On the night of May 12th 1986 a very terrible event took place on Mount Hood in Oregon. Nine people died that night including seven teenagers. Mount Hood is Oregon’s tallest peak, standing 11,250 feet above sea level. To some people this may not seem very tall but to us from the Pacific Northwest that is very tall and formidable. On this night judgement played a huge role in the events that occurred. In this paper we will discuss how this tragic event could have been avoided and what could have been done differently. Most importantly we will analyze the decisions that were made, why they were made, and who made them. To do this we will look at personal accounts of the event from some survivors as well as accounts from people who advised the group leaders not …show more content…
The group was from Oregon’s Episcopal School and they were climbing to 1986 MT. HOOD DISASTER 3 complete the schools required “wilderness experience.” The members of the group included fifteen students, one parent, two teachers, and two expert consultants. Just a mere three hours into the climb the only parent and 5 students turned back because they were suffering from altitude sickness and wetness. After three more hours one of the professional consultants started to suffer from snow blindness. Keep in mind he was a “professional” and was supposed to guide the group. Even after being seven people down the rest of the group continued to climb up the mountain. They did not turn back until the weather got worse, on their way down they were caught in a complete blizzard where visibility was almost completely gone. At this point they made the decision to make a snow cave shelter. They managed to survive the night and the next morning a student and professional mountaineer hiked for 16 hours until they found help. After these two three more students attempted to hike down the mountain. Their luck was not as