Overview

In May 1986, a private preparatory school's field trip made worldwide headlines. Twenty climbers began ascending what has arguably been called the second-most climbed mountain in the world--Oregon's Mount Hood. Caught in one of the worst blizzards imaginable, they battled the elements while waiting for a rescue. The community responded by launching one of the largest mountain Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the nation's history. Recognizing that no book concerning the highly controversial story existed, the author spent over four years researching and carefully assembling the heartbreaking pieces of the puzzle. Ric Conrad conducted thirty-seven interviews with key witnesses. He presents the story from several unique perspectives: those in the command post, directing the operation; those on the individual SAR teams, battling time and the elements; and the friends and family members of the missing climbers, maintaining their multi-day vigil. Representatives from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department, Portland Mountain Rescue, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, the Crag Rats, Hillsboro Helicopters, Timberline Lodge, and the 304th Air Force Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron have all shared their memories in this compelling volume. Original strategy directives, team missions, and configurations--all are explored and explained. The oral history gleaned from these interviews, coupled with the author's extensive use of primary documentation, has yielded--at long last--the agonizing, yet heroic story of one of America's worst mountaineering tragedies.

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9780988733954

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Reviews

A remarkable story of immense arrogance and miscalculation, tempered by an equally immense response of caring and self-sacrifice. Conrad's writing style and attention to detail puts the reader in the field as a member of a rescue team, with the palpable sense of desperation and dread that we all felt as the hours dragged on and on. I truly hope that some good will come from this tragedy and if so, Code 1244 will have played a seminal role. -Dave McClure. 1986 Co-Chief, PMR Operations The death of children is a difficult subject, and the author strikes a good, delicate balance between sensitivity and objectivity. -Tom Stringfield, 1986 Team 10, PMR As a member of Portland Mountain Rescue, I saw this historic operation unfold. As I read Conrad's book, his meticulous research was immediately evident, as memories from the event came rushing back. For anyone interested in truly understanding what happened that awful week on the mountain, Code 1244 is the key to that understanding. -Barry Wright. 1986 Co-Chief, PMR Operations The tensions Conrad describes, between the various mountain rescue organizations, were real-- the result of competing personalities and style, more than tactics and strategies. Over the decades, I think relationships between these groups have improved greatly and this has led to much better coordination and overall better rescue response for the region. -Ed Hall, 1986 PMR/Hood River Crag Rats

"""A remarkable story of immense arrogance and miscalculation, tempered by an equally immense response of caring and self-sacrifice. Conrad's writing style and attention to detail puts the reader in the field as a member of a rescue team, with the palpable sense of desperation and dread that we all felt as the hours dragged on and on. I truly hope that some good will come from this tragedy and if so, Code 1244 will have played a seminal role."" -Dave McClure. 1986 Co-Chief, PMR Operations ""The death of children is a difficult subject, and the author strikes a good, delicate balance between sensitivity and objectivity."" -Tom Stringfield, 1986 Team 10, PMR ""As a member of Portland Mountain Rescue, I saw this historic operation unfold. As I read Conrad's book, his meticulous research was immediately evident, as memories from the event came rushing back. For anyone interested in truly understanding what happened that awful week on the mountain, Code 1244 is the key to that understanding."" -Barry Wright. 1986 Co-Chief, PMR Operations ""The tensions Conrad describes, between the various mountain rescue organizations, were real-- the result of competing personalities and style, more than tactics and strategies. Over the decades, I think relationships between these groups have improved greatly and this has led to much better coordination and overall better rescue response for the region."" -Ed Hall, 1986 PMR/Hood River Crag Rats"

Author Information

Ric Conrad is a freelance writer whose work has been featured in Climbing, Portland Monthly, Oregon Coast Magazine, The Gorge Magazine, and 1859 Oregon's Magazine. A storng proponent of perserving oral history, he is the author of Mount Hood: Adventures of the W' east Climbers, 1930-1942. The book chronicles the history of exploration on the peak during the Great Depression

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