The climber wrote on his Wilderness Climbing Permit that he had a GPS with him but rescuers say it turned out to be an app on his cell phone---which eventually lost power. When rescuers reached the climber’s initial GPS coordinates, he was no longer there but when his phone battery died he could not update his location.
Sgt. Sean Collinson with Clackamas County Search and Rescue expressed concern with what he sees as an increasing dependence on technology by climbers on Mt. Hood.
"There seems to be more reliance on technology and less on training and experience," said Sgt. Collinson.
The lost climber, Kish, was also posting updates on his Facebook page while he waited to be rescued. Searchers say it would be better to keep the phone off and save the battery to help crews find him.