<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First the disclaimer:\u00a0 my wife and I are not mountain climbers but we have hiked up many slopes near our home turf in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula.\u00a0 Even though they are called \u2018mountains\u2019 (ie:\u00a0 The Porcupine Mountains, The Huron Mountains), they are mere foothills when compared to the mountain ranges found in the western states.\u00a0 We have been on a few of the tourist accessible hikes in and around the WOAS-FM West Coast Bureau in Eugene, Oregon, but none of these excursions would qualify as \u2018mountain climbing\u2019.\u00a0 Still, we both hold a certain fascination for nonfiction books and articles written about mountain climbing.\u00a0 When she stumbled upon the story recounted in the book <\/span>CODE 1244 – The 1986 Mount Hood Tragedy<\/span><\/i> by Ric Conrad (Kahuna Books, 2019), she was not able to find it via the Ontonagon Township Library Interlibrary Loan network.\u00a0 Eventually, she found a copy to borrow through the OTL (after paying a modest shipping fee) from the Whatcom County Library System in Bellingham, Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My wife reads books at a much faster pace than I do so with time to spare, she recommended that I check it out before it had to be returned.\u00a0 Neither of us were familiar with the events that took place on Mount Hood in 1986.\u00a0 The fact that the only loaner copy we could find came from Washington state was a hint that the reporting about the tragedy was localized in the Pacific Northwest.\u00a0 In 1975, I took a college\u00a0 graduation trip to visit my good friend Mitch who was living in Lake Oswego, Oregon just outside of Portland.\u00a0 On the flight in from Chicago, the pilot announced we were arriving early so he took us on a 360 degree \u2018sight seeing\u2019 tour around Mount Hood.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I was on the right side of the plane and when he banked to the left to fly around the peak, all I could see out my window was sky and ground zipping by the windows to my left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During my visit, we took a couple of tours, first traveling west to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside before turning our attention to the east.\u00a0 Mitch and I drove over the southern slope of Mount Hood on the way to a hot spring resort in the high desert in the inter-montain basin.\u00a0 On our way, we made a brief stop at the Mount Hood Ski area to take a look at the Timberline Lodge ski chalet.\u00a0 Since the WCB relocated to Eugene, we have only seen the mountain from a distance while visiting Portland.\u00a0 Mitch still lives just outside of Portland in Boring, Oregon so I asked him if he had read <\/span>CODE 1244.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 He said he knew of the events written in the book but had never seen the book itself.\u00a0 He asked me to fill him in when I was done with it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The amount of research Conrad put into this book is obvious when one scans the eight pages of additional references he cited and the forty three pages of footnotes he meticulously cataloged in the endnotes.\u00a0 The book\u2019s overleaf summary states, \u201c[Conrad\u2019s] in depth examination of the 1986 Mount Hood Tragedy is drawn from law enforcement reports, documents provided by Portland Mountain Rescue, and recorded interviews with rescue workers. Friends and family of the missing climbers, and members of the actual party.\u00a0 Conrad eventually realized that narrative nonfiction was the best way to tell the story.\u201d\u00a0 It would take him four years to write the book.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The twenty climbers are introduced in the first chapter by detailing how they went about their last minute tasks before leaving on the hike.\u00a0 The Oregon Episcopal School is a private preparatory school located in Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 Their curriculum includes different outdoor challenges, one of which is a hike on the upper reaches of Mount Hood.\u00a0 The mountain is the second most hiked peak in the world after Japan\u2019s Mount Fuji with some 10,000 climbers attempting to hike to the summit each year.\u00a0 The peak hiking season stretches from April to mid-June and the OES hike Conrad covers took place on May 12, 1986.\u00a0 The mountain is also considered to be one of the deadliest in the Cascade Range with more than 150 deaths since they began to keep records, 46 since 2002.\u00a0 The difficulty lies in the technical aspects of the climb that require ice axes, crampons, and ropes.\u00a0 Falling rocks, crevasses, and changeable, often volatile weather conditions further enhance the dangers faced trying to summit Hood.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Mount Hood hikes were populated by first time climbers who were typically sophomores at the OES.\u00a0 A few older climbers who had experience in the climb came along to make sure the younger students had someone to aid them if they ran into difficulties.\u00a0 There were four members of the Advanced Climbing Team (ACT) on the May 1986 outing.\u00a0 The hike\u2019s leader was Father Tom Goman, a forty-one year old who taught calculus, chemistry, ethics, and religion at the school for the past seven years.\u00a0 He was also the chess team advisor and known for his generosity of, \u201c…time, attention, money, clothing, food, books, or climbing equipment\u2026without the need for reciprocity.\u201d\u00a0 Father Tom had been climbing mountains since he was thirteen and over the years had done most of the major Cascade peaks in Oregon and Washington.\u00a0 He was a member of the American Alpine Club and had at least a dozen summits of Mount Hood behind him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The OES program supplemented their team with hired consultants, usually from the Pacific Crest Outward Bound school also based in Portland.\u00a0 Ralph Summers was contracted to accompany four hikes that spring.\u00a0 When he found out he had a conflict with one hike later in May, he asked a fellow Outward Bound employee named Dee Zduniak to take his place.\u00a0 To prepare her for that hike, he invited her to come along as an extra body on the May 12, 1986 trek.\u00a0 The school group boarded a bus and departed for the adventure at 11:30 p.m. on May 11 for the seventy mile drive up to the Timberline Lodge.\u00a0 Zduniak had arrived there early and while she was waiting for Summers to arrive, she had a conversation with one of the bartenders there.\u00a0 When asked if there was a hike going out that night, she replied,\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll just climb a few pitches and then turn back.\u201d\u00a0 She had been monitoring the weather reports and the severity of the forecast convinced her that it would be an abbreviated outing.\u00a0 There was no pressure on the group – the students received credit for making the attempt and even if they became ill or\u00a0 bowed out before the group left the lodge, they would still be given credit for the activity.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The group arrived at Timberline and assembled at what is known as the \u2018Climber\u2019s Cave.\u2019\u00a0 The required paperwork for the hike was filled out and filed as the ACT students helped distribute the equipment each student would need.\u00a0 At 2:45 a.m., they headed up the mountain.\u00a0 As they departed, Father Tom told one of the ACT students, \u201cThere\u2019s a storm coming in.\u00a0 We\u2019re probably going to have to call this one early.\u201d\u00a0 With another ACT member out front, Conrad describes the scene:\u00a0 \u201cMolly took the lead, post-holing up to her calves in the snow.\u00a0 Her headlamp illuminated the terrain directly in front of her, while the students she was leading used flashlights.\u00a0 Father Tom had instructed her to maintain a steady pace, keeping the Magic Mile chair lift towers far off to her left, as a guide.\u201d\u00a0 As a good hike leader is instructed to do, she kept an eye on the younger students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fifteen minutes into the hike, she instructed them to take a breather and had them remove one layer of clothing so they would not overheat.\u00a0 This gave Goman, Summers, Zduniak, and ACT aid Mick to catch up (they had remained behind to finish the paperwork).\u00a0 The younger climbers had complained about the pace Molly was setting so she promised to slow down a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n Experienced mountaineers know leaving early affords them with better snow conditions.\u00a0 The group\u2019s adult leaders had all seen the weather forecast and set off with a shortened hike in their minds.\u00a0 The adults also made it a point to move up and down the line of hikers to assess how they were doing.\u00a0 The rule of thumb is, \u201cNever move faster than your slowest member can go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the hikers named Hilary began to feel sick and her mother (another adult volunteer on the trip) informed Goman that her daughter was feeling ill.\u00a0 At 3:15 a.m., she headed back to the lodge with Hilary and the party was reduced to 18 climbers.\u00a0 Between 5:30 a.m. and 8:20 a.m., student Courtney began questioning if she should go on.\u00a0 She had tweaked her back during javelin practice and her inner voice began telling her to, \u2018go down\u2019.\u00a0 When ACT member Lorca began having cramps, Goman instructed the two of them to return to the lodge and if Lorca\u2019s symptoms got any worse, he told them they should call a doctor.\u00a0 Courtney felt bad about turning around, but Goman assured her there would be another chance and besides, he said, \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to turn around anyway.\u201d\u00a0 By the time they reached Timberline at 9:05 a.m., they could still see the rest of the group ascending near the Palmer snowfield.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0School dean Marion Howell was on the trip and she was struggling a bit when the two girls had turned back.\u00a0 She decided to tough it out and continue the climb.\u00a0 By 9:15 a.m., they were nearing the upper shack of the Palmer chair lift.\u00a0 They were at 8,700 feet with another 2,700 feet left to climb to the summit.\u00a0 Student John told ACT member Mick that he needed to turn back.\u00a0 Surprisingly, Goman mocked John, asking him \u201cWhat?\u00a0 You are going to give up on what could be one of the greatest moments of your life?\u201d\u00a0 Marion was still slowing down and Goman also called her to task, asking, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter Marion?\u00a0 Can\u2019t take it any more?\u201d \u00a0 With the departure of Mick and John, the climbing party was down to fourteen.\u00a0 The rest pressed on and reached the base of the Triangle Moraine at 10:55 a.m.\u00a0 Gorman took the precaution of planting trail wands every 200 feet or so to help them identify their route when they came down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The last of the remaining group to turn back was Dee Zudniak.\u00a0 Near the top of the Triangle Moraine (about 9,700 feet), symptoms of snowblindness began to bother her vision.\u00a0 She had experienced a similar problem ascending Mount Adams and as her vision began to grey-wash, she could no longer see shadows or the difference between light and dark objects.\u00a0 When she told Goman and Summers she would have to turn back, she asked if they had a \u2018summit or bust\u2019 attitude.\u00a0 Both replied they expected to turn back \u2018should the need arise\u2019.\u00a0 It was 11:30 a.m. and as she turned back, Zhudniak noticed a cloud cap had descended over the mountain.\u00a0 She could no longer see the Palmer chair lift shack below her and had to rely on the trail wands to find her path down the mountain.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the group reached an area called the Upper Hogsback on the Coalman Glacier, the wind picked up and heavy snow had begun to fall.\u00a0 At 3:20 p.m., Summers assessed the deteriorating conditions and told Goman, \u201cI think we should get out of here.\u201d\u00a0 Goman agreed and somewhere around 10,700 feet in elevation, they began feeling their way back down the mountain.\u00a0 The snow was beginning to cover their old trail.\u00a0 As the wind and snow increased, they had to resort to using a compass to show them the direction they needed to go.\u00a0 The normal \u2018escape\u2019 bearing back to the Lodge is 180 degrees but for some reason, they decided to follow a 160 degree bearing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To complicate matters, student Pat began to fade, probably because he had recently recovered from a flu-like illness.\u00a0 He needed assistance to stay upright and his body temperature was getting dangerously low.\u00a0 In the blinding conditions, Summers and Goman decided they were not going to make it down the mountain at this rate in the worsening weather.\u00a0 They had been expected back at the lodge at 6:00 p.m. \u00a0 At 7:05 p.m., they began digging out a snow cave that, at 4 X 6 foot chamber located at the end of a short tunnel,\u00a0 was barely big enough for all of them to get into.\u00a0 With the snow threatening to bury the entrance, they took turns having a couple of the group go outside to clear the tunnel while giving the rest a little more room.\u00a0 It was an uncomfortable night and by morning, with the storm showing no signs of abating, Summers and ACT Molly made the bold decision to try and hike down the mountain to get help.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the disorienting blizzard, Summers told Molly that their only choice was to keep moving, otherwise they would die.\u00a0 They were not exactly sure where they were until they stumbled upon a sign indicating they had reached the Texas chair lift on the southeastern side of the mountain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, they knew where they were and at 9:45 a.m., they arrived at the Ski School Office located at Mt. Hood Meadows.\u00a0 With the rescue teams trying to simply survive on the mountain\u00a0 searching for the climbers during the horrendous blizzard, the remaining 11 were still stranded in the snow cave Summers and Molly had departed from at 8:00 a.m.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The volume of people and organizations involved in this effort was staggering.\u00a0 Time, however, was not on their side.\u00a0 When the weather cleared enough for helicopters to start shuttling search teams to various points on the mountain, the sheer enormity of the task became clearer.\u00a0 Searching for the snow cave was truly akin to looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.\u00a0 The first clue that they were getting close arrived when three bodies were spotted curled in the fetal position – one was at the top of a snow ridge and two were at the base of the same snow covered ridge.\u00a0 The crowd of family and rescue personnel at the Timberline Lodge grew hopeful when they heard that \u2018survivors\u2019 had been found, but by this time, everyone was grasping at straws of hope.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The three hikers were flown by helicopter to two hospitals in Portland where medical teams there began emergency warming procedures.\u00a0 With core body temperatures of 41 degrees F, care was taken to try and revive them.\u00a0 They were able to get the heart of one of them to show some activity, but it could not pump enough blood to save him.\u00a0 The three were pronounced dead when all the measures that could be undertaken proved unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finding three hikers who had left the snow cave to try and save themselves narrowed the search area.\u00a0 Lines of rescuers probing with long metal poles eventually found the group\u2019s cache of equipment.\u00a0 The snow cave entrance was located nearby buried under four feet of fresh snow.\u00a0 Upon digging out the entrance, they found two hikers in the entry way who were still alive, but just barely.\u00a0 The other six had perished.\u00a0 The two still breathing had been positioned on the legs of Marion and Father Tom, no doubt keeping them out of the cold water that was covering the bottom of the snow cave.\u00a0 The entrance and airholes had all been blocked by new snow so with the lack of oxygen, the survivors were very close to death when finally pulled from the cave.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The six deceased were given similar warning treatments in Portland, but all succumbed to acute hypothermia.\u00a0 The two who were still clinging to life, responded to treatment but had to undergo a long and difficult recovery.\u00a0 Giles, the male, lost both his lower legs (one above the knee, the other below the knee), but went on to raise a family and return to his lifelong favorite sport, skiing.\u00a0 The female survivor, Britton, recovered with fewer ill effects.\u00a0 She later joined the peace corp before returning to school and becoming a doctor.\u00a0 The seven who survived because they had trekked back down the mountain before the weather changed were damaged in other ways having lost so many of their fellow students and friends as were the family members of the victims.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The questions about how this tragedy happened were never answered to anyone\u2019s satisfaction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The biggest one, of course, is still, \u201cWith the dire weather forecast that was broadcast for Mount Hood that day, why didn\u2019t they all reverse course?\u201d\u00a0 Considering how many times the expedition leaders (Sullivan and Father Tom) told those at Mount Hood and members of the group that they would no doubt be returning without making the full hike to the summit, this one still nags at those who were involved in the rescue.\u00a0 There is an actual condition called \u2018summit-itis\u2019 that experienced climbers say often compels people to put themselves at risk when a hike should be abandoned.\u00a0 We may never know for sure if this was one of those cases.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 This is such a downer story, I thought we could leave a bit uplifted with an all-star version of\u00a0River Deep, Mountain High<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First the disclaimer:\u00a0 my wife and I are not mountain climbers but we have hiked up many slopes near our home turf in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula.\u00a0 Even though they are called \u2018mountains\u2019 (ie:\u00a0 The Porcupine Mountains, The Huron Mountains), they are mere foothills when compared to the mountain ranges found in the western states.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3830"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3834,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions\/3834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}