PORTLAND, Ore. -- Northwest mountaineers will head up Mount Hood at pre-dawn on Saturday in search of the bodies of two climbers missing since early December.

About 80 searchers and support staff will be looking for Brian Hall, 37, of Dallas and Jerry “Nikko” Cooke, 36, of New York City, who vanished after reaching the summit.

Their partner, Kelly James, 48, also of Dallas, died of hypothermia in a snow cave on the north side of the mountain near the summit as rescue teams below struggled for days against a winter storm.

It’s believed Hall and Cooke had gone for help for James, who apparently had run into difficulty still not explained.

Searchers, some of whom will climb to the summit of the 11,239-foot volcano, will test two prevailing theories, said Russell Gubele of Mountain Wave Emergency Communications.

The search will center on Eliot and Newton-Clark glaciers.

One is that Hall and Cooke were swept away by an avalanche, and

the other is that they were blown or fell over a precipice, he said.

Aerial photos show tracks leading to a level spot, where it appeared that some people had tarried, he said. “There were a few tracks from that point, and then nothing,” he said.

In July at a campground at about 5,500 feet, searchers found a stash of equipment they said confirmed that the three men had “gone light,” leaving behind equipment so they could climb faster.

The searching Saturday and Sunday has been in the works for months. It is part of the annual training exercise of the Oregon Mountain Rescue Council. Gubele said it is expected to draw climbers from the region as well as a contingent from the Air Force Reserve’s Portland-based 304 ^th Search and Rescue Squadron.

The early-morning starts, the norm among climbers hoping to avoid bad afternoon weather on the mountain, are aimed at providing the most search time possible, said Chief Deputy Jerry Brown of the Hood River County sheriff’s office, which coordinated the December search.

The weather for the weekend looks good, he said. “It looks like sunny and bright, but our concern is the wind up there,” he said.  “They can be 50-60-70 mph, which can hinder movement.”