Portland, Ore. – For three climbers stranded on Mount Hood, survival came down to a live transmitter and a warm dog.
Covering up with two sleeping bags, a tarp and a black Lab named Velvet as winds howled around them at up to 70 mph, two women and a man beamed signals to rescuers who were able to fix their precise location.
“The dog probably saved their lives,” said Erik Brom, a member of the Portland Mountain Rescue team.
After Velvet helped the climbers through the night on the 11,239-foot mountain, radio transmitters the size of sunglass cases led rescuers to the group.
The three were taken away in an ambulance late Monday, with Velvet leaping in behind them. The climbers were expected to be fine.
The “mountain locator units” are available for rental around the Mount Hood area. While lauding the dog, search leaders also gave due credit to the devices and the climbers’ use of them.
“The most important part of this rescue is that they did everything right,” said Lt. Nick Watt of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department.
One of the rescued women, who was not named, was taken to a Portland hospital and treated for a head injury, said Jim Strovink, sheriff’s spokesman. “She’s going to be fine,” he said.
The other climbers, Portland-area teachers Matty Bryant and Kate Hanlon, both 34, were taken to a lodge on the mountain to rejoin five other members of the group that set out Saturday but ran into bad weather.
The party was separated when the three climbers slipped off a ledge at about 8,300 feet, slid about 500 feet down an incline and later moved from the site of the fall.
Those above called for help. That group of five made it off the mountain Sunday and were reported in good condition.
Trevor Liston of Portland, who was among the five, said at a news conference that the three climbers in the lead were holding onto a rope when they slipped over the ledge. The dog was clipped to the rope and was also dragged down, he said.
“The lead climber went,” and “two people right behind him didn’t have enough time to react,” Liston said.
Rather than attempt a rescue, the climbers decided to call for help.
