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News Conference on Search for Missing Climbers

Aired December 19, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: They're still calling this a rescue effort, aren't they?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. They are still holding out hope. Although the sheriff was fairly honest in saying, if those guys aren't holed up somewhere, we're reaching the limits of survivability, when you account for the altitude, when you account for the exposure.

There is some sense of -- what if? If the weather wasn't so bad all last week, you know, what if those say, those rescue crews had been able to get near the summit, say, this time last week, how differently things may have turned out.

HARRIS: But you know what, Chris, that's a very good point, but the reality of it is. We were watching, literally watching the storm as it blew through the area there. And those were unbelievable, incomprehensible conditions for rescue climbers to try to battle in -- you know, in their effort to try to save these men.

LAWRENCE: Oh, yeah, we were down on the ground, you know, Thursday night, Friday morning. And you know, a couple 1,000 feet elevation, not high at all. I mean, it was blowing all of our equipment over. The rain and the snow was coming sideways at times. You couldn't imagine what it was like say at 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 feet. You're talking about wind gusts 100 miles per hour.

(AUDIO GAP)

HARRIS: All right. We just -- oh, we got you back, Chris. OK.

And do this for me, if you would.

LAWRENCE: It was impossible for them to get near the summit with that kind of weather going on.

HARRIS: Absolutely. Do this for you would for us, contrast the scene today, you did it at the top here -- but contrast the scene that you're seeing right now. Compare that to the what the scene was like, at this time yesterday.

LAWRENCE: So much quieter. There was just a buzz yesterday, of people, we were talking to the rescue climbers. We saw them gearing. We saw them taking items and supplies and gears on and off the Chinook. Just don't see any of that today.

I mean, the Chinook is sitting out there. And I see some people coming out now. But there's just not that same sense of urgency that there was here yesterday morning.

HARRIS: Is -- do you see the sheriff?

LAWRENCE: Not yet. These are military personnel who are just finishing up their morning briefing.

HARRIS: OK, Chris, I'm going to do this. I'm going to toss it to Jacqui, here for a moment. But we'll leave your mics, just give us a heads up, if you see the sheriff.

Hey, Jacqui Jeras?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST, CNN NEWSROOM: Yes?

HARRIS: We understand that the weather conditions are definitely going to take a change. Put us on the clock face, if you would, and give us a sense of how much real time that the climbers have to conduct whatever search they're able to conduct, before the tougher conditions roll in.

JERAS: Probably a good 24 hour, you know. That's, I guess, you'd are to subtract the dark hours. I don't think they're out there after sunset, however.

Today looks great. You can see the blue skies, in Chris' live shot there. Very clear conditions. Winds are relatively calm. Really no weather concerns. The temperatures have warmed up considerably over the next couple of days.

In fact, we're looking at 20-degree temperatures this afternoon. That's really good. This has been a really long stretch. A little bit unusual to have this much of a break in the weather this time of year. Normally, we get these storms that just roll in one after the other. Unfortunately that weather pattern is going to be changing again.

This storm you that see towards the coast, this is really nothing. This isn't going to do much here. It's this one out here that is going to be approaching. We think probably, about this time, maybe mid afternoon tomorrow, the clouds will be pretty thick, pretty overcast and then the snow is going to start to fall.

And that snow is going to come down really heavy, snow level about 5,000 feet. It's going to dropping down behind this system. Probably down to even to 3,000 feet, we think, by Thursday. Winds will be very strong again. It's not going to be the big potent storm that we saw last Thursday.

We're talking up at 11,000 feet, Tony, those winds are go to come 70 miles per hour. That's close to hurricane force and certainly won't allow the rescuers and searchers to do any work, on Wednesday or Thursday.

HARRIS: That's where we were last week, Jacqui, when we had what folks were describing the best window of opportunity to find the climbers alive. You talk about the break in the weather now for last couple of days. But describe the conditions on the ground. It's still cold. And the climbers are certainly used to that. But what are the conditions like on the ground now?

JERAS: Conditions on the ground are very perfect. Temperatures, like I said, are going to be in the 20s today. It was bitter cold, yesterday morning was really when we bottomed out. You know, Sunday night into Monday morning, where temperatures were below freezing. So, really extreme conditions in terms of the temperature. That's really the only weather dilemma that we've had now, today's day three.

HARRIS: Yes.

JERAS: Basically, this is about as perfect as it gets this time of year for Mt. Hood.

HARRIS: Wow. OK, so we will keep our fingers crossed that in this remaining small window of opportunity at that climbers can get back up on the mountain. Although it's a mixed picture now. We're not sure how many of these rescue climbers will actually be making their way up the mountain now. Helicopters may be brought in later. Let's listen in and get an update on the search for the missing climbers.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

This is the 9 o'clock press briefing. This will be the last briefing that we have. The Sheriff Wampler will be making a statement. And then, representative of the families, Angela Hall, will also be making a statement. And she will not be taking any questions after her statement. Thank you.

Sheriff Wampler.

SHERIFF JOE WAMPLER, HOOD RIVER COUNTY, OREGAN: Morning. As you all know, we're busy on this thing. What we did yesterday, just a little bit of information about that.

Yesterday, we brought the body of Kelly James off the summit of Mt. Hood, from where he had been in a snow cave that whole time. We got that done. During the identification process, it was something obvious, that he had an injury. And what we think that that injury is a dislocation of his shoulder.

And so obviously, that had some effect on their climb, which forced them to make Kelly James comfortable where he was at, and attempt to go get help.

So today continues: What we've done is -- what our plan for today is, because as you can see here, we have some weather issues, but above this layer, up on Mt. Hood is clear blue skies, unlimited visibility and calm winds this morning. So we're going to put two fixed wing aircraft up in that area. Keep our visual vigilance of Mt. Hood for a couple reasons. We're still looking for those little clues so we can move ground teams. So we can make plans to move ground teams into certain areas if we need to.

Then, also, maintain the opportunity for Brian and Nikko to stick their head up out of that hole up there someplace and self-rescue themselves. And we want to be there to see that, if that happens. Also, we're in a transition day today. All of my team leaders throughout this operation on both sides of the mountain, we really haven't had a chance -- we've been debriefing every night, getting all of the information. I really want to get together with them today, so each one of those guys that have been on every section of this mountain this week, can tell me what I need to do to get this done. So we're going to do that today.

We are in contact with the Mt. Hood ski patrol. I think we've identified, as I said before, the area below the route in which they were climbing that's been so dangerous to get in to and do an adequate ground search there.

What I'm trying to put together right now is an avalanche team, to get in there and start poking around. Because there is a chance that these guys, instead of falling, which is one scenario, they've been covered up by snow, that they have crawled into a crag or a crack to get out of the wind. Some stuff has come on top of them. And they're still there waiting for us to come get them.

So we're going to keep trying to do that, today and tomorrow. So that's where we're at. That's what we're doing right now.

QUESTIONS: Helicopters have gone home, I take it?

WAMPLER: OK. We talked to all the pilots and crews of the helicopters and asked them yesterday, what more can do you for me? And they've really said, OK, at this particular point, except for maintaining a visual vigilance, an aerial platform, there's not much more that they can provide at this time. So I've sent them home, to maintain their aircraft, to get their crews refitted. And then we will maintain that aerial vigilance by fixed link.

QUESTION: How much has this cost per day and how it is funded?

WAMPLER: You know, I don't even know about costs. I'm sure somebody is keeping track of that. My attention is out there, and making sure I got people still coming. So, I have no idea.

QUESTION: How is it funded? Is there mechanism for the funding?

WAMPLER: You know, most of this stuff is volunteer. And, you know, the stuff that comes to me, it just shows up. And you know, a lot of federal and state assets, but I don't know. It just shows up here. And we'll worry about that later.

QUESTION: Sheriff, with the weather coming tomorrow, how quickly do you think you can have the next team up there? Are they going to go up there today? (INAUDIBLE) When?

WAMPLER: The helicopters are on stand by. If they say that they've got a team ready to go now. All I need to do is call for a ride, helicopters will be right back here, move them up there on the mountain. So they can get out and do that. That can be done today. If the team can be assembled today, or tomorrow.

QUESTION: Sheriff, what does an avalanche team do?

WAMPLER: They -- that's a team of specialized trained guys that know how to probe an area of fresh avalanche. See if there is, you know, if they can find somebody underneath.

QUESTION: How many bodies will be on the mountain today? Do you have any metal detectors or listening devices?

WAMPLER: We do. Actually Cloud Cap, in our forward search base up here, has folks standing by up there. I just told them, keep an eye on things, and don't go out. Because we're probably going to end up at Cloud Cap today, and use that as a place to talk about what we're going to do.

QUESTION: So we have zero bodies, just aerial?

WAMPLER: Actually, we have people there. Climbers there ready to go. But they're the same guys that have been out there all week, and especially over the weekend. I've just got everybody on stand by on both sides of the mountain right now.

QUESTION: What would you say to other climbers, who would consider climbing this mountain, in this time of year? If they're planning it, do you recommend not to do it, based on what's happened here?

WAMPLER: You know, I'm not going to sit here and recommend not to climb the mountain. That's an individual's risk, based on their ability and skill levels. But the only thing I would say, in regards to climbing the mountain this time of year, if you have a problem, it's really hard to get rescued. I mean, it's really hard for us to come get you if you have a problem, especially on the north side of the mountain. Because it's really hard for us just to get there.

I got a call, fresh today, without having things in place. Like right now, somebody called me, there's an accident up on the mountain? Realistically, it might be tomorrow before I get everybody rounded up, arrange for the transportation just to get to the mountain, and start our rescue effort, if the weather is bad. Like it's been this week.

Hopefully, if I got that call, I'd just call our helicopter assets. They fly up there. Drop the guys down. Do the rescue, get out of there. That's what we really want to happen up there. But it's really risky. You know, hopefully, nothing will ever happen. But if something does, the resources to get together to go get them, you know, might leave them in some time periods that would cause some real problems.

QUESTION: Sheriff, how does the incoming storm affect your search efforts?

WAMPLER: We're kind of worried about it. I think there's some moisture coming in off the coast. It's going to -- put us on hold, literally, for a while. So that's why, you know, we'll keep flying. We'll keep people up there. We're going to try to get this avalanche thing in place, and done before that moisture gets here. Excuse me?

QUESTION: How long are you going to have the fixed planes up there today? What's the time frame?

WAMPLER: You know, right now, as you can see, we're waiting for a hole in the clouds. But I see one out there. Probably what we'll do, fly out to a hole. Get out on top. Because above about 2,500 feet, everything out in the open. We're just got this inversion layer, it's common this time of year. But we'll find a hole, pop up on top, and get up to the mountain. We'll search all day, you know, as long as gas lasts. And they come back, refuel. We might change some crews, then get back up there.

QUESTION: Who is providing the fix-winged planes?

WAMPLER: Actually, the fixed wing planes we'll be flying to day belong to the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. We have an air unit that especially for search and rescue purposes.

QUESTION: If you grounded or sent the choppers home, are you hanging one back? So, to get the avalanche team up there?

WAMPLER: Well, they're in Salem. So, they're basically only 30 minute as way if I need them. If we design a plan, we'll give them a call. They'll spool up, either come right up here or go to a place where they can pick these guys up and move them up on the mountain. The Air National Guard wants to guarantee all -- you know, all of that they are available for anytime we need them.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you mentioned searchers up there on the hill right now. I know there's been some talk that they were going to go out today. It looks like that -- your plans --

WAMPLER: Yes, you know, I've got guys sitting there waiting, wanting to go, but -- you know, after -- we were up late last night, kind of studying this whole thing. It's like, no, stay where you're at. Wait for an assignment. And as I develop things here this morning, then we'll give you something to do.

I mean, if it's like, OK, I really we really haven't looked at this little pocket right here. We'll send you out there to do that. But I want to wait for the search team leaders to get together. And, you know, these are the guys that are putting together this puzzle. And based on their knowledge of the mountain, and then when they give me the ideas, I'll assign the mission. We'll get it done.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you can describe how an avalanche team is outfitted and configured in terms of lines going together? And are they simply listening for cracks before they step forward, or is there something more scientific --

WAMPLER: Well, yeah, there's a big piece to an avalanche team. First of all, we've got to have people go up there, get in place, and tell us how safe it is to move people into a certain area. That's been the problem, even all weekend, even though it's been nice. Fresh snow, steep terrain and the snow that's on that terrain has been sloughing off. And all the time kind of covering the area that we want to be. So it just hasn't been safe to do that.

About three days of stable weather, and having the helicopters go up there wop (ph) around and blow this stuff around, has actually made this area that we want to be in a little more stable. So now is the time that we want to consider. And I'm not -- and the reason I'm being real careful here is because it's dangerous. It is a dangerous place to be. And we're just giving that an opportunity to settle without any new fresh snow. And then spend as much time in there as we possibly can.

QUESTION: Sheriff, this whole rescue operation has been defined by a sense of hope and optimism. How much has the passage of time cost (INAUDIBLE)?

WAMPLER: Oh, I think it's a lot. But hope and optimism is -- you know, we're here because of the family and everything. But in all real -- realistically, hope and optimism is based on fact. How long can somebody survive out in this environment? Based on their experience, what they're able to do, and take care of themselves?

We are approaching that time, you know, we've got to make some serious considerations, whether we're spinning our wheels or not, honestly. And because of the safety of the people that are going out there. And, you know, we talked to the family about that. They know. They actually know.

So, anyway, that's a compromise. But, you know, I think we're getting into that. But then again, you know, we got some pictures. Kelly James had taken some pictures of his climb. We got -- so we know pretty much what they had with them. After looking at those -- developing those pictures. Looking what they had with them. I'm pretty concerned about how long somebody can last out there. So it's a big issue.

But we're not going to give up. I think there's a real possibility that, you know, we can find them. But they still have a chance to save themselves if they can, by letting us know they're there, while the weather allows for it. We're going to be there.

QUESTION: What did you see in those pictures, specifically? And are you going to share them with us?

WAMPLER: Yeah. But right now, those are real important things on behalf of what's going on here. They're of more value to the family, and me, as an investigator. And so I'm going to allow that to happen, you know, real quick. You know, I think it's important to know -- for you to know -- what we're doing. And real important of our evaluation process here.

QUESTION: What do you think they had with them?

WAMPLER: I think what basically shows us is they were lightly equipped, but well-equipped. I think we're talking about three guys that had the basic knowledge and equipment to get this done in the time periods that they had planned on.

I think an injury threw that schedule all off and left them in a position of now, what are we going to do, and desperation. And, you know, they dealt with it the best way they thought they could. Stayed as long as they thought they could. And some weather came and put them in jeopardy.

QUESTION: Was Kelly the most experienced, and therefore, whether he was lost, did that jeopardize the rest of the team?

WAMPLER: I think Brian would probably -- Brain and Kelly both would be considered the most experienced, out of the group.

QUESTION: (OFF MIC)

WAMPLER: Yes, definitely.

QUESTION: And what are the parameters (OFF MIC)

WAMPLER: OK, say that again.

QUESTION: What are the parameters that change this to (OFF MIC) a recovery?

WAMPLER: I think length of time here is a critical issue. I stay in contact with all of the survival experts. As you know, I've had a lot of advice. And, you know, medical experts in the field. You know, high altitude, cold weather. They're really telling me, hey, sheriff, you hang in there a few more days here. You take advantage of the time. And just in case, just in case.

QUESTION: We all want to be respectful of the families, certainly your investigation (OFF MIC)

WAMPLER: Yeah, we'll talk to them see where they're at. I think our media people here can probably make that happen.

QUESTION: This is the last press conference. Does that mean until we hear from you, the search won't go on?

WAMPLER: Well, you know, the people helping me out here, you know, they're all volunteers. All the military people, and everybody else. They're all volunteers. This office is not going to give up until somebody tells me that the risk of doing this thing outweighs the results. And until I hear that, I'm not giving up.

Now, the big search -- probably is over. I mean, to look everywhere we possibly can. I think we did that. I think we've done a pretty good job, because this is not a new event to us. You know, history tells us in the event of a thing in a certain place, you look in certain places. And, you know, probably 70 percent of the time, that's where we're at.

There are some issues here. And that's where did they go? Our highest probability at this point is, is based on what we know because of what their plans were. And that is, the route that they said -- what they said they were going to do if something happened. So we're concentrating on that.

I think that, you know, they knew where they were at. But, you know, nighttime, not ever being there before, you know, there's some disorientation involved in this. But basically, I think we really need to concentrate on where they were at. Where we know that the cave was, where their equipment was found. So we need to concentrate on that.

QUESTION: What sign are you looking for before you send the avalanche team up (OFF MIC)?

WAMPLER: Say it out loud.

QUESTION: What sign are you looking for before you deploy the avalanche?

WAMPLER: I don't think actually I'm looking for a sign right now. The sign I'm looking for is, is the mountain going to be safe enough to let us go do that? I guess that's the sign I'm looking for.

In the mean time, I'm still looking for that stocking cap, that one glove. You know, that candy bar wrapper that fell out of something. And the conditions are good for that, to keep maintaining that. But that's exactly -- I'm starting to research the same places that we've been looking all week.

QUESTION: Can you be more specific about the pictures? How many were taken? Were they of views, were they of the climbers?

WAMPLER: They were of the climbers. Part of the pictures started from where they parked their car at the Tilley Jane trailhead. Three happy guys, putting their stuff out there to -- spending the night at Tilley Jane. You know, going up through Elliott Glacier. actually climbing the route that they were on.

You know, some of the equipment they had placed in there. You know, time of day. Had a lot to do with what we're looking at. You know, the pictures are telling us, they were at a certain place at a certain time. That they were on the Gulley Route to the summit, at a certain time of day. We can tell all of that by what the pictures look like.

And, again, you know, pictures of what they -- the packs they were carrying. The type of equipment they had. And that's what we're getting out of this. I'm using those for the experts to analyze. You know, to their abilities.

QUESTION: Do they tell you who those two axes belong to?

WAMPLER: You know, I'm not going to say that right now. I'm going to skip that question. But we've got actually three axes. One with Kelly James, two that were found on -- where the anchor was found on the route. QUESTION: Sheriff, do the photos show anything about the progress on their mountain over the mountain? Were they able to make it? Could you tell how far they had gotten?

WAMPLER: Yeah, I think the intelligence of what we took, photographs of the mountain, of their route, actually having people there, that they actually did summit Mt. Hood, on their way up. I think the intelligence will -- has told us that because of their tracks, you know. When mountain climbers climb, they all climb in each other's tracks. There's basically 20 guys making one track to the top.

Well, we've got some strange tracks that tell us that two people, at least, were walking side by side. You know, which may indicate one guy was trying to help another.

QUESTION: You mean there's a disturbance in the snow that suggests there was an accident?

WAMPLER: No. We have not seen that, honestly.

You know what, I'm going to give Angela here, a chance to make a statement to you. Because it's going to get noisy here real quick. We'll let her do that.

ANGELA HALL, SISTER OF BRIAN HALL: I'm Angela Hall, Brian Hall's sister. And on behalf of our family, as well as the family of Jerry Nikko Cooke, we would like to express our continued heartfelt appreciation for the ongoing rescue operation.

We have the utmost faith and confidence in the men and women supporting that effort. And continue to be awed and humbled by their dedication and tireless efforts.

In addition, our faith in the strength of the minds, bodies and spirits of Nikko and Brian remain steadfast. We continue to be hopeful, as we pray for their safe return. And we ask the thousands of friends, family members, and strangers around the world who have been touched by this story to continue to pray for the family of Kelly James, for their continued strength and to find support in one another, and in the now extended family that they have, in the immediate families of Nikko and Brian.

And we also ask the many thousands of people around the world who have so graciously and passionately offered their prayers to Brian and Nikko, to continue to pray for them. Now, more than ever. Thank you.

(END LIVE FEED)

HARRIS: And there you have it. Boy, as I think back on that news conference there, there are some really resonate lines. The big search, probably is over, you heard the sheriff say.

They did summit Mt. Hood, talking of the climbers, the three men. They did summit Mt. Hood.

And then the sheriff asking the question, as you take that live look now at Mt. Hood, have we reached the point where rescuers are spinning their wheels? The sheriff saying this will be the last press briefing -- shutting things down, at least this notion of daily press conferences, for an extended debrief and reassessment. The sheriff mentioned he will be putting together an avalanche team to poke around for the guys. And job one, for the avalanche team, is to assess the risk of avalanche danger.

Chris Lawrence is standing by with us now.

Chris, let me come back to that one line, that really jumped out. The big search, probably is over. You indicated that we might hear something like this.

LAWRENCE: Yes, we could just -- you could tell, by just seeing the level of activity and the level of activity and the level of urgency just wasn't the same as it has been over the past few days.

One of the things that jumped out at me, what the sheriff said, was that while he will continue to work, and he will continue to try to rescue them, as long as the risk does not outweigh the potential rewards, he said that faith and optimism also need to be balanced by fact.

And he asked the rhetorical question, how long can someone survive in this environment? and We're obviously getting to the very edge of answering that question.

HARRIS: And this idea that the operation is being scaled down, the C-130s, the Blackhawks are no longer going to be used. They have been sent home, and I guess the search is going to be picked up by -- what it is what that the sheriff said? -- two fixed-wing aircraft?

LAWRENCE: Yes, they have fixed-wing aircraft under the sheriff's control here at the sheriff's department. They will be doing fly-bys. It was a little bit of what I alluded to earlier when I said they wanted to eyeball certain parts of the mountain that are really just too dangerous to try to put search teams down there at this point.

One other think that jumped out at me is when he said that Kelly James apparently took pictures along the way. And when he looked at those pictures, he was very concerned because it showed that while they were well equipped, they were lightly equipped. They were going for a fast ascent up the mountain, not gearing up to spend an extended period of time out there in this environment.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: More on this news conference at the top of the hour when you are back in the NEWSROOM. Let's join "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

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