Even with clear conditions, rescuers find nothing on Hood

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MOUNT HOOD, Ore. - The search for two missing climbers on Mount Hood ended Monday afternoon without success despite near-perfect weather conditions early in the day, and authorities said the search will go on even as bad weather approaches.

Forecasters said weather conditions will deteriorate over the next two to four days, but the multiagency search for 29-year-old Katie Nolan of Portland and 24-year-old Anthony Vietti of Longview, Wash. would continue despite the approaching storm, rescuers said.

 “We have two experienced climbers that were well-equipped. We have an obligation to continue on, and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Clackamas County spokesman Jim Strovink during an afternoon news conference on Mount Hood. “We owe that to the family and to the climbers.”

Strovink said the active search on the mountain was suspended for the day Monday but he said rescuers would continue throughout the evening to examine photographs taken from the air and to plan for tomorrow.

"Everybody's on standby," Detective Jim Strovink said as night fell Monday. "We're going to reassess in the morning."

• Related: What happened during the climb?

The body of the missing climbers' climbing companion, 26-year-old Luke Gullberg of Des Moines, Wash., was recovered Saturday.

The Aunt of Vietti, Teri Preiss, said that according to a medical coroner's report, Gullberg did not die of a fall but of hypothermia.

She said the family believes Gullberg left his backpack with the other two because there was an accident that did not involve Gullberg.

She said two items, a glove and a water bottle, found with Gullberg were Nolan's. She said they think Gullberg took the lighter equipment to try and go for help.

The family thinks the climbers were able to build a snow cave and were not as high on the mountain as first thought, Preiss said.

She said that Vietti has a lot of medical training and is going to school to be a physicians' assistant.

Rescuers on Monday headed to Palmer Glacier and backcountry-skied their way to Reid Glacier, which is where they focused their search above the 10,000-foot elevation on the mountain.

The Oregon National Guard launched a Blackhawk helicopter again on Monday equipped with an infrared device. The Guard said it hoped to spot any sign of heat emitted from the climbers or from an air hole of a snow cave they may have managed to make.

Rescuers also went up by snowcat and then continued on in snowshoes to check places they hadn’t previously explored. They said they used a process-of-elimination strategy.

“The cloud cover lifted. They could see the trails,” said Monty Smith of Portland Mountain Rescue. “That was the good news, but the bad news is they didn’t detect any gear or people.”

Family of the two missing hikers said they are keeping up hope that the climber’s mountaineering experience, including multiple climbs on Mount Hood, will bring them through.

“I think they’re strong enough to still be alive, absolutely. But today is our day. Today is our day,” said Preiss.

"Whether they are alive or not, we want them home," Preiss said in a later interview with KATU News. "We're thankful for every searcher that's out there. I told them today after the interview - because I got to stop and talk to them and let them know that we are praying for every one of our searchers that's gone out - and I told them, 'You look hard for my guys, and you give it your all, but don't you dare give it your life.' And every one of them is off the mountain tonight. And we're thankful for that."

A forecaster from the National Weather Service at Mount Hood, Scott Weishaar, said snow would begin at 5 p.m. Monday and progress to white-out conditions for at least two days and possibly into Thursday with temperatures in the 20s.

Indeed, the snow did start falling and conditions worsened as nightfall began.

The climbers were due back at Timberline Lodge at 2 p.m. Friday after leaving early in the morning to make their ascent on the mountain. The climbers registered their intentions at the lodge, said Strovink.

Gullberg was found Saturday by rescue crews and rescuers said a digital camera was found with the body of Gullberg. Rescuers said they hoped the pictures on the camera would help them locate the other two climbers.

Teri Preiss, aunt of Anthony Vietti, tells KATU's Dan Tilkin that Luke Gullberg died of hypothermia:

KATU News will update this story as new information becomes available. KATU.com has opted to suspend commenting on this story at this time.