Searchers find ice cave near peak of Mount Hood in search for 3 climbers

Sunday, December 17th 2006, 3:42 pm

By: News On 6

HOOD RIVER, Ore. (AP) _ Crews searching for three climbers on Mount Hood found mountaineering gear and a snow cave in the area where one of the climbers made a distress call a week ago, officials said Sunday.

The spot was about 11,000 feet up and on the north side of the 11,239-foot mountain, said Marc Smith, a deputy with the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

Search teams may be dropped by helicopter onto the area, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, of the Hood River County sheriff's office. Also, search teams climbing the other side of the mountain had reached the summit and could descend to the site.

Rope harnesses _ commonly used in technical climbs _ were among the items spotted, said Nick Przbyciel, another sheriff's employee. He cautioned that Mount Hood is one of the most popular mountains for climbers, and the gear could have been from previous climbs.

On Saturday, they reached 10,600 feet before nightfall and worsening weather forced them off the mountain. With the weather colder but clearer Sunday, they set out again from 6,000 feet, following a path they made in the snow Saturday, officials said.

``Searchers will be able to see a long way down and a long way up'' because of the better visibility, said Sgt. Sean Collinson of the Clackamas County sheriff's office.

There has been no communication from Kelly James, 48, of Dallas, 37-year-old Brian Hall of Dallas, or 36-year-old Jerry ``Nikko'' Cooke of New York City since Dec. 10, when James used his cell phone to call his family. He told them he was sheltering in a snow cave while his companions started back down the mountain, apparently to get help for him.

The last clue to their whereabouts was a brief signal returned from James' cell phone Tuesday.

On Saturday, the cold hobbled rescue efforts as some searchers had to come down because of facial frostbite.

However, that cold was accompanied by a temporary break in weeklong stormy conditions, paving the way for the biggest push yet since the three men were reported missing on what was to have been a quick climb to the peak.

At the airport, friends and family members of the missing climbers put their hands on one of two Blackhawk helicopters preparing to join the search and prayed.

Frank James, brother of Kelly James, said of the helicopter pilots: ``We're the cheerleaders for these guys.''