High-tech locating devices that might have aided searchers in their hunt for three missing climbers are not widely used by those climbing Mt. Hood, according to several local climbing experts.

Frank Mungeam

Climbers make their way toward the summit of Mt. Hood.

“The Mt. Hood Locator Unit wasn’t really that popular,” said Nat Crossman of Oregon Mountain Community, an outdoor and climbing shop that no longer rents the units.

REI and The Mountain Shop do rent the MLU but, as a Mountain Shop employee noted: “A lot of people don’t rent them because they don’t expect bad things to happen to them.”

Using these high tech locator devices “is not a common practice” among climbers of Mt. Hood, said Brian Wheeler, founder of the Northwest School of Survival.

Wheeler described five devices available to climbers that can decrease the chances of getting lost, and increase the chances of getting found:

1. Mt. Hood Locator Unit (MLU)

2. Avalanche Transceiver

3. Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) devices

4. Satellite Phone

5. Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)

Mt. Hood Locator Units, which can be rented at most local climbing shops for about $5, transmit a signal that can be picked up and traced by searchers. The two limitations, said Wheeler, are that the unit needs to be turned on to transmit, and that the individual needs to be reported lost or overdue for searchers to activate the receiver that picks up the signal.

In the case of the three climbers on Mt. Hood, Wheeler said an MLU would not have helped during the severe weather because rescuers still could not reach the climbers’ location. “The MLU might have enabled them to locate the snow cave one day sooner,” said Wheeler.

Avalanche transceivers, which retail for between $300-$400, help climbers locate each other – and rescuers locate climbers – in the event of an avalanche. Once turned on, the beacons send and receive a signal on a specific frequency that anyone can track.

“Anyone traveling in potential avalanche terrain should be carrying avalanche beacons,” said Wheeler, who added that the beacons have their own limitations. The signal from a typical beacon only reaches about 40 yards, so searchers would have to be in the immediate area in order to locate the signal.

Most GPS locators do not send out a location signal so that probably would not have helped searchers find the missing climbers, said Wheeler, but a GPS unit might have enabled the climbers to successfully navigate off the unfamiliar summit of Mt. Hood in bad weather.

“They could have pre-plotted key waypoints including the ‘Pearly Gates’ with GPS, and they possibly could have got themselves off the mountain,” said Wheeler.

Two other high tech devices could have helped climbers but are expensive and rarely used, according to Wheeler.

A satellite phone offers greater potential for making a rescue call for help but such phones don’t transmit GPS coordinates and can cost thousands of dollars to purchase and activate, said Wheeler.

A relatively new device, the Personal Locator Beacon, was approved for sale in the United States by the F.C.C. in 2003. The devices, which cost between $600-$700, are the ultimate high-tech call for help. The device is registered in the owners name and, when activated, sends a signal to a satellite that triggers a rescue response from local law enforcement, said Wheeler.

Experts warn these high-tech location devices are not cure-alls. “Knowledge is really important in using transceivers,” said Nat Crossman of OMC.

In addition, knowing a missing climber's location doesn’t guarantee a successful rescue. “You still have to be able to survive long enough until someone can get to you,” said Wheeler, who advised those traveling in the backcountry to “always, always take GPS, a compass, and a map – and the knowledge of how to use them.”

MORE ON THE WEB:

Backcountry Essentials

Mt. Hood National Forest - Climbing Information

Northwest School of Survival

Portland Mountain Rescue