Morons Reached on Mount Hood

I just can't work up any sympathy for climbers being stranded on Mount Hood. Did they not pay any attention to what went on up there a couple of months ago?

Authorities say search and rescue teams have located and reached three climbers stranded on Mount Hood.

Rescuers received several signals from an emergency beacon, which helped them zero in on the location, the office said. The site was believed to be around the 8,300-foot level on the 11,239-foot mountain.

The three well-equipped climbers, two women and a man, fell off a ledge Sunday. They are believed to be good shape. Rescue officials were in frequent cell phone contact with them.

I hope they get the bill for the rescue effort. They should consider themselves fortunate to be alive.

The mountain can be treacherous, particularly in the winter. In December, search teams scoured Mount Hood for days in the hopes of finding a group of missing climbers alive. The bodies of Brian Hall, of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, of New York, have not been found. Another climber in their group, Kelly James, of Dallas, died of hypothermia.

In the past 25 years, more than 35 climbers have died on the 11,239-foot mountain, one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world.