Facebook-posting climber stranded on Mt. Hood found safe
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MOUNT HOOD, Ore. – After many hours of climbing up Mount Hood Wednesday night, rescue crews have located a climber stuck near the summit of Mount Hood.
Rescuers reached 30-year-old Jeff Kish of Portland around midnight, and the sheriff's office said he was returned to a base camp at about 2 a.m.
According to Mark Morford, a spokesman for Portland Mountain Rescue, Kish was stuck at about 10,000 feet in elevation near Crater Rock.
A 13-person rescue team from Portland Mountain Rescue worked its way up the mountain by snow cat to the Palmer ski lift, which is about 6,900 feet in elevation.
They then climbed the rest of the way to Kish's location, which was determined by GPS coordinates from his cellphone. Kish used his cellphone to stay in contact with rescuers, family and friends and post a couple of updates on his Facebook page.
According to Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Marcus Mendoza, Kish's cellphone ran out of battery power before rescuers reached him.
"You're gonna hear about it in the news anyway. ... Got stuck in a storm on the summit of mt. (sic) Hood," Kish wrote on Facebook hours before his phone died. "Called 911 after several hours of trying to self rescue."
Early in the rescue effort, Morford said Kish was not hurt, but he was cold and wet.
According to Clackamas County dispatch, Kish called 9-1-1 from the mountain just before 2 p.m.
He reported that a storm moved in and he could not find his way down in the whiteout conditions.
According to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, the visibility at the 10,000-foot level is about four feet and one to three inches of snow is expected overnight.
Kish registered his climb before departure and was well-equipped with climbing gear, warm clothes and other supplies.
Once again the mistakes of one put many others at risk. Have climbed Hood on many occasions and once had a storm come in on me near the summit on Cooper Spur. Had no trouble getting myself back down as I was smart enough to use my compass on the way up as well as my altimeter. Met a group of idiots sitting in the snow on the way down and they followed me to Sunrise. Several asked me how I was able to navigate in the whiteout. Why are these people even up there if they can't work a compass? You take bearings on the way up when you can see and write them down if you can't remember. All changes in direction should be done at the altitude you record on the way up. It's very easy but seems many aren't smart enough. Never climbed with anyone. all solo. Never had any issues in 30 years. Leave these idiots to fend for themselves. If they die, we don't need them around anyway. The world has too many morons as it is. Survival of the fittest and most intelligent. Nothing wrong with that.Â
I have done a little climbing, even summited Mt. Hood and I can't come to any other conclusion for this guy than he is reckless and counted on rescuers from the start. The weather pattern when he started and planned to end his climb was not good, he climbed alone, he had no thought about white out conditions and how he might find himself a way out eg. GPS, and to beat all he spends his time documenting this on facebook ! Good grief dude pick another hobby where you don't put others in danger for your attrocious stupidity !!!
 @TheMuleÂ
Agree. Â At least his cellphone was charged. Â
I don't care how hardcore you think you are. Climbing alone in winter conditions is asking for trouble.Â
Jeff, you are fit and love the outdoors. How about joining :-)Â http://www.pmru.org/aboutpmr/application.html
Â
maybe spare your cel phone battery for use in your rescue by WAITING TO POST STUFF ON FACEBOOK until you get home?   OMG/WTH/LOL!
I'm glad he's ok -- its always nice when a story like this has a happy ending for people involved and their friends and family.
Some people  have a desire to do things, that I would just not do. I like to hike and climb but it has to be warm. Glad he was found safeÂ
Lone climber trying to summit Mt. Hood this time of year with the weather we have been having lately. Not very bright.
 @Surveyor1 And all by himself to boot! Definitely not a smart move.
@DEC212012 @Surveyor1 And he definitely could have called 911 sooner. If he was able to self rescue, then everyone would have been happy to go home, but knowing someone is by themselves in a risky situation that could get worse, the deputies could have determined to start a rescue earlier or not. The risk and urgency increase as people get colder, run out of food/water, night falls, weather gets worse etc. Also imagine he wanders around In the whiteout and falls, then the rescuers may have to face a more risky/technical recovery. Glad everyone got out safely.
 @Surveyor1 Not only that but according to a report on GMA this morning they would have been able to find him hours earlier but lost contact with him when his cellphone battery went dead after repeated updates on Facebook. If he hadn't made it they should have put his cause of death as "death by addiction to FB'. Idiot!
@Petwlkr @Surveyor1 Facebook is so stupid anyway
 @Surveyor1 Agreed.  I've climbing Hood and love it.  But after experiencing a whiteout once never travel without a GPS.  What was he thinking...
I have to agree with you. Although we are both probably going to catch heck from the people who go skiing and mountain climbing saying this guy was cool and had every right to climb the mountain with storms raging it everday.
 @mstipton He should pay for the rescuers time.Â
@Yogi Bear @Komo Dragon @mstipton Good points. You know people are going to criticize others for things they do no matter how safe, dangerous, or how much planning goes into it. Climbing alone and at night in winter might be dangerous but not illegal.
I got hit by a truck a year ago while running to work from West Seattle (during the viaduct closure). I ended up almost dying from it but survived and recovered. A lot of people called me an idiot for running under the west seattle bridge where port traffic is heavy. Cest La Vie, you cant make everyone happy.
 @Komo Dragon  @northwestsurfer  @mstipton OK You've all given me good reasons why he shouldn't be charged. I hadn't even thought of the fact that many would delay until conditions worsen. As to living life to it's fullest, well he did put others at risk due to his timing late in the year. My son's best friend died on Mt Rainier about 10 years ago climbing at this time of year. I thought him stupid for climbing at that time.  I think that if you choose to climb when the risk factor is greatest, and you then get in trouble putting others at a greater risk than usually is the case, you should suffer some consequences.Â
 @northwestsurfer  @Yogi  @mstipton even if he had not followed protocol, not registered, and not been prepared, there would not be any charge for his rescue. If you get in trouble, don't delay, and call for help.Â
@Yogi Bear @mstipton He will not be charged because he followed protocol established by registering his climb before he left and going prepared for conditions.
Its easy for any of us to sit here behind anonymity of keyboards and computers and judge this guy for climbing by himself. Personally, I dont see he did anything wrong since he went prepared and let others know. This guy is living his life to the fullest, and responsibly.
@cyclops That's pretty judgmental ("self centered"). A lot of people who get rescued make donations, as do family members of people who die and are recovered. I am sure PMR would be glad to accept donations: pmru.org
@Surveyor1 In areas that charge for rescue, it has not shown to have any impact on people's behavior before they need help. I am not sure if I can post the link but there was a recent case in North Bend where a party of 5 delayed calling 911 for fear of being charged. As conditions worsen (night falls etc) this can greatly increase the risk to rescuers. Most rescue volunteer associations are pretty active in promoting awareness of the right gear and conditions. Also, if we are going to charge people money based on their behavior, let's focus on people who are breaking the law and actually costing us tax dollars. Why not charge criminals for the cost of the police time in catching them? Aren't they more deserving of our ire than someone who took a wrong turn or didn't pack the right gear?
@watcher Or maybe they will realize that it isn't wise to try and summit Mt. Hood by themselves this time of the year.
 @watcher Alright then he should donate money to the local search and rescue so they can upgrade gear and so forth. Would that be OK? Probably too self centered for that though.
@Yogi Bear PMR are all volunteer. The only behavior that charging for rescue encourages, is to cause people to delay calling 911 when they need help for fear of being charged, which puts rescuers at greater risk.