The latest reports from Mt. Hood leave almost no hope that the two lost climbers are alive. The bottom line on the two outdoor tragedies in the state this month is: 4 males dead or missing, 3 females alive and well. The three females are the members of the Kim family who stuck with the Saab on Bear Camp Road on December 2, when James Kim went off to try and find help, and died of exposure.
“There is a teaching there in the woman and kid and baby taking the soft path, and living,” Rob Buchanan, a contributing editor at Outside magazine said to me at the time.
Maybe that’s the teaching in the Mt. Hood disaster too. It looks like after Kelly James dislocated his shoulder summiting Hood, Brian Hall and Nikko Cooke parked him in a snow cave below the summit and went off to find help. The weather turned on them, a full-on storm on treacherous Cooper Spur. The evidence suggests that they fell hundreds of feet and their bodies are buried. The only one to be found is James, curled up dead in the cave, from which he had made a distress call on his cellphone a week ago. It does raise the question: Should Hall and Cooke have waited in the cave with James? Would they have gained anything? Of course I can imagine how they felt: impatient to take action, impatient to get down off the mountain. Especially if they lacked fuel. The same feeling that drove James Kim after a week to leave the Saab that saved his family’s life. Propelled by maleness, I would have done the same.
I hope the outdoors experts weigh in on this question…
Saw your post while searching for the latest news. First, we don't know the facts here. I can, however, generalize based on 30+ years of outdoor experience. Assuming suitable gear and clothing, the best course would be for the climbers to build adequate shelter (a snow cave) and hunker down and wait for help.
I feel for the families of the climbers. The climbers I am sure did what they thought was right under their specific circumstances.
… and then there's the male that stayed with his vehicle on Bear Camp Road (same place as James Kim) in winter a few years ago … his dead body was found the next spring.
The lesson here is, male or female, avoid getting yourself into dangerous situations to begin with!
You are correct, Steve, about avoiding those situations altogether. As for staying put when stranded, doing that might have also doomed the Stivers family who were stuck in the snow in an area north of where the Kims were. After 17 days, two of them hiked out to secure their rescue. Good thing, because no search was in progess for them.
I believe sticking together would have been the best course of action. Says that they were in TROUBLE and needed HELP giving exact location with cellphone to have a helicopter sent – it would have been ahead of the storm. They could have offered to cover any costs.
Every situation is different. USUALLY it is better to stay put…not always.
The photos left behind by Kelly James indicate that the three climbers were flirting with disaster when they first started out — with less-than-adequate clothing and only enough food & supplies to last provided everything went as scheduled, which of course, it didn't. Weather on the crest of the Cascades Range is highly unpredictable anytime of the year. I know that "shoulda, coulda" are useless, hindsight words, BUT if these guys had brought a little more in clothing, food and fuel, AND all 3 had hunkered down in the snow cave together for warmth, chances of their survival for a few more days would have been much greater – which may have made the difference in this case. Provided that loved ones are aware of the itineraries of adventurers like these (so they can maybe start rescue efforts in time), staying put in times of trouble is almost always the best option. But that option also requires some advance preparation.
"propelled by maleness"?
we think not little phil.
My response to your question, at least in the Kim case, is that the premise is flawed — i.e., the real question isn't whether James Kim should have stayed with his car or not. It's whether he should have considered his cell phone a reliable means of communication in a remote location — and the answer is an emphatic no.
Although many people consider cell phones the latest and greatest way to protect their families on the road, the truth is that these devices are highly undependable in remote areas because they use line-of-sight communication and depend on the ability to contact cell towers.
So what would have been more dependable for Mr. Kim? The answer may surprise you, but a good old-fashioned amateur (ham) radio could likely have summoned help by day's end. I'm totally serious — in the plight facing the Kims, even a 10-watt, 40-year-old mobile unit would have stood a better shot at getting help than a 2006 cell phone. And it probably would have succeeded.
Unfortunately, the average person has little knowledge of radio theory, not to mention the problems associated with operating a cell phone in America's "back forty."
Anyway, you mentioned seeking opinions from "outdoors experts," but I would suggest approaching the situation from a different aspect: communications. A working ham radio is worth 100 strategies on staying put/going for help. (Note: Yes, a federal license is required to operate an amateur radio, but children under 10 have passed the required exam.)
Hope this helps.
The James Kim story continues to attract scrutiny, but mostly has shifted to the 'blame game.' This is unfortunate and, at this stage, is likely only going to seek a scapegoat rather than keep a broader perspective.
The Kim family travelled into unknown, remote terrain late at night. They were hihgly intelligant and technologically savy, but not off a freeway or in the back country.
I grew up in the region (southern Oregon and remote parts of northern Calif.). No cell phones, GPS, nor four wheel drive. I never got myself stuck or lost for more than a few hours. Mostly, I carried the right eruipment (shovel, ax, etc.), and did not drive into snow covered roads on impoassable roads in winter. You must be resonsible for your own actions.
It was a trajedy that James Kim lsot his life. They drove off the paved road for 21 miles before turning around. They were out of cell phone range. Also, for you city slickers, cell phones may not work when on the InterState in that region! It is mountainous.
However, truckers are always out there. Yes, a cheap CB radion or two-meter short wave would be better choices. Bet you could buy either. You need a license for short wave but it is not that hard anymore (no Morse Code). Or, what my brother told me and he is an electronic expert. Point is: stay on major roads in winter.
Another point is jumping all over the Deputy Sheriff for watching a football game on his day off. Some think he should work 18 hrs for 7 days straight. Maybe he started making bad decisions because of lack of sleep and stress. Rescuers need breaks if they are to remain sharp.
I could point out many mistakes by the Kim family. It was a series of errors, mostly good folks lost in the backwoods. Why dredge up the past. Time to be forgiving and learn from events. I only wish they had stayed on Bear Mtn Rd (paved route that was coveredby snow up near top of grade).
Someone pointed out that a person died up there in 1994, but that road was less maintained then and likely gravel. There are thousands of miles of gravel roads in so. Oregon; turn off paved routes, and you are in trouble unless prepared, know your area (detailed maps), communication devices that work, and other such survival equipment.
god speed. let it go.
Rich, Oregon Mtn Man
One story I read had this in it.
That the Kim's were using a GPS unit to tell them where to go. There are numerous errors in those databases. That was compounded by someone having cut the locks on a road or roads that are supposed to be closed in winter.
The sad lesson here is that you shouldn't rely on technology too much & in winter more than any other season, you need to be far more prepared for days of being stranded if you are heading off into the back country. The only other technology that would have helped them might have been a satellite phone.