10 Mountain Climbing Disasters Deadlier Than The Everest Movie
7. A Class Trip Turns Deadly In Oregon - 1986
The Mountain: Mount Hood is Oregon’s highest point, with a peak just south of 3500 meters (11,482 feet). It is also a potentially active volcano with as high as a 7% chance of erupting in the next 30 years.
# of Deaths: 9
The Story: For many years, Oregon Episcopal School, an elite private school in Portland, offered its students an annual faculty-led climb up Mount Hood as part of an outdoors program. In 1986, that still seemed like a good idea because very few climbers had ever died on Mount Hood, and it was almost always due to a fall or hypothermia as opposed to an avalanche. So, on May 12, 1986, 19 climbers started their ascent up the mountain, although six soon turned back. The 13 remaining climbers kept at it and reached the 3000 meter (9,842 ft.) level before descending in response to a blizzard.
They spent the night in a snow cave they built, which the group's professional guide and one student left the next day to go down the mountain and seek help. Left behind, the climbers huddled together, some driven mad by hypothermia which made them believe they were warm when in fact they were freezing. On May 14, a search party found three members of the group frozen to death. A day later, the rescuers discovered the other eight members of the group, but only two survived, both of them 16-year-old students. The death toll included 7 students and 2 teachers. Counting the guide and student who left to find help, there were four total survivors, three of whom were treated for life-threatening hypothermia. One of the students had both of his legs amputated.