Three Missing on Mt. Hood UPDATED

Searchers continue to be hampered by high winds and poor weather while they search for three climbers, missing since Sunday on Oregon's Mt. Hood.

The climbers intentions were well known. Climb the 11,239 foot mountain via a route on the difficult north face, then descend the south face. The three failed to appear at a pre-arranged meeting with a friend on Saturday afternoon, by mid morning on Sunday, their friend raised the alarm. Although all three men areexperienced climbers, none of them had attempted this mountain before.

Contact was made briefly with one of the climbers using a cell phone on Sunday Afternoon. Kelly James of Dallas, Tx, made contact with his family and told them he was in a snow cave near the summit and feeling exhausted. It is thought Brian Hall, also of Dallas, Tx and Jerry Cooke, of Brooklyn, N.Y. had started descending the north face to get help.

Winds of up to 70mph have grounded helicopters and kept searchers off the mountain for extended periods. To make matters worse, meteorologists had predicted up to 18 inches of snow to fall over the next couple of days then possibly a good weather window between storm fronts.

21/12/06: Almost two weeks into a search and rescue that was continually hampered by foul weather, the operation is now slowly winding down. The body of Texas man Kelly James was recovered by helicopter from a well built snow cave near the summit of the mountain on Wednsday.

Rescuers are piecing together a picture of the climbers activities and speculate that James injured his shoulder during the climb up the North face, not far from the summit. The first snow cave that was discovered had been hastily built and anchors, discarded ice tools and a length of severed climbing rope near to the cave indicate there was an emergency. The second snow cave, where the frozen body of Kelly James was found, was further to the south and just 100m below the summit. It was better built and big enough to accommodate three people. James was in bivy sac, but had no sleeping bag nor insulated jacket. It is believed the other two climbers tried to descend the north face when bad weather stopped their descent down the south side. It is possible they fell to the Elliot Glacier. Searchers would like to look at the upper reaches of Eliot Glacier, where bodies of other climbers have been found in the past, but an impending storm discounts that for the moment.

A fund has been set up to help defray travel costs of members of the affected families and meet some of the $50,000+ cost of the rescue operation. Donations can be made to the "Kelly James Rescue Fund." care of:

Dallas National Bank 2725 Turtle Creek Blvd. Dallas, Texas 75219 (214) 224-7300

23/12/06 With yet another storm threatining to over-run the Mt. Hood, search co-ordinator, Sheriff Joe Wampler has called off the search for the two climbers that remain somewhere on the mountain. Wampler said he is also acting on the wishes of the mens families. " The chance of survival is pretty nil," He said. "I don't think I can justify putting any more people in the field with the hope of finding them alive.",