Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

by Jay Gormley
COOPER SPUR, Ore. (CBS 11 News / AP) ― Rescue teams headed up the flanks of treacherous Mount Hood (click here for map) on Monday to search for three climbers reported missing in heavy snow, the Hood River County sheriff's office said, but were ordered off the mountain when conditions became too dangerous.

Officials described the three men, including two from Dallas, as experienced, but said none had climbed Mount Hood before.

The mother of one of the Texans said that he had called his son on a cell phone Sunday to say that he was stranded in a snowy cave just below the summit of the 11,239-foot peak while his companions went back down the mountain for help.

Authorities were unable to re-establish cell phone contact with the climber, 48-year-old Kelly James of Dallas, and there was no sign of the other two men, Brian Hall, 37, of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

"From the conversation, it left us very concerned for the person's welfare," Chief Sheriff's Deputy Jerry Brown said.

Family friend Mike Androvett said authorities were able to pick up a signal from James' cell phone on Monday, helping them narrow the search area. With this pinpointed location, the hope is now to rescue James on Tuesday, when the weather improves.

Androvett said, "Typically, when he gets to the top of the summitt, he'll call the family and say here I'm at the top. They didn't get that call."

Snow was falling heavily Monday at a lodge where the three men were supposed to meet friends on Friday or Saturday. Up to 18 inches of snow was expected through Tuesday, along with wind gusts of up to 55 mph that will reduce visibility and raise the risk of avalanches.

The Oregon Air National Guard said the weather was too dangerous to attempt a helicopter rescue, but a chopper was on standby in case the weather improved.

The seven three-member rescue teams searching for the men encountered wind gusts of 80 mph and blowing snow, said Deputy Marc Smith of the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. They didn't get higher than 8,500 feet.

The teams planned to try again on Tuesday, Smith said.

About 10,000 people a year start for the summit, and on average 20 to 25 have to be rescued.

One of the climbers is 48-year-old Dallas landscape architect Kelly James, his mother, Lou Ann Cameron of Bryant, Ark., said in a telephone interview with CBS 11 News Monday. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Karen, and four children. He grew up in Lake Highlands and attended Texas Tech University. Cameron described her son as an avid climber who scaled Mount McKinley, the Andes Mountains in South America and peaks in Europe.

She told the Associated Press that James called his son, Jason, from inside a snow cave on the mountain's north face Sunday afternoon, saying the other two men had gone back down the mountain to seek help. Her grandson later told her he "didn't sound good."

"I'm just scared he was hurt, and the other guys went to get help," Cameron said.

Hall is a personal trainer who played for the Dallas Rockets, a now-defunct pro soccer team.

The three men left their car on Wednesday to climb the difficult north side of Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest peak. They had planned to spend two nights on the mountain.

The route the climbers took is very difficult, with slopes of 50 or 60 degrees and occasional sheer walls of ice, said Steve Rollins, a rescue leader with Portland Mountain Rescue, which sent two teams up the mountain.

"There is more than 2,000 feet of that terrain," he told The Associated Press.

Rollins said conditions on the mountain were deadly. There is "very hard ice, coupled with very high winds. You have a lot of snow on very hard ice. There is no easy way off the mountain," he said.

A note that the missing climbers left at a Forest Service station said they were taking "minimal gear," Doug Jones, a permit specialist with the Mount Hood National Forest, told The Oregonian newspaper.

It was the second time in less than a month that someone was reported missing in snowy, isolated areas of Oregon. James Kim of San Francisco died of exposure after leaving his wife and their two small daughters in their snowbound car while he struck out on his own in search of help. His wife and children were rescued.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)