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Body Heat - Canine Style
By Josh Hagy
Climbing mountains can be a dangerous adventure and one that should never be attempted without a team of climbers working together. And if your team happens to include a Labrador Retriever like Velvet, then you not only have a faithful companion, but a little extra protection against the cold.
Velvet and her owner, Matty Bryant, 34, along with Kate Hanlon, 34, and Christina Redl, 26, were stranded on Mount Hood in February when a storm, packing 70 mph winds and whiteout conditions, caught the trio by surprise and caused them to lose their way while attempting to descend to safety. After falling into White River Canyon during their attempted descent, they spent 20 hours huddled together beneath a tarp, battling injury and cold, before rescuers found them. Velvet was a big part of the reason for their survival, as she shared her body heat with the stranded climbers.
“Velvet started the 20 hours by lying on Kate. Over time she migrated from Kate, to Christina, to me. It was wonderful to have her lay on me,” said Matty in a written account on his Web site, www.missvelvet.net. Ironically, this time it was Velvet who was returning the favor of being rescued.
Matty and Velvet, a seven year-old Lab-collie mix, met entirely by chance three years ago while Matty was in Arizona. “I found her while I was on a climbing trip in Arizona. She ran up to the car and jumped in to the smell of beef jerky,” he said. “After searching for her owner for a full week, we had no leads and a very cute and loving dog who needed a home. So, she came home with me.”
The two have been inseparable ever since that day. It was this closeness that inspired Matty to take Velvet along on what he thought would be just an ordinary climb on Mount Hood under good weather conditions. While many have since criticized Matty for doing so, he understands the impact of the decision he made and even spent time thinking about it while he was on the mountain.
“I did worry about her, realizing that she was in this situation because of my choices. She was the only one on the trip without an equal voice or the ability to choose whether or not to go,” he said. “More than ever, I realized my responsibility to her as a ‘dad’. I am the person responsible for her well being.” While Matty admits to being responsible for Velvet, she took up her share of responsibility for him and the others.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Velvet sharing her body heat, the three climbers may very well have suffered from frost bite or hypothermia. Velvet would lay on each of the climbers, keeping them warm through a long, miserable time. “She laid on my chest and legs, facing me, occasionally licking my face. It was nice having my warm, furry pup on me as she is my steadfast companion and we have been inseparable since I rescued her, several years ago,” wrote Matty. “I secretly hoped that she would stay put and she did for a long while. I wondered if she knew we were in danger and recognized her job to keep other members of her ‘pack’ warm.” Regardless if she knew just how much danger they were in, Velvet did her job to perfection.
Eventually Velvet settled in to sleep at Matty’s feet and would not be budged, no matter how many times he called her back to him. As it turns out, she probably prevented frostbite from setting in. “Velvet has never been a dog that would sleep on top of me or even next to me for more than a few minutes anyway; she has always preferred sleeping at my feet,” Matty wrote. “Nine days have passed since we were rescued and the toes on my left foot are still tingling from a mild case of frost nip (not frost bite). I have to wonder if Velvet sleeping at my feet didn’t make the difference between frost nip and frost bite. Her small furry body gives off quite a bit of heat and my feet definitely benefited.” Velvet would keep her companions warm until the next morning, when rescuers finally found them on Monday morning.
The climbers had been in cell phone contact with search teams and 911 dispatchers once an hour until the battery on their phone died about four hours before they were rescued. Matty had just stepped outside their protective tarp and returned with a bag of dog food for Velvet when Christina and Kate called out when they thought they heard someone else on the mountain. Their call was answered by four members of the Portland Mountain Rescue organization: Dave, Jason, Erik and Bob Alexander.
They quickly passed down dry clothes and warm tea to Matty, Christina and Kate and prepared them for the journey back to civilization. “They navigated avalanche prone slopes and ridges of wind torn glacial moraines, despite reports that a worsening storm was descending upon the mountain. They risked everything to find us, and we are alive today because of them,” said Matty.
As soon as they descended, they were whisked off for medical checkups and Velvet was driven to a local emergency animal hospital, Dove Lewis. With their injuries tended and healing, the trio has since looked back to see what may be learned from their ordeal and has decided to put their fifteen minutes of fame to good use. They held a fundraiser in March and donated 100% of the proceeds to the search and rescue teams who worked to find them on that fateful day in February.
Today, both Matty and Velvet are alive and well, as are Christina and Kate. The experience has proved to be a lot to handle, though, and Matty is still coming to grips with it. “I am struggling with the balance of how much weight of responsibility to carry on my own shoulders and how much to let shed off of my conscience. This will take awhile and I am aiming to come out of this experience wiser and more conservative,” he said. “I also hope to spend time satisfying my curiosity, learning more about the best methods for integrating the use of map, compass and GPS skills.”
Even with these new tools in his pack, there is no doubt that he will never forget about how Velvet kept him and the others warm through those 20 cold hours and how she was happy to return the favor of rescuing him.
For a complete firsthand account of the events that took place on Mount Hood told by Matty, and for information on how you can support fundraising efforts for the search and rescue teams involved in this story, please log on to www.missvelvet.net.
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