Posted on 03/09/2006 7:11:46 AM PST by Rebelbase
OLD FORT (AP) — Daniel DeLaVergne, a whitewater kayaker who paddled one of North America's most dangerous rivers in less than 10 hours, died Wednesday after being hit by a train. He was 29.
Friends said they believed DeLaVergne was camping in the High Ridge Tunnel near Ridgecrest when the accident occurred Tuesday. He was struck by a 1,150-ton train heading west toward Asheville, Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said.
DeLaVergne was airlifted to Mission Hospitals, where he was pronounced dead.
National Geographic Adventure magazine named DeLaVergne a 2005 adventurer of the year for paddling the 50-mile run of the Stikine River in British Columbia with three other kayakers. The run is rated Class V+, the highest survivable rating for a river, and the magazine described the river as "the pinnacle of North American white water.".
The magazine said it normally takes three days to paddle the Stikine, but DeLaVergne and his friends did it in nine hours and 50 minutes.
"Daniel has done first descents in Chile, Argentina, the U.S., Newfoundland, British Columbia — the list goes on," said close friend and fellow kayaker John Grace, who paddled the Stikine with DeLaVergne. "He was an incredible friend, had an incredible work ethic and was an incredible person all around."
DeLaVergne was about 200 feet inside the 450-foot tunnel when the train struck him, McDowell County sheriff's Capt. Vick Hollifield said. Investigators found DeLaVergne's sleeping bag and camping gear in the tunnel, and his vehicle was nearby, Hollifield said.
DeLaVergne's friends believe he was scouting an area for a commercial he was shooting. Rain may have forced him to seek shelter in the tunnel, they said.
"We're not sure if he was asleep or what," he said. "The engineer told us that he had just enough time to catch a glimpse of him before he fell in front of the train. He applied the emergency brake. ... But it took a pretty good while to stop. I think it was a couple hundred yards that he was pushed down the track."
I know that.
You still won't hear a train until it's too late.
"Darwin Award candidate. Camping in a train tunnel."
Darwin Award candidate. Kayaking in a train tunnel.
Condolences to the family.
Coffee is a good thing.
Maybe they can attach ANOTHER provision to The Patriot Act, once they've solved the meth problem.
He must have been a sound sleeper.
Trains can be noisy....
...and with his vehicle nearby, he couldn't have found shelter inside it?
If he's stayed home a slip in the bathtub or something.
I've seen where people have walked away unscathed from horrific accidents, and others die of the most trivial things.
As in comedy, in life timing is everything...
Maybe, maybe not. I live near a train track, and when I am out and about I can feel the vibration as the frieght trains approach.
I would think in a tunnel, both the noise and the vibrations would be amplified.
....why is Aerosmith playing in my head right now?
Every kayaker I know is a big smoker and I mean the left handed kind... I rafted once, never again. I just don't like/trust what is going on below the surface.
When I first read the headline I figured the train must've jumped the tracks on a bridge.
Could even start a tunnel-camping list too while you're at it!
I'll bet there were no warning signs on the tunnel entrances (illuminated and bi-lingual, of course).
Something like "Danger - trains entering and exiting tunnel. Do not camp inside during the rain"
Some lawyer will probably sue over that.
When a train is coming directly at you, it can be difficult.
His gear was found 200 feet inside the tunnel. If he heard it, even as it entered the tunnel, maybe he didn't have time to outrun it (assuming it was a tight fit).
Sounds like he might have also added "incredibly stupid" to that list of superlatives.
Maybe he heard the train and tried to paddle out....?
Maybe he was waiting for the tunnel to flood...?
I had great fun kayaking down a river... once. I was feeling great and enjoying the exhileration and challenge.
Then about 5 minutes afterwards, I realized it was one of the dumbest things I had ever done, and that I would never do it again. Lake and ocean kayaking are still ok though.
I don't understand why this fellow camped in a train tunnel. Maybe he thought the trains no longer ran, or that they didn't run at night... It's hard to believe someone would do that. I mean, he had to have noticed the tracks. This is a crazy story.
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