When you decide to enroll in a private school your parents pay tuition and agree to the terms of their policies. sometimes their policies can be quite extreme. Much different than public education. I attended a private Baptist school in the 1980’s that provided for corporal punishment. I got paddled more than once.
1992 and I attended an Outward Bound school for 2 weeks. I’m a novice and grew up in the city. It was a beginner intermediate group. Final push in the mountains to climb a small summit around 7000 or so feet the instructors cancelled that small summit attempt due to a storm at the summit but not at lower elevation. I never understood why seemed like no big deal. One instructor was named Thom Mountain. True story. Big old guy. Literally. They’re the professionals and they knew this story. Too risky there in a storm with 6-7 novices. True professionals and have so much respect for them. We did not know what they knew. I just heard of this story today. So long ago but still heartbreaking. My condolences to the families. God bless.
The story I shared above occurred in the Deschute River area just outside of Mt Hood in Oregon. I 💯 know these professionals know of this story and is a pat of their learning and training.
I live in Portland, grew up here. I remember those days, looking up at the mountain and feeling the horror in knowing what was happening up there. I love that mountain, but know that many families look at it very differently. It’s a very serious climb, not a small thing to endeavor and every time I’m up there on it I see the beauty and the danger.
I've climbed Mt Hood to the summit! I've been at elevation on her slopes and have seen weather conditions change on a dime. I couldn't imagine taking children up the Hogsback up through the Pearly Gates! Just too risky!
Another story close to home. I’ve seen this story told from a dozen different outlets. What a harrowing ordeal for all involved. Again, thank you so much for how you show such reverence and respect to those in the story. I’ll never stop telling you how glad I am that you chose to do this channel! You do such a wonderful job with your scripts and video quality. Still one of my very favorite channels, period! Cheers, my friend! ☺️
That comment was from my personal account lol The Pacific Northwest is a second home for me and still frequent the area which is why likely why many stories are from the area. Oregon and Washington are gorgeous.
Yes. Yes they did. But their ego and arrogance got the best of them and they thought they could handle it while keeping the kids safe! Well that didn't work out! Glad I went to public school now! 😠😤🤬
I was literally in tears by the end of this video. 😪 That was heart wrenching to hear what happened to those kids and adults up there! Not to mention the panic felt by the families. You’re an awesome story teller! 👍
Slipped away from this channel for the last few months, had a bit going on. I forgot how great this channels research, production and narration are. Great work as always. Thanks for what you do!
ENJOYING YOUR CHANNEL AND THE TRUE STORIES I HAVE JUST FOUND IT AND IM WATCHING BACK IN SCOTLAND I LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING ALL YOUR STORIES IVE JUST SUBSCRIBED 😊👋🏴
First in most all. RIP in peace to everyone who didn't survive. Second, I was wondering what was going on inside Father Tom's head before even starting this adventure. With the knowledge of the weather turning bad, it should have been called off all together. If any lesson was learned here, no matter how prepared you think you are always turn back on the first sign of bad weather, if you are on a trail. This goes for any type of weather.
I mean, it depends. Some rain on an easy trail is no problem, especially with right clothing and footwear. But mountain climbing is totally different especially in a snow storm. Also, if there are minors involved, extra caution should always be used.
@@mingiinimene3335 It doesn't "rain" up there. When they say a storm is moving in, it usually means a blizzard, and in this case they were saying a multi-day storm. It was sheer hubris, going up there.
One must always be willing to change, even the best-laid plans to accommodate for changing conditions. In retrospect bailing from the snow cave was the best decision, although it seems likely that not everyone in the group was physically able to down climb…
Tragic on so many levels. My high school had outdoor pursuit programs like this available for all ages of high school students. Truly, it is terrifying to think about if my classmates had failed to ever return from the mountain.
This is very similar to the Cairngorm Plateau disaster in 1971, another school party, another snow storm and another bunch of teachers who thought they'd prove how tough they were to the kids.
The way I understand it, father Tom knew bad weather was rolling in so they made an early start expecting to get home early before bad weather rolled in. However, the weather didn’t cooperate. Yes, it was not wise to risk the safety of the kids when it was known that the weather was going to turn ugly. A good example of goal oriented behavior. In hind sight, wrong time, wrong place.
Father Tom led the kids and the team to the disaster. Why can’t they wait till the weather improves? This is a total lack of Common sense and care for the children
Unfortunate father Tom was unfit for his position . A man of God should not be prideful, arrogant or such a fool . Responsible for so many deaths, there is a place in Hell for such wolves in lambs clothing. 🤮
Father Tom got angry when one turned back. A kid like Pat was clearly not going to stand up to a guy like that. He's criminally negligent imo. It cost him his life and innocent kid's lives. Over confidence and complacency are dangerous in leaders. I would never allow my child to do this as a requirement in school. It's ridiculous.
Yeah father Tom was ridiculous. I know some states hypothermia effect his decision. But according to the book, he was being negligent before the cold overtook them.
@@outdoordisasters If anything, the effects of hypothermia only magnified his own bad decision-making. Still, rip to those kids who had to suffer and die for his arrogance.
I've known many of these religious leaders being extremely self righteous , self absorbed , full of pride , and terrible estimators of their own intelligence . The type of people I have no time or patience for .🤢
"Impending bad weather, but confident in his ability to navigate and insure the safety of," - How many times have words like these caused death? Too many to count. Just because one is experienced does not mean they can control nature. So often "familiarity breeds contempt," and costs lives. It is just so sad that innocent children had to pay for one man's arrogance and over confidence in his abilities. Far better to err on the side of caution than to go off thinking you can handle whatever comes. Nature is not to be fooled with. It is to be respected.
Yes, agree! Only experienced swimmers got drowned, and an veteran driver bumps into an an accident easier, simply because they are too sure of themselves. Human nature
It’s one thing for grown adults to consent to climb a dangerous mountain, but it’s totally different when teenagers are forced to climb a dangerous mountain as a high school graduation requirement. That should never be the case. The students didn’t have much of a choice in the matter besides being allowed the option to turn back once they had gone through a substantial portion of the climb, but they likely felt pressure not to do so. As teenagers, they likely felt both peer pressure and pressure from the adults in charge to continue the hike once it had begun.
Also Boris Sagal, Katey Sagals dad, lost his life after a helicopter landing at Timberline. He walked into the tail rotor blades. Partially decapitating him.
Only in America one guy is building the hut and other 12 guys are just sitting under a tarp freezing their butts off instead of helping him How ridiculous people have to be???
This story bothers me. Father Tom was not the only problem, there's plenty of blame to go around, starting with the school administration, and the parents who went along with this ill-advised, unnecessary trek. (Some were first-time climbers; there was no need to tackle a formidable mountain like Mt. Hood just because it was in their "backyard.") Mountain climbing is inherently dangerous. Even highly experienced, professional *adult* climbers die on mountains every year. Things can turn on a dime "up there." The weather forecast was not good. As well, it sounds as though the group was not properly kitted or prepared---no altimeter, one shovel, one sleeping bag, etc.). These were *young* people, not fully capable of understanding the danger they were undertaking. To them, it was an exciting adventure. They were relying on the good sense and good judgement of the adults in their lives---and the adults failed them, imo. I'll probably be accused of insensitivity here but my hope is people make better choices when it comes to the safety of their children---this was a big risk---sometimes you have to make the unpopular decision---and say "no." (I'm sure the man who felt "uneasy" about his son's participation wishes every day he'd followed his instincts and said "not today, son.") RIP
Even as a teen, I doubt they thought this was an exciting adventure! I hate that kind of cold! Not my idea of a good time! Hard enough to just get me to go skiing! I can't imagine anyone doing that willingly but I know some do. I just can't! 🥶
Portland here. This is the best, most detailed telling of this tragedy I've ever seen. I'm confused though...what part of mountaineering, especially in a blizzard, calls for repeatedly changing clothes? In a blizzard? Seems like a waste of time, especially in a rescue. Bless the souls of those lost on the mountain. It's beautiful...and unforgiving. 🌹
Even though Gore-Tex was invented in 1969, it was very expensive and did not become affordable for most people until the 90's. In general, breathable materials that let water vapor pass but kept water out was very limited back then. Even in cold environments one can still sweat or perspire with exertion and becoming wet underneath due to perspiration and non-breathable material, such as cotton, can lead to hypothermia.
This is ground control to Father Tom, you are completely obsessed with yourself and won't tolerate weakness. The ultimate bully with a dog collar, one of thousands the same. All those mountain club memberships and claims of "expertise" were a sign to not follow such a person's lead. Humility before nature, even more so on mountains during harsh weather conditions. There was no "urgency to move faster", the urgency was to turn back way before when the first falls took place and early returners - they should have STOPPED AND CALLED IT OFF AND RETURNED SAFELY ALL TOGETHER. Such a person SHOULD NEVER have been in charge of young climbers who he could bully with impunity. This kind of situation was totally avoidable with just a minimum amount of common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is a rare sense. Even with all this, a timely rescue could have been made if there had been more accurate information. No altimeter, no communications, no flares, no other type of emergency location device. How can all of these critical items for undertaking a perilous journey have been carelessly omitted? The whole sorry escapade was a shambles from start to finish, only the tireless work of rescue workers and the fact that two of the climbers went out from the cave to get help and result in the location of the trapped climbers, unfortunatelyit was far too late for most of them. Nine precious lives were lost and two people had to have leg amputations, all in the name of outdoor adventure. Not all outdoor adventure is the same in terms of risks and potential for changing conditions. Familiarity often breeds contempt, no matter how well-meaning or caring a leader may appear to be. A catalogue of errors that should not have occurred, but they did. The family and friends of those who died will never be the same. I find it hard to understand why the school was not held responsible for the safety of this activity. It seems they had paid a lot of money to a slippery lawyer to avoid any conviction of negligence and criminal accountability. It's BS about the onset of hypothermia affecting judgement as a reason to absolve responsibility. The bad decisions were made way before they even set off! Somewhere there was pressure to avoid cancelling the climb to avoid incurring any cost consequences, but that will be covered up forever. This video has made me feel so angry at how this was allowed to proceed from the start, and how it wasn't aborted at the first sign of severe problems. At this point, Father Tom would not yet have been suffering from hypothermia, so why the hell did he insist in pushing the group further up into greater danger, not risk, but real and present danger? A group of adults would not have followed such flawed leadership, but these youngsters were not protected by anyone; neither by the school, nor the group leaders, especially Father Tom.
@@outdoordisastersYou did a lot more research than that! This was more like a film of stills interspersed with movie scenes overlaid with such detail in narration. The saddest stories are about the deaths of the young, but you have made an honorable memorial to all involved.
How is it possible to lose a shovel while you are using it? I could understand if it fell off a cliff, was washed overboard from a boat in a storm, or ended up in some other inaccessible place. It just sounds so odd that at 16:08 "a student, clearing the cave's entrance, loses the shovel in the storm." Tie a lanyard around the handle & tie the other end around something heavy inside the cave. Also, all those people & you only took ONE shovel? I mean, they shouldn't have been up there in the first place once there was the first sign of bad weather approaching, but that aside, they seemed to have made other mistakes. I'm just having trouble envisioning the cave entrance & layout, etc. OK, so apparently their stove, etc. were outside the cave under a tarp & got buried in the snow. I guess there was no room to keep everything inside the cave with them. But IDK how they could have lost their shovel while using it to clear the cave's entrance! I need diagrams! 😆 Yes, you have to draw me pictures! 😆
