers’ chances of survival feared dwindling

PORTLAND – Whether two climbers missing on Mount Hood for more than a week are still alive is not clear. But if they are somehow still hanging on in the brutal cold, perhaps hunkered down in a snow cave, they may be going through what veteran climbers say is a slow, dispiriting assault on both mind and body.

“We are approaching that time when we have to make serious consideration whether we are spinning our wheels,” Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler, who is overseeing the search, said Tuesday.

A day earlier, rescuers returned to the 11,239-foot mountain to retrieve the body of 48-year-old Kelly James from the snow cave near the summit where he was found dead.

On Tuesday, two fixed-wing airplanes flew over the mountain to look for his companions, Brian Hall, 37, and Jerry “Nikko” Cooke, 36. Rescuers are hoping Hall and Cooke “stick their heads up out of their hole and rescue themselves. We want to be there to see that, if that happens,” Wampler said.

But the search operation was winding down.

It was unclear whether the two were swept off the mountain by 100 mph winds, were buried in last week’s blizzards or created a shelter for themselves by burrowing into the snow and sharing their body heat, as climbers are trained to do.

Avalanche teams planned to use long poles to poke through the 10-foot-deep snow.

Hopes of finding them alive dimmed after officials developed film in a disposable camera found in James’ pocket. The pictures, taken as the men began their ascent, show the three had enough gear and provisions for a quick climb up Mount Hood but not for a longer period out in the elements.