Weather Stalls Mt. Hood Search For Nike Manager

MOUNT HOOD, Ore. - Three aircraft were made available yesterday to search for a Nike manager missing for five days on Oregon's highest mountain, but deteriorating weather kept them on the ground.

Authorities said an Air Force Reserve unit turned down their request Tuesday to help look for Kenneth Budlong, 45, of Clackamas, Ore.

Budlong was to have returned from a climb of the mountain's north slope on Monday. An inventory-control manager with 18 years at the Beaverton-based Nike, Budlong has climbed Mount Hood 22 times.

His tent was found Tuesday at the 7,000-foot level on the 11,235-foot peak.

Nike hired a helicopter yesterday and the U.S. Coast Guard in Seattle sent another. A plane was offered by a private party in Hood River, the sheriff's department said.

If the 304th Rescue Squadron had agreed to fly Tuesday, when the sky was clearer, the search could have been wrapped up in 30 minutes, said Sgt. Dwayne Troxel of the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

Col. Gene Garton, vice commander of the 939th Air Rescue Wing, said the community should not expect the 304th to always be available.

"We've never been in the civilian rescue business," Garton said. "Our mission, from the time I joined this unit, has been combat rescue. We have always tried to provide, to the best of our ability, rescue services to the local community."

But Garton's response did not satisfy Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler: "They're the best mountain-rescue flight unit in the country, and we've got them right here and we can't use them."

Garton said budget restraints have caused the 304th to look at each operation more carefully.

"The military is getting by with a lot less," he said. "We're barely maintaining our training level. There's a lot less training than there was 10 years ago."

Nike spokesman Keith Peters said the company decided it was necessary to hire a helicopter.

"Ken worked for Nike for a long time and however this turns out, we certainly don't want to look back on it and think we didn't do all we could to support the search effort," Peters said.

Peters declined to comment on the reserve unit's decision.

"I really want to stay out of that kind of debate," he said. "I just hope that everybody pulls together and does everything they can to find Ken."