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Matt
Trad climber
primordial soup
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Oct 31, 2008 - 01:03am PT
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i first met john dill in the medical clinic when i brought a climber in who'd been injured but not required a rescue. he took a report from us. he was both kind and concerned, yet measured and cautious. he just about stank of knowledge and experience and depth of understanding of every aspect of our conversation (climbing, rescue, injury, risk, protection, evacuation, you name it).
it was clear that we were speaking with a lifer.
after he left i said, "hey, do you know who that was...? that was JOHN DILL. john dill just took your report... wow"
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
concord, california
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Oct 31, 2008 - 03:03am PT
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My son Sascha & I owe our lives to John Dill. He coordinated our rescue from North Dome gulley during a snow storm back in April 2007. He talked to us for about an hour after we were safely back down on the valley floor. His intellegence, thoughtfulness, and charisma left an impression on me that I will never forget.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 31, 2008 - 03:19am PT
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I was debriefed by John Dill once. He seemed like a fair man and good person.
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donni
climber
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Oct 31, 2008 - 01:14pm PT
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To bring a little clarity, this award had nothing to do with retirement. I started the process 7 months ago. Before the ceremony, I had a few talks with many high up people, all of whom were grateful for me starting the process and asking for the request of an award for John. As it turns out, with who John is, the award had to be driven by someone he saved, and not by his peer group or those above him. They wanted to many times over, but in order to infringe on John's way-of-life, the meaning had to be overriding. The process also had to be done in secrecy. Karen Taylor-Goodrich flew out from Washington DC mainly to present this award, which allowed it to be kept secret and also allowed John to stay in the valley. Hopefully he is not too irritated with me for the publicity and award...
Donnie Priest
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Oct 31, 2008 - 01:30pm PT
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Jim, Even if John is annoyed, you did the right thing---recognition of his decades of accomplishments is long overdue---now maybe he'll finally decide what he wants to do when he grows up.....!!!!But then again, I guess we're in the same boat.
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10b4me
climber
the gray bands
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Oct 31, 2008 - 02:53pm PT
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congratulations to John. an honor well deserved.
as an aside, the only reason I bought the latest Climbing mag was the article about Yosar.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 31, 2008 - 05:59pm PT
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Good work, Donnie.
Alan,
I have always enjoyed your story of John Dill and the mystery of the disappearing ice cream bars. (At least I think it was you who told it to me).
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Chute
Trad climber
Mill Valley, CA
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Nov 16, 2008 - 09:38pm PT
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John also has a good sense of humor. I remember hitching a ride to Fresno with him, must have been about 1981. I had a few hours to kill before getting on the Greyhound. It was very hot and we decided to go see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in an airconditioned movie theater. As I recall, John offered rather magnanamously to supply a snack durning the film and he smuggled a grocery bag into the theater under his shirt.
As the movie got started he wipped out a big bag of carrots and we proceeded to crunch them much to the annoyance of everyone around us.
Cathy
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Jobee
Social climber
El Portal
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Nov 16, 2008 - 11:38pm PT
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This is great news and about ding/dang time!
CONGRATULATIONS JOHN.
"Great tranquillity of the heart is his who cares neither for praise nor blame"
I cannot seem to stop smiling as I read this thread.
Jo W.
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paul roehl
Boulder climber
california
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Nov 17, 2008 - 12:55am PT
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Didn't John Dill refer to Yosemite Valley as the "valley of lost souls?"
A profound and cogent observation.
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John Yates
Trad climber
Redding, CA
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Nov 17, 2008 - 01:21pm PT
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Congratulations to John, he is well deserving of the Honor. I had the pleasure to work for John back in 1980 and 82 when I was a ranger in Yosemite. He let me use his sewing machine in the rescue cash to make and repair climbing gear(after I fixed the machine). I helped John that summer do some of his first testing on use of tandem prussic's in rescue, spawning my interest in testing and developing equipment for climbing and rescue. Hats off to one of the brightest and most humble men I have ever met. I truly unique person. He is also the only guy I have ever met that eats more carrots than my horse!
John Yates/Yates Gear Inc.
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MH2
climber
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Nov 17, 2008 - 01:37pm PT
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John Dill: the right man for the job if there ever was one.
Made other good use of his time in the Valley of delight (pretty good picture-taker, for example).
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climber bob
Social climber
maine
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May 14, 2016 - 07:24am PT
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only met him once. about 1980 I was working at Homewood ski area in Tahoe doing lift maintenance.one morning after opening the lifts a co worker and I were headed to the cafeteria for coffee. we see a Yosemite park pick up truck pull in. the night before I had been reading downward bound and had read about this John Dill guy.so I say to my coworker off the cuff "hey , its Yosemite climbing ranger John Dill". the dude gets out of the truck ,walks up to me and introduces himself..."hi, i'm Yosemite climbing ranger John Dill"...I still can hardly believe that happened
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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May 14, 2016 - 07:35am PT
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Peace
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