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CNN Live Today

Rescue on Mt. Hood

Aired January 13, 2003 - 11:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Five mountain climbers are trying to warm up today after getting lost on Oregon's Mount Hood this weekend. They had to dig a snow cave to protect themselves from the cold, the snow and the win until rescuers who went out after them were able to get to them. The search team called the climbers on their cell phones and pinpointed them with a mountain locator unit. The elevation was so steep there, they had to bring in a helicopter. I don't how they did it, but we're going to find out now.
Shawn Collinson is a deputy sheriff for Clackamus County, Oregon, and he joins us on the telephone to give us some more details on this story.

Hey, tell us about this. How were the rescuers able to reach these climbers?

SHAWN COLLINSON, DEPUTY SHERIFF: Actually, they didn't get the helicopter involved in this incident because, the weather conditions were so bad. They actually had to run halfway up the mountain by snowcat, and they walked the rest of the way up towards the summit from there.

HARRIS: Now back up for a second here. What's a snowcat? To a guy that lives in Atlanta, I don't think I have much experience with that. What's a snowcat?

COLLINSON: It's kind of an all-terrain vehicle for the snow. It can literally go up almost the face of a mountain.

HARRIS: No kidding? So the thing is, you used these snowcats to get up there, and did you actually make contact with the five climbers or what?

COLLINSON: Yes, we did. Probably,k about 2:00 yesterday we made contact. They had come outside of their snow cave and flagged us down. They were probably within 1,000 feet of the summit of the mountain.

HARRIS: So were they on their way down, or their way up?

COLLINSON: They had submitted the day before, but due to weather conditions, they had gotten off their track, and they came back down probably 1,000 feet from the top before they made their cave.

HARRIS: You know what, I've never slept in a snow cave before; I can only imagine what that's like. What kind of condition were they in when you reached them? COLLINSON: Actually, they were all until very good spirits. They were really cold. A few of them had just minor frostbite, but all of them went home to their families, everyone was happy and everyone got rescued.

HARRIS: All things considered, that is a pretty happy ending. So everybody's at home right now?

COLLINSON: Absolutely.

HARRIS: OK, well, that's good. What kind of condition were in place there on the mountain when they took off? Did they know it was going to be that bad?

COLLINSON: No, when they took off. It was actually really good weather, really good visibility. There was a report of a storm front coming in, and that actually hit them as they were trying to come back down off the summit, and then they got to whiteout conditions, where they literally couldn't see where they were going, and rather than go down a mountain side when you can't see, they did the smart thing, they dug a snow cave and they hunkered down.

HARRIS: It sounds like they did everything the right way. And they also had a mountain locator unit with them. And cell phones, they had cell phones with them. I didn't realize you could a cell phone on Mount Hood.

COLLINSON: You can, and actually some of the areas of Mount Hood, a cell phone is a really good means of communication.

HARRIS: Obviously, not that good. Shawn Collinson, deputy sheriff there for Clackamus County. We had him momentarily there on the phone, but we lost his telephone. Can you imagine that, the climbers are able to call down from Mount Hood to get rescuers to come, but we can't keep a phone connection.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 13, 2003 - 11:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Five mountain climbers are trying to warm up today after getting lost on Oregon's Mount Hood this weekend. They had to dig a snow cave to protect themselves from the cold, the snow and the win until rescuers who went out after them were able to get to them. The search team called the climbers on their cell phones and pinpointed them with a mountain locator unit. The elevation was so steep there, they had to bring in a helicopter. I don't how they did it, but we're going to find out now.
Shawn Collinson is a deputy sheriff for Clackamus County, Oregon, and he joins us on the telephone to give us some more details on this story.

Hey, tell us about this. How were the rescuers able to reach these climbers?

SHAWN COLLINSON, DEPUTY SHERIFF: Actually, they didn't get the helicopter involved in this incident because, the weather conditions were so bad. They actually had to run halfway up the mountain by snowcat, and they walked the rest of the way up towards the summit from there.

HARRIS: Now back up for a second here. What's a snowcat? To a guy that lives in Atlanta, I don't think I have much experience with that. What's a snowcat?

COLLINSON: It's kind of an all-terrain vehicle for the snow. It can literally go up almost the face of a mountain.

HARRIS: No kidding? So the thing is, you used these snowcats to get up there, and did you actually make contact with the five climbers or what?

COLLINSON: Yes, we did. Probably,k about 2:00 yesterday we made contact. They had come outside of their snow cave and flagged us down. They were probably within 1,000 feet of the summit of the mountain.

HARRIS: So were they on their way down, or their way up?

COLLINSON: They had submitted the day before, but due to weather conditions, they had gotten off their track, and they came back down probably 1,000 feet from the top before they made their cave.

HARRIS: You know what, I've never slept in a snow cave before; I can only imagine what that's like. What kind of condition were they in when you reached them? COLLINSON: Actually, they were all until very good spirits. They were really cold. A few of them had just minor frostbite, but all of them went home to their families, everyone was happy and everyone got rescued.

HARRIS: All things considered, that is a pretty happy ending. So everybody's at home right now?

COLLINSON: Absolutely.

HARRIS: OK, well, that's good. What kind of condition were in place there on the mountain when they took off? Did they know it was going to be that bad?

COLLINSON: No, when they took off. It was actually really good weather, really good visibility. There was a report of a storm front coming in, and that actually hit them as they were trying to come back down off the summit, and then they got to whiteout conditions, where they literally couldn't see where they were going, and rather than go down a mountain side when you can't see, they did the smart thing, they dug a snow cave and they hunkered down.

HARRIS: It sounds like they did everything the right way. And they also had a mountain locator unit with them. And cell phones, they had cell phones with them. I didn't realize you could a cell phone on Mount Hood.

COLLINSON: You can, and actually some of the areas of Mount Hood, a cell phone is a really good means of communication.

HARRIS: Obviously, not that good. Shawn Collinson, deputy sheriff there for Clackamus County. We had him momentarily there on the phone, but we lost his telephone. Can you imagine that, the climbers are able to call down from Mount Hood to get rescuers to come, but we can't keep a phone connection.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com