Talk of altering Dimple Rock renewed after Youghiogheny rafter drowns

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Tuesday, July 08, 2003 | Lillian Thomas

[Willie Green]

The death of a Maryland man over the weekend just below the Youghiogheny River's best known hunk of sandstone has revived discussion of whether to try to alter a dangerous tangle of rock and water.

Dimple Rock is a tank-size slab that sits at the top of Swimmers Rapid, a little more than halfway down the 7 1/2-mile section known as the Lower Yough in Ohiopyle State Park.

[Willie Green]

Not really sure where I stand on this issue.
On the one hand, there is an inherent risk in whitewater rafting that individuals have to assume.
On the other hand, if there is a specific hazard that is routinely identified as causing the loss of life, alteration to make it less hazardous would make sense.
Then again, the guy was 400 pounds. It's not right to blame the victim, but in this case...

[Willie Green]

ping

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[martin_fierro]

At 400 lbs and 5'11" (or ANY height), you assume the friggin' risk.

	It's a 'Burgh Thing.TM
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Learn Pittsburghese!

[Redbob]

5-11 and 400 POUNDS?

He didn't drown, he plugged the durned river, and the pressure killed him!

I can't believe they'd want to alter the river when it's clear these people are going down there voluntarily.
Sheesh, it's getting to where Darwinian selection doesn't stand a chance...

[gathersnomoss]

I have been on the river a number of times. A guide tells the group on your raft to move toward the rock as you approach it. There are usually from four to six people in most of the rafts including the guide. It may have been difficult for everyone in the raft to move when they approached the rock due to the weight distribution.

There is a fantastic natural water slide that feeds into the river. Maybe this individual should have taken this route instead.

Go LH.

[VadeRetro]

I know you're all wondering: it's pronounced "YOCK-egg-aney." It's known for short as "the Yock."

[ArrogantBustard]

"The man had a good body," he said. "A little bit obese, but his physical condition was good."
Dearden was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 400 pounds, according to his wife.

These two statements are contradictory. That man was exactly my height, and twice my weight. He wasn't "a little bit obese", he was a freakin' tub of lard, and he had no business on that river. Whitewater boating and rafting is dangerous enough, if you're strong and fit enough to "rescue" yourself. In his case, it borders on suicidally reckless.

[Great_Dame]

My son (14) rode that part of the river the same say as the guy in the story. He had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course he was with a group of people who were experienced on the river and knew how to take the rapids. For Dimple you need to approach it from the right at a slight angle to the left, once you hit the rapid PADDLE LIKE MAD!!! After successfully navigating Dimple Rock they hopped out of the rafts and enjoyed Swimmer's Rock for a while.

I've done this river too and always had a great time, it would be a shame if they messed with the river because some people can't handle it.

And its no wonder that doctor only works on dead people...he was a little overweight, but othwrwise had a good body...400 POUNDS!!! I want a second opinion!!!

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

"The man had a good body," he said. "A little bit obese, but his physical condition was good."

Dearden was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 400 pounds, according to his wife.

i wonder what this jagoff would consider to be fat?? They could have used this guy as the raft. How can somebody that fat possibly sink?

[knowtherules]

Perhaps using light-rail to bypass the rapids?

[Maryland Man]

I have rafted this river twice in the last five years, went through dimple no problem (and we were rookie rafters, no guide in our boat but on a guided trip). What happened was a tragedy and I feel for the family.

That being said, I would not be in favor of changing the river. I saw some people on the rafts that did not listen to guides and put themselves in harms way because they did not respect the power of nature.

I went out of the boat on the first trip on the double hydraulics which is just below Dimple Rock, went under my boat and surfaced well downstream. It is a nice run down that part of river, some rapids, plan on doing it again next month.

[Explorer89]

When I was in college, I went on an unguided tour, and was in a boat with three other girls. At the first tiny rapids, they were all screaming like, well, like girls. At Dimple Rock, we did exactly the WRONG thing, and leaned AWAY from the rock. The raft shot into the air, and we all dropped into the water. Fortunately, we all just rode down the rapids safely. Shortly afterwards, we had to paddle through a set of double hydraulics, and you should have seen those girls: they looked like Navy Seals paddling towards a landing! The change was amazing.

[stands2reason]

Thanks. It looked like a particularly wet sneeze.

[MediaMole]

Dude, it's time to induce labor.

[Sabertooth]

Deputy Coroner Roger Victor said yesterday that there was no evidence that Dearden's high blood pressure or diabetes contributed to his death.

Several witnesses said that they never saw Dearden go under water and speculated that he had had a heart attack, according to Hoehn. Victor said there was no evidence of that.

"The man had a good body," he said. "A little bit obese, but his physical condition was good."

Dearden was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 400 pounds, according to his wife.

When was the last time this coroner examined a living human? 400 pounds might be "a little obese" if the guy was a foot taller.

Putting a man that fat on a whitewater raft is not only a risk to himself, but to everyone else aboard. On top of that are the diabetes and high blood pressure... what a great candidate to play daredevil over a dangerous stretch of river. What were this guy and his friends thinking?

Extreme sports are not for everyone.

In the map below, Dimple Rock is the large rock just below the bend...

Here's a pic giving an idea of the kind of whaitewater found on the Lower Yough. Not sure if this is Dimple Rock or not, I pulled it from a gallery here.

[Willie Green]

Cool pic!
Thanks for posting it.
It's easy to see why that river is extremely popular with rafters/kayakers.
But it's also very evident that it's not an activity for those with limited physical capabilities.

[NickRails]

That sounds like my trip. I went thru about twenty years ago on a guided tour. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was Big Dave, my 6'5" friend, stand up in his raft and try to push off Dimple rock with his paddle. He got knocked down, and knocked over everyone in the raft. The raft goes spinning out of control thru the rapids, and runs over a guide in a kayak. Big Dave then attempts to help the guide by trying to turn the kayak right side up. Which has the effect of holding the guide underwater.

When it was my raft's turn, we hit that da** rock like a ton of bricks, then our raft got hung up on some rocks. The raft after me hit Dimple rock, and ejected one of its rafters. I don't know how I did it, but I lunged, grabbed her, and hauled her into our raft. She thanked me profusely, but at that time I didn't know I saved her life

Big Dave redeemed himself later, when another friend fell in and was sucked underwater in the double hydraulics. Big Dave shoved his paddle down in the water, my friend saw it and grabbed it, and Dave pulled him out of the water.

[xsmommy]

sounds like he was a little bit....chubby.... ; )

[xsmommy]

you never hear of these kinds of accidents on the Kiskiminetas River...; ) of course, considering it's about 6" deep.....