Elliot Glacier. [via]

Columbia Gorge News

As if following last weeks tragic story of the Kim family getting stranded in the Oregon wilderness wasn't enough of a heartbreaker, here goes round two. Three men are stranded on Mount Hood in horrible weather. Hood River County has been involved in the search and rescue since Sunday. Today's weather was horrid up on the mountain with sustained winds clocked in at 60 and 70 mphs with white out conditions. There comes a point when you just have to hunker down if you are stranded outdoors even if you have to dig a snow cave. I am curious to find out what gear they had and the quantity of edible provisions with them. KATU reports that the mountain climbers only had food for one day and news reports indicate their supplies are minimal. I hope they brought a shovel and other implements to build a snow cave. The weather is supposed to break briefly tomorrow morning but we have 3 more systems moving in. Their window of opportunity for a rescue seems dangerously small. KGW Link

We have had 3 snow storms already and winter doesn't start for 9 days or so. Fortunately, I am driving the classic rig for this area, a subie, of course. Does me good in the snow. Just a click and I'm dring in 4 wheel drive and this car just pulls me around sweetly. I do, however, carry a shovel, a bag of kitty litter, a gallon of water, tools, and a blanket in my car. It's certainly not everything I need so I need to add a few items. But, one thing I do wear when driving in bad weather are snow boots or waterproof shoes. Once my feet get cold and wet it's really hard for me to get warm again. If I do get stuck in the snow I need good warm footwear to walk in. I could have car trouble or a flat tire and need to be outside for a while or hike into town . And then I think of James Kim who was only wearing sneakers as he set off in the snow to rescue his family, last week. That seems like an unfortunate, yet preventable mistake. It shall be interesting to see if these 3 experienced mountaineers survived the strong wind, minus 20 degrees wind chil temps and blizzard of today . I have a bad feeling about the injured climber who is reported to be injured and have hypothermia.

See also: The Grumpy Forester and Rox Populi for wise interesting winter weather links.