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organic
Mar 18, 2006, 2:43 PM
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I don't know much but I just received a phone call that my good friend and once climbing partner was hit by a train while hiking in the gully at Jackson Falls. No one knows much yet so if you were at the scene and know anything please post. I heard he was camping and hiking with non-climbing friends and then went off alone, he didn't come back so was reported missing and they found him dead and ruled the cause of death a train that runs by the gully in the falls area. Apparently the accident occurred between thursday night and friday. Helicopters were seen flying low on friday looking for Dave.
The climber's name is David Dedo, 19 years of age and he was an amazing climber. Some of you might know him from the Climb On gym in Homewood, Illinois or the Illinois comp. circuit. I am so hurt and saddened at the lost.
This is all I know at the moment and the accuracy might not be 100% because it is coming from 2nd and 3rd parties, I have not heard or talked to anyone who was at the scene yet.
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the_mitt
Mar 20, 2006, 10:21 AM
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(This post was edited by the_mitt on Nov 19, 2006, 6:28 PM)
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beny
Mar 20, 2006, 3:30 PM
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so what actually happened? organic, have any more info?
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reg
Mar 20, 2006, 4:37 PM
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it's tough to loose friends/anyone - enjoy your life everyday!
"live for the good times - don't get caught it the hard times - it's only water runnin neath the bridge."
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midwestishell
Mar 20, 2006, 5:07 PM
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Certainly is a major shame to lose one of our community. Any more details would certainly be appreciated to try adding some understanding to this accident.
Th
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helios
Mar 20, 2006, 5:10 PM
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My condolences to David's family and friends.
I was there this weekend and noticed a small memorial at the North Falls access. There is a cross with candles and a request for prayers for "deeds."
People we met could only speculate on the circumstances, so I don't have any information to add in that regard.
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boondock_saint
Mar 20, 2006, 6:02 PM
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Yeah it's a real tragedy for someone that young to go. I was there this weekend and first head the story about helicopters and a fatal accident. Then later I heard that "someone fell asleep" on the train tracks.
No one really seems to know much about what happened so I hope they will figure it out for his family's sake.
My condolences to his family and those who knew him as well.
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buddha_monkee
Mar 20, 2006, 7:33 PM
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How sad. I used to climb a lot at the Falls. Its a beautiful place. My first sport lead and my first 5.10 sport lead were there. Nice singlepitch out in the woods. Great people climb there. Learned a lot about climbing there. A nice pool under the falls to swim in when it got hot. The dog loved it too.
Sometimes the good ones go too early.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.
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shanz
Mar 20, 2006, 7:51 PM
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Sad to hear my condolences go out -- Jax is holds a special place in my heart and it sux to loose a fellow climber. Many good days have spent in the area.
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organic
Mar 20, 2006, 8:43 PM
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The story right now is that he came down here with a few non-climbing friends on thursday night March 16th. Dave decided to show his friends around a little so they went down into the gully and were hiking around. Somehow he managed to go up a way his friends couldn't follow so they found another way up??? and went back to the campsite and eventually went to sleep. He never showed up on friday March 17th, so they notified police. Boondock_saint, do you know if he really "fell asleep". Did you talk to anyone who was around or saw anything?
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boondock_saint
Mar 21, 2006, 7:34 AM
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First we heard (Saturday morning) that there had been helicopters flying around on Friday night and that there was a fatality.
Then later I took the tree route out of the falls and noticed the cross by the rap line. I asked some guys one the way back if they know what that was about (I had assumed that was the fatality that was mentioned) and they told me that the guy had falled asleep on the RR tracks.
Then later a group of 5 or 6 was coming back from the falls and as they walked by our campsite they asked if we knew what happened. One of the girls knew him, but not very well. She said he had come down the JF with some friends but then went missing.
I don't know where the official story about him falling asleep originated, but that seem to be the one everyone had heard.
--- my opinion based on not knowing the guy or the circumstances of his death has been edited out --
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midwestishell
Mar 21, 2006, 5:22 PM
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Hey guys- I have nothing vested in this what so ever but please hold off on any speculation. It could really lead to problems that no one wants to deal with. There is of course the possibilty that we will never know what happened and we need to be ok with that.
So anyway, please hold off on spreading hearsay unless you know it to be credible. I would hate to have the family hear something through this thread that proves not to be true down the road.
Peace,
Thom
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mistymountainhop
Mar 21, 2006, 6:20 PM
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In reply to: Now I really can't think of any routes at JF that would ensure you more than broken bones so jumping off anything would be a really stupid idea.
Thats not a theory you want to post Even if you knew for a fact it was true, let alone that you Didnt actually know him. The sheer lack of solid information and abundance of hearsay should lead to no real conclusions, regardless of how logical or odd they might be. Like midwestishell said, it might just be better left alone.
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healyje
Mar 21, 2006, 6:34 PM
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I too would refrain from any speculation around "motive" as well. My main interest, other than condolences to those how knew him, is to understand how this could possibly have happened. There are only two ways to engage a train - aware and unaware. I would like to know if an iPod-like device was an aggravating factor as it is the only way short of an unusual medical condition I can imagine a climber could be caught "unaware" in a situation such as this. It is also of interest as we have one of the busiest lines in the country 100' from the base of Beacon and so it is very relavent to our situation here. The railroad does have clout relative to Beacon's climbing management plan and accidents such as this can have direct impact on access. While not climbing, we lost one of our best windsurfing sites, Doug's West, in the Gorge due to just such an event.
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nostalgia
Mar 21, 2006, 6:51 PM
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My condolonces. It's terrible losing a friend.
In reply to: I would like to know if an iPod-like device was an aggravating factor
I used them once while I was operating a 52cc chainsaw. I could barely hear the saw running at full throttle. I immediately classified that as a "bad idea."
As for falling asleep on the tracks, I've heard of it happening before. Apparently kids used to put their ears to the track to listen for oncoming trains, and fall asleep waiting.
He could have tripped and whacked his head, could have had a mental episode, could have caught his shoe between the ties, could have been a zillion things. We'll probably never know, and speculating won't help much.
Again, I'm sorry to hear of the loss.
-Joe
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jitterbugclimb
Mar 21, 2006, 7:03 PM
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Why has nobody mentioned the possibility that alcohol played a role in this accident? It seems the most likely way one would "fall asleep" on railroad tracks. I'm pretty sure that it is the main cause of such accidents.
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jitterbugclimb
Mar 21, 2006, 7:41 PM
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In reply to: Why has nobody mentioned the possibility that he was stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock? Or mauled by a bear? Or was mainlining heroin and went into arrest? It's ridiculous and pointless to speculate. A climbing death, ok, we can learn from it by analyzing it, and possibly prevent future deaths. In this kind of accident, analysis is beyond pointless.
um. Given your previous post, :roll:
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climbsomething
Mar 21, 2006, 7:51 PM
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It's natural to be skeptical and have theories and speculations when it comes to a bewildering death such as this.
It's also best to keep your fool mouth shut about it.
Regardless of the circumstances, this was a real person. Show some restraint and respect.
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shanz
Mar 21, 2006, 7:53 PM
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A little respect and a bit of sympathy for those who knew this person would be in order!
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healyje
Mar 21, 2006, 8:08 PM
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Organic or Eric - who has juristiction for the investigation of this accident? The railroad will be clearly interested and involved, who else given this is federal property?
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jitterbugclimb
Mar 21, 2006, 8:15 PM
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My deepset condolences to the family and friends. My previous post, In reply to: Why has nobody mentioned the possibility that alcohol played a role in this accident? It seems the most likely way one would "fall asleep" on railroad tracks. I'm pretty sure that it is the main cause of such accidents. In reply to: It's also best to keep your fool mouth shut about it.
edited to add: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9091695&dopt=Abstract
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boondock_saint
Mar 21, 2006, 8:32 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: blah blah blah ... Thats not a theory you want to post Even if you knew for a fact it was true, let alone that you Didnt actually know him. The sheer lack of solid information and abundance of hearsay should lead to no real conclusions, regardless of how logical or odd they might be. Like midwestishell said, it might just be better left alone.
well in that case, I'm really glad quoted me ...
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