What makes people attempt a mountain climb in DECEMBER? This is regarding the three climbers on ...

Mt. Hood, Oregon, who are missing. It's one thing for people to get accidentally stranded on a snowy road returning home from a Thanksgiving celebration.

But this? I just can't understand it. It's one thing when climbers attempt it in the summer -- still very dangerous due to glaciers that can cause avalanches.

But in the winter?

Please explain this to me.

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Oregon


Beautiful but dangerous Mt. Hood, Oregon

Is there a monthly or seasonal variation regarding the issue of safety?

If you are walking up a glacier or icy slope with crampons and an ice axe, cold weather can be your friend.

There could be huge traffic accident in Portland today and 5 people
could be killed ..... the drivers & passengers were all taking a risk to
get into their cars ...... will those deaths get nationwide news hype?

Same with bear attacks 1 stinking bear attack in B.C. will get news
space in some paper in Florida but if 3 people are murdered in Georgia
that will get a whisper of coverage outside of the area it happened.

These poor bastards happened to get hit by a freak storm and paid
a steep price ..... and if the storm was that big it must have caused
some other fatalities too. Are those victims getting their play in the news?

Thier deaths ( I hope I am wrong) are news because they were "sexy."
Dying on mountain sells more papers then passed in a nursing home @ 83.

btw your are right it is not SMART to climb Mts. but for a few people it is
fun.

Go hike to the top of Mt. in Oregon this summer .....

I haven't had the opportunity to get into mountain climbing but would love to do so. That picture really does make me want to climb it because it is there.

in that meadow below the peak very nicely thank you.
I might skip the peak part :rofl:

Safest in the spring. In winter the snow makes some slopes less steep, and can cover areas of loose rock.

It's counterintuitive, but winter isn't the worst time to climb it.

that the loaded gun was there, the foot was there, and there was a chance no physical risk would be involved.

I don't see the difference between that and extreme mountain-climbing.

Whatever happened to lovely autumn hikes in the hills?

hood isn't THAT tough. absent the storm that trapped them in snow caves, you'd never have heard about this trio - just like you never hear about the 1000s that climb any mountain in winter, or ice-climb waterfalls.

witness this collection of recent trip reports for the NW: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/tripreports

the main risk they took was not knowing the weather forecast well enough to know they shouldn't have made the attempt without proper gear for a long bivouac.

I've climbed hood many times and at least 4 times in winter...these guys picked a bad weather window and didn't pack for a change in weather...I'm concerned for them.

Winter covers crevasses so you can walk right over them and you don't have to worry about rockfall...also, you get a nice ride down if you strapped a board to your back on the climb up.

Summer, especially late summer is a rockfall deathtrap on Hood.

Of course, I was raised in Florida! :sarcasm:

the Lodge to visit the snow.

I have great respect for Mother Nature and don't want to disturb her. Maybe I'm more at risk of dying while driving my car, but I think that's a rationalization.

So probably they were not being stupid, just unlucky.

Federal and state money are involved in these rescues. While I'm not saying there shouldn't be rescue efforts, it's expensive and other lives are endangered, too.

Maybe climbers should have to put up a bond in order to insure that our money doesn't go to these elite and dangerous activities.

But i do believe this needs to be looked into. I think anyone attempting to climb should have to meet certain requirements.
Proper gear.
Survival training.
Locating devices.
File a plan of the path they intend to take.

Not a climber, just guessing at these, but it seems there should be more done to insure the people are better equipped and trained before allowing them to take on such a task.

Most of us have a healthy respect for what's possible, and what's really dangerous.

Thanks for helping me understand all of this.

Here's my favorite sport -- SWIMMING!

But a Wooo Hooo is definitely in order. Made this old man's day.

That's what I get now, compliments from old men! Hey, what the heck, I'll take it!

The photo was from our 1984 trip to Egypt -- we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Giza. You can't see this, but they were baking bread in little ovens near the pool for snacks. It was about 105 degrees F. that day and practically no humidity.

Most people don't know it, but Egypt gets only ONE INCH OF RAIN A YEAR.



Radio Lady in Oregon

(For the record, I'm sneaking up on my 68th birthday next May 2007, and now married to a 72-years-young "old man" for 33 years. But, you know what? I would have loved to have been a rancher...! Once, when I was divorced with two small kids, and living in Miami, I danced with a single man from Montana at a nightclub. He offered to help me out if I would come to his ranch and just help with the chores. I didn't do it.)

Not to sure how i ended up here in west TX, but what the heck, after 50+ years, i stopped worrying about it.

You made the right move, not many Ranchers get to spend their summers in Egypt.

and walked the Underground. The mills were closed, unfortunately -- it was a Monday holiday.

Here's a photo that will be more to your liking (and mine) -- a couple of trailriders in the hill country of San Antonio, Texas.

Hmm, let's see, there's a big storm coming, I think we should climb that mountain over yonder.