The Adventurist Interview: Hubert A. Allen, Author of Mt. Hood: The Deep Blue Zone

August 8, 2007

The Adventurist Interview with Hubert A. Allen

Author of Mount Hood The Deep Blue Zone: Story of the 2006 Climbing Tragedy

First off Mr. Allen, It is a pleasure to have you here at The Adventurist. The events surrounding the tragedy in December of 2006 still lingers deep in quite a few minds. Why do you think that this event, first off, triggered such a huge media reaction, and secondly, why has that attention seemed to continue clear up through today?

HA: Early in December of 2006 the media had already grabbed onto the case of the Lee family lost in the Oregon wilderness. It had a tragic end when the father, who tried to walk out, was found dead, apparently the victim of hypothermia and the mother and children were rescued in the vehicle they stayed with - 13 days out. Ironically CNN, for example, ran the final wrap-up story of the Lees just as the Mount Hood story broke. Mount Hood is several steps up in drama from a mud road in the forest. Basically, it on-upped the last incident at just the right moment. Unfortunately, as of this interview, they still have not recovered the bodies of the two other climbers. There is no closure. I am hoping by the end of summer the families will have their loved ones back and this physical aspect of closure will be fulfilled.

Much has been said about Brian Hall, Jerry Cooke, and Kelly James perhaps not being as prepared as they should have been. To myself though, these guys were experienced. They had climbed many times before together–they were looking for a fast ascent, so of course they carried as little as possible. They left behind notes, both at the rangers station as well as their vehicles and had a cell phone. How do you feel, being a mountain climber yourself, about their preparation?

HA: One important form of preparation is gaining knowledge of the mountain, the climb and conditions as they are. None of the three men had been on Mount Hood before. By the very timing of their effort, dedicating just a long weekend away from homes in New York and Texas to climb this 11,239 foot Mount Hood in December, they gave themselves no time to learn about the mountain. They did not adequately acclimatize - going from sea level to summit in a little over 48 hours. This is failing to prepare the body for a dangerously fast change in elevation - say 11,239 feet of elevation change in 48 hours My personal opinion is that they underestimated the mountain, the effort, and the climb itself. I now believe that the climbers brought with them all the gear needed to succeed on the mountain. However, through a series of decisions, they ended-up jettisoning most of the key survival gear prior to actually setting foot onto the North Face. The recent (July 2007) recovery of a cache of their equipment at a campsite above the Tilly Jane Hut but below the Eliot Glacier suggests they were in possession of a fairly extensive gear supply. However, when Kelly James was recovered he was far too lightly dressed for the conditions encountered. They really believed in the super-fast ascent and that they would be spending a mere matter of hours in ascent and descent of 11,239 foot Mount Hood.

Could they have done anything different that could have possibly saved their lives?

HA: There were many opportunities to retreat - some as early as the walk up to the climb, others on the climb itself. By the time they ended up in a snow cave at 11,000 feet in the Deep Blue Zone of cold and wind, they were pretty much check-mated by Mother Nature. For example, my research uncovered the fact that the climbers had rented snowshoes but left them in their car at the Tilly Jane Trailhead. When I retraced their steps in February 2007 up to the Tilly Jane Hut, I found that this part of the trail is packed down from use and, perhaps a snowcat. In any case, you can hike up this trail on packed snow to the hut without the need of snowshoes. Beyond the hut, thin ribbons of trails spread out, some to CloudCap, others toward the Cooper Spur and the North Face - but these are not nearly so well packed. As soon as the climbers left the hut and headed up to the North Face, they found themselves post-holing. Which means with each step they sunk deep into the snow, perhaps several feet deep. This is excruciatingly difficult and energy-draining. I can only surmise, that by the time they started out onto the North Face, the energy-drain of the walk in might have suggested a rethinking of the effort. The book discusses another opportunity high up on the face, where retreat might have been considered.

Immediately after this story broke in the press, people started questioning not only climbing on Mt. Hood, but mountain climbing in general, and what could be done to perhaps help save lives in these high altitude rescue situations. One answer, that has actually been passed I believe, is the use of GPS or zoning beckons that the climber would actually carry with them and alert people to their whereabouts if trouble should find them. Should this even be an issue and does the equipping and use of these personal locator devices infringe on the climber’s personal freedom, as implied from the climbing community?

HA: I’m glad you asked about the pro-active steps which could be taken to make Mount Hood safer to climb. That is the underlying point of my book - empowering climbers with knowledge that might make their climbing safer. For instance, why not create a program to make the Locator devices (and similar GPS devices) more readily available to those who climb on Mount Hood? This means having a check-out system, perhaps with a small fee attached, to rent Locator devices to parties headed up the mountain. The problem now is that very few places around Mount Hood offer these devices. Let’s form a small fund to buy the devices, establish check-out systems at places around the mountain - the ski areas, ranger stations, local mom-and-pop grocery stores and make access to these devices a non-issue. Especially for parties like Kelly, Jerry and Nikko, who had never been on the mountain before, this could be a future life-saver. The system of use should be voluntary but heavily promoted to the public.

Another controversy arising out of this unfortunate incident was whether or not people should be paying, if they are caught up in one of these wilderness rescue scenarios. What are your feelings towards this issue?

HA: There is a long, well-establish record of volunteer assistance in all forms of search and rescue, truly a giving of kindred-spirits to those who get in trouble in the outdoors. The American Alpine Club did a study which showed that climbers were a small percent of all S&R. Hunters, hikers, fishermen, boy scouts - these are the among more frequent categories of folks who are actually getting S&R services. Let’s work on improving climbers safety before introducing a penalty system for the rescued.

After Kelly James’ body was discovered and seemingly brought down, hope still lingered for quite some time about the other two climbers. As a matter of fact, to this day their bodies have never been found. Do you have some insight on what you think might have happened to Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke? Is it plausible to believe that they were blown off of Mt. Hood by the high winds at that time?

HA: Many of the misunderstandings planted in the public’s mind about this incident, from the popular media, have been clarified for the readers of my book, “Mount Hood - The Deep Blue Zone.” For example, it was pure hope which drove this story from Sunday December 10th, when climber Kelly James actually placed a cell phone call home to his family in Texas to the following Sunday, December 17th, when his body was located in the snow cave. On Monday, December 18th, the body was recovered from the mountain. On Tuesday they searched the lower slopes in the hope the two other climbers we holed up and alive. However, by Tuesday night, with storms threatening, the search was called off. So, actually, after Kelly James was recovered, hope for the other two dwindled rapidly. My book uses the forensic data available, i.e. footprints on the North Face, to suggest where, what and when the last moments were for the two climbers who bravely sought to go get rescue for their friend.

A lot of people have asked me about Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke. Since their bodies have never been located, it has left a void in people’s minds. It is known that a search was suppose to take place this last spring in hopes of finding them. Have you heard any more news on this?

HA: A July 2007 search involved over 130 persons, many who had been involved in the December 2006 effort. Remarkably they found a cache of the climber’s equipment at a campsite above the Tilly Jane Hut but below the actual North Face. No bodies were found but they searched low on the mountain. In September, a search of the upper slopes is planned. I am fairly confident, certainly hoping, that this will bring closure for the two families. My research into past accidents revealed that, at one time, there were up to five bodies never recovered from the same North Face catch basin.

You are the author of Mt. Hood: The Deep Blue Zone. What seemingly sparked your interest in this incident and why did you decide to proceed on writing a book on this issue?

HA: I am the author of eleven books, four on climbing. As this incident protracted itself in the American media, I began to wonder how much was driven by the hype and hope versus realistic survivability of the climbers on Mount Hood in December. In the book , what I called the “Hoped for Christmas Miracle” which this story became in the American media, was just too tempting to give up until it was absolutely undeniable that they had perished on Mount Hood under extreme weather conditions. Sadly, and ironically, my analysis reveals that all three climbers were probably deceased within 24 hours of the story breaking. The remaining nine days, when the story leapt into the lead on cable and network news, all three climbers were long since dead. This is knowledge in hindsight but no skepticism was allowed to permeate the media’s milking of this incident. Indeed, I became a talking-head on our local Fox and CBC television affiliates when I did a live 4-minute analysis for Albuquerque on December 19th 2007.

During the research of this incident, did you happen to uncover perhaps something that not to many others would know–for instance, your book uses advanced meteorological information. Information that many others have seemingly used as well, because of this research. What were you able to find out with this information?

HA: The key to my actually going ahead and writing a book was the weather data and projections. For this I had the help of Teresa Bennett, together we found actual weather data on the Internet from the Meadows Ski Area on Mount Hood. I used my skills as a professional biostatistician to project what conditions were higher up on Mount Hood, where the climbers were last located, about 11,000 feet above sea level. When I combined the fudge factors for temperature and wind and then calculated the wind-chill conditions, I realized that these climbers, high on the North Face, had found themselves in The Deep Blue Zone having come up from fairly benign conditions. I felt that the wind, in particular, was the culprit and that motivated me to share the weather projections and use them to help explain what happened. In fact, the weather data was shared with several of the key agencies who were involved in the search and rescue. I think they acknowledged that it was useful work.

By writing Mt. Hood: Deep Blue Zone, what are you hoping to achieve?

HA: It has been estimated that Mount Hood is the second-most climbed mountain in the world, after Mt. Fuji. Up to 10,000 people a year play on its slopes. If this book can serve to educate in-coming climbers on the possibility of The Deep Blue Zone, among other pit-falls, it will serve a purpose. My aspiration is that it will become a mountaineering classic.

Do you think you have been able to do this?

HA: Absolutely not. There needs to be more support from the retail community to get this sort of book onto shelves where climbers can have access to it. The book chains scoff at putting self-published, print-on-demand books like “Mount Hood The Deep Blue Zone” on the book shelves. A lot of good books go nowhere because of distribution difficulties. I am proud to say a few truly independent vendors such at Chessler Books and TopOfTheWorld Books have embraced the title and are selling copies.

What else would you like people to know about Mt. Hood: The Deep Blue Zone?

HA: That it was written from the climber’s perspective. From the outset I said to my friends, “There are three other folks trying to write this same book. And I want to be the first, and to do it from a climber’s perspective.” While I have my critics, I feel that I have represented the men and their attempt on Mount Hood from a climber’s point of view. My feeling was that among the other contenders there were sensationalists, corporate interests intent on using it for entertainment, and non-climbers unable to relate to the very mentality of climbers.

Now for the question that I am sure you have been waiting for me to ask…where can we get our hands on this book?

HA: The best place to get copies of the book are with the small vendors who have signed copies: Chessler Books and TopofTheWorld Books - both can be found on the web. Second, there are the websites of Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Books a million. For special autographed copies order through my website, HubertAllen.com.

You have any new projects we should be on the look-out for in the near future?

HA: I’d like to get readers to check out my other books, they range from a climbing novel set in Africa, “Breakfast with Kamuzu,” to my unique account of climbing with British celebrity climber Joe Simpson in “The Simpson Incident and Other Climbing Misadventures.” These can be seen at my website, HubertAllen.com, and on Amazon.com

Well, Mr. Allen, Thank-you so much for your time and trying to enlighten us a bit more on the Mt. Hood tragedy. It is nice to know that we can find all of this information in one spot now. Mt. Hood: The Deep Blue Zone should be on every climber’s bookshelf, and I am sure Mr. Allen wouldn’t mind…

Remember to stop on over to Hubert A. Allen’s Personal Website to not only check out Mt. Hood: The Deep Blue Zone, but his other books as well.

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