Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Mt. Hood Climbers Safe!


CNN.com has a happy ending to report on those three climbers trapped on Mount Hood yesterday. All three climbers, and their dog, are safe and sound and off the mountain this morning.

The three were part of a group of eight climbers on Hood, and were apparently roped together when they slid off an icy shelf and fell to a cliff below, carrying Velvet, a Labrador Retriever mix, with them. The other five members of the group called for rescue from the mountain using a cell phone. The rescue part was organized immediately but high winds and snow in the area delayed any attempt to retrieve them from the mountain.

Later yesterday, they were finally able to get to them and pull them off the mountain, little worse for wear. Rescuers say that two things helped to save their lives, and avoid the disaster from back in December. The first was that they were carrying a locator beacon, which they activated fairly quickly, and the second was that Velvet, the Lab, helped to keep them all warm while they awaitet rescue.

This story is a nice chane of pace from some of the ones we were hearing at the end of the year. The rescue team should be commended for it's excellent work. Great job all around and glad to hear that everyone is in one piece, including Velvet. :)

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