The latet report on the missing climbers on Mt. Hood from CNN.com is that weather forcasters now say it may be Saturday, at the earliest, before the search can continue. Meanwhile, the familes of the three climbers have come together in Oregon, waiting and hoping that the three have managed to find shelter from the storms that are currently battering the mountain. Wind gusts in excess of 100 MPH are expected today, with blizzard like conditions, which is currently hampering rescue operations.
One ray of hope however, is that a cell phone carried by one of the men was turned on as recently as Tuesday. Cellular company T-Mobile has been working with rescuers to send "ping" signals to the man's cell phone. For awhile the phone was turned off, most likely to conserve battery power, but sometime during the day on Tuesday the phone was switched on briefly, which seems to indicate that the men may be safe, and holed up in an ice cave, waiting out the storm.
I'll post more as it becomes available. Keep those fingers crossed!
Edit: Want reason to hold out hope of a rescue? Then check out this amazing story about three teenagers who survived on Mt. Hood after 13 days in a snow cave. (via The Oregonian)
Thanks Backcountry Blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment