I took a look at photo's of the mountain, combined with detailed relief maps last night. It's very hard to put together an analysis given the sparse facts. Here's one possible take on the events ...

It looks as though the trio tried the ascent on the Reid Glacier Route of Mt Hood. Given that they had previous mountaineering experience, this route selection makes some sense. This route is harder than the standard route. They were roped on the ascent at some point (according to photo's recovered). They seem to be doing well in the pictures.

My guess ... and it's a big one ... is that they did succeed and make the summit area of the mountain. But it took a lot longer then they planned, and somehow one of them became injured or sick at the top of the mountain. The three of them then dug a hasty snow cave, and the strongest team member (Mr Gullberg) decided to descend back down to get help. In order to move quickly, he did the descent with light gear and no ropes. However, he was overtaken by darkness and the storm, and therefore attempted the descent under very difficult conditions. He may have tried to re-trace his ascent route. Or just as likely he may have tried to go down the ridge on the side of the Reid Glacier. The ridge would be a safer choice if there was any avalanche danger. Unfortunately, that ridge starts out with reasonable downwards slope, but becomes risky and steep a little lower down on the mountain. A fall from the ridge (or a fall from the headwall) would place his body at about the location where it was discovered.

If I was S&R, I would try to get a team onto the summit area to probe the snow near the summit for a snow cave. But this may not be possible if clouds and winds do not cooperate on Tue morning. Frankly, it will be very difficult for the remaining 2 climbers to survive, if they don't have much fuel. They will be unable to melt snow to get drinking water, or provide any kind of heat from external sources. The combination of cold, low oxygen, fatigue, and dehydration is very harsh.

Just some thoughts ... and could be wrong given that few facts have been reported by the media.

My prayers to the friends and family members involved.

other Pete