Hood River, Ore. – With yet another snowstorm barreling in, search teams gave up any hope of finding two missing climbers alive on wind-whipped Mount Hood and abandoned the rescue effort Wednesday after nine frustrating days.
“We’ve done everything we can at this point,” said Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler, choking back tears after one last, fruitless flyover of the 11,239-foot peak.
As the weather permits, officials will now look for the bodies of Brian Hall and Jerry “Nikko” Cooke, he said.
Some of the climbers’ relatives had wanted the search called off, though not all, Wampler said, adding that he didn’t want to imperil search teams in foul weather. “This time of year, Mount Hood is a dangerous place to be,” he said.
The men’s families had no immediate comment. Three climbers in all were reported missing on Mount Hood on Dec. 11. One of them, 48-year-old Dallas landscape architect Kelly James, was found dead in a snow cave Sunday. An autopsy Wednesday showed he had been dead for several days, said Dr. Larry Lewman of the state medical examiner’s office. He died of hypothermia.
Volunteers continued scouring the mountains for signs of James’ climbing partners, Hall, a 37-year-old personal trainer from Dallas, and Cooke, a 36-year-old lawyer from New York City. But climbing gear found on the peak suggested the two may have been swept to their deaths over a precipice or buried in an avalanche.
The sheriff’s announcement ended a dramatic search on the rocky, snow-covered flanks of Oregon’s tallest mountain and included, at its height, scores of volunteers, sheriff’s deputies and National Guard troops on foot and in helicopters and a plane.
The three men set out Dec. 8 on what was supposed to be a two-day climb. On Dec. 10, however, James called his family via cellphone to say the party was in trouble and his two companions had gone for help. Authorities suspect he suffered a dislocated shoulder, perhaps in a fall.
