Karen James grieved in front of millions of people two years ago before her husband's body was recovered live on CNN atop an ice-crusted Mount Hood.

JIM MAHONEY/DMN

Karen James, widow of Kelly James, blames 'summit fever' for the climbers' decision to take Mount Hood.

The attempted rescue of Kelly James and Brian Hall of Dallas and Jerry "Nikko" Cook of New York riveted the nation in the days before Christmas 2006.

Hundreds of journalists covered the story from the base of Oregon's highest mountain, where Mrs. James and other family members appeared before assembled television cameras, weeping openly and thanking the snow-shoed rescuers.

But hours after her husband's body was airlifted from the summit, Mrs. James returned to Dallas, to an empty, quiet house, where she kept bumping into the missing pieces.

So she leaned on her training as a reporter and began assembling facts. The result: Her book, Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy, was published this month.

In it, Mrs. James reconstructs the climbers' ill-fated journey. Based on interviews with rescuers and photos in a camera recovered with her husband's body, she offers an explanation for why the men continued to climb toward the summit – with one injured climber – even as a blizzard descended on the mountain.

"It was summit fever," Mrs. James said this week at her Dallas home. "These guys had studied this mountain. They knew the south side is so much easier to go down."

But when they reached the 11,239-foot precipice, the three men faced 130-mph winds and white-out conditions. They dropped down the north side of the mountain and dug a snow cave about 300 feet from the summit.

All three men spent the night there. The next morning, Mr. Hall, a personal trainer in Dallas, and Mr. Cook, a Manhattan attorney, left to find help for Mr. James, who was probably injured during the climb.

"They were looking for the Cooper Spur, and that's where the tracks stop," said Mrs. James. "I believe they either lost their footing and fell into a crevasse or they were blown off the mountain by high winds."

The next day, Mrs. James received what she calls her "miracle call" when Mr. James called home from his snow cave atop Mount Hood.

"Hey, baby," Mr. James said, his voice weak.

"Hi, honey, I love you," Mrs. James responded. "You've got to be really strong now. You've got to hold on."

After telling her husband about the family Christmas tree and warning him to stay awake, she ended the call. It lasted 6 minutes and 42 seconds.

In her book, Mrs. James defends the climbers' decisions – she says it is not unusual for experienced mountaineers to bury their gear for a light and quick trip over a summit.

"Brian and Kelly were extremely proficient in alpine climbing," she said. "They stashed their stuff in South America when they climbed to make it very light and lean."

The Dallas men were longtime climbing partners. They had scaled Alaska's 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, peaks in the Andes and across Europe. Mr. James, a landscape architect, and Mr. Hall, a former professional soccer player, met Mr. Cooke while climbing Mount Rainier.

That mountain has emotional significance for Mrs. James – it's where her husband proposed.

In her book, Mrs. James writes about their love affair and the religious faith she and her husband shared.

"For the first few months, I would just look at the door and think to myself, 'No, he's got to be walking through that door any minute,' " she said.

"I went on a very dark grief walk. That's one of the reasons I talk about it and one of the reasons I wrote the book, because I truly believe my faith was the only thing that got me through it."