Searchers Find No Clues To Vanished Mount Hood Climbers

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Searchers looking for the remains of two mountaineers who vanished on Mount Hood last winter found no trace of the climbers when a search resumed Saturday. <br/><br/>Brian Hall, 37,

Saturday, September 8th 2007, 7:09 pm

By: News On 6

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Searchers looking for the remains of two mountaineers who vanished on Mount Hood last winter found no trace of the climbers when a search resumed Saturday.

Brian Hall, 37, of Dallas, and Jerry ``Nikko'' Cooke, 36, of New York City disappeared in a December storm after reaching the summit with a third man whose body was later found.

Fifty-seven climbers participated in Saturday's search, with teams inspecting two glaciers and checking chasms and crevasses. The summer sun has melted snow and ice, creating unstable conditions on the 11,239-foot mountain.

``We searched all the prominent places,'' said Capt. Chris Bernard of the Air Force Reserve's 304th Rescue Squadron.

``There are so many ways to be buried up there,'' said Dennis Klein of the Hood River Crag Rats, a Mount Hood rescue organization that dates to 1926.

Bernard said all the searchers were making their descents by mid-afternoon.

The rescue teams planned to be on the mountain again on Sunday, ``but tomorrow will be mostly training and not a search,'' said Russell Gubele of Mountain Wave Emergency Communications. Within a month, climbers expect, snow will begin blanketing the mountain again.

``The best shot was today,'' said Gubele. ``If they did fall and ended up down there, they may never be found.''

Hall and Cooke made it to the mountain's summit in early December along with Kelly James, 48, also of Dallas. The three spent the night in a snow cave near the top as bad weather closed in. The next day, Hall and Cooke apparently went for help for James, who later made a cell phone call to his family.

Only James' body was found, and was later airlifted off the mountain.