Posted: 2/9/2010 10:56:41 AM EDT
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SAGUACHE, Colo. –– A 31-year-old Indiana man says he had no food but kept himself hydrated with Mountain Dew and snow while he was stuck in his snow-covered SUV in southwestern Colorado for three days. Jason Pede was rescued Sunday morning after his vehicle ran out of gas and he walked seven miles to a road, signaling for help with a flashlight. Pede was driving from Dulce, N.M., to the Colorado resort town of Aspen to deliver an Australian Shepherd rescue dog when he got stuck. Pede, of Chesterton, Ind., says a "local" told him about a shortcut to Aspen and that's how he became stranded somewhere in the Rio Grande National Forest in snow that went above the hood of his Lincoln Navigator. From Denver Post –––––––––––––––––– So... let's list out the things that went wrong with this. (And right, if you want to do that.) There are lots more details on the link... so don't skip that part. |
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entire article:
An Indiana man survived three days in his SUV stuck in deep snow in the Rio Grande National Forest before he managed to make his way to a road Sunday morning to get help.
Jason Pede stayed in his Lincoln Navigator, surviving on soft drinks and melted snow until his gasoline — and engine heat — ran out. He then left the safety of his sport utility vehicle, fearing a night in the cold. He made it through the melting snow to a more-traveled road 7 miles away, where passers-by helped him. The ordeal started Thursday morning, when Pede and an Australian shepherd dog he was on his way to deliver got stuck trying to find a shortcut to Aspen through the Rio Grande Forest in Saguache County, west of Pueblo. A woman in Pueblo had adopted the dog from a rescue group in California. Pede was going to Pueblo via Aspen, where he was to pick up some cats for delivery in Davenport, Iowa. He never made it to Aspen. Pede, 31, says he watches television survival shows. The one lesson he has learned is to stay with the vehicle. So from Thursday morning until Sunday morning — when the last of his gas ran out — he and the dog stayed in the vehicle. They drank a couple of cans of soda, a bottle of water his kids had left in the car and snow that he melted with a fire made from eight chairs that he was delivering to a woman in Topeka, Kan. When the gasoline ran out, Pede said, he knew he had to try to walk out. The weather wasn't bad; the sun was out. He thought he would freeze to death with temperatures dipping to 6 degrees at night if he stayed in a non-heated vehicle. He started walking. Much to his surprise, as he headed down the mountain, he found a lot of the heavy snow had melted in the days he had been stuck in the forest. Walking wasn't that difficult, although the altitude got to him, and he had to rest. Seven miles down the road, he came across another road, and there he saw a convoy of five vehicles. He waved his flashlight at them and collapsed. Rescuers then took him back to retrieve the dog, whom Pede eventually did deliver to its new owner in Pueblo. Back in Indiana, Pede's wife, Amanda, was thankful, as were the couple's three children — Alexis, 11; Roslyn, 6; and Tegan, 4. "He is a good man, and a good dad. I couldn't imagine a day without him," said Amanda Pede. As for Jason Pede, he said, "You are darn right I feel lucky to be alive. But it won't sink in until I hold my wife." i'm wondering how dumb you have to be to think you'll find a "shortcut" through the rockies during the middle of winter. most of those roads in that area of NM and CO are two lane and it's a long time before they get plowed after a snow storm. i also wonder if anybody knew his intended route. |
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I give it a 7/10
He may not have been prepared, and he may not have been smart to take the shortcut, but he was ingenuitive, stayed calm, didn't panic, looked after his basic survival needs, and had the balls to abandon his plan when he saw a drastic change - lack of heat. He made due with what he had, thought outside of the box (burning the chairs - what suburbanite would have thought to ruin perfectly good chairs by burning them?), melted snow to drink, stayed with the vehicle as long as he felt safe, and finally ventured out rather than curl up and die. So, while he has made some errors to get himself in that spot, and he wasn't really prepared at all (which very well may change now!), I'd say he did pretty well. |
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1) no one reported him missing for the 3 days he was gone. When I drive home, my mom always pesters me to call when I stop at the end of a day. Won't be complaining about that for a bit. 2) staying with a vehicle doesn't mean stay IN the vehicle. He might have realized that he could drive out after the first night if he walked around a little bit. However, not leaving the vehicle and walking in somewhat random direction is a good thing. 3) use common sense. If you try and take a short cut, and get stuck, its your own damn fault, not the local. If no one knows where you are, don't do stupid things and get your vehicle stuck/disabled. 4) Just because you have remote start and don't have to sit in a cold vehicle doesn't mean you can ignore cold weather gear. If your heat source (car) breaks down, or you have to leave it, be prepared to stay warm on your own. 5) don't forget pet supplies For number 2 though, if no one knows where you are, or is going to report you missing, drawbacks to trekking out (intelligently) earlier than your supplies run out? |
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Quoted:
Couldn't have been too serious if he didn't eat the dog and make a jacket out of the skin... FAIL!!! John I'm not going to lie. I thought of Star Wars Ep. 5, with Luke and the Tauntaun. 
To echo others, he wasn't prepared, but he at least had some common sense, once he got stuck that is. Imagine if one of us got stuck [Like that would happy, bear with me], "Local man is trapped in .mil surplus vehicle for a week, builds a house, has running water and central heating." 
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Quoted:
This is NOT survival fail. The guys is alive.
igloo no = fail no muticam = fail dog dead not eaten = fail no dog food = fail no kirfu = fail no tactical mumu = fail mall ninja BOV = fail Protus would have loaded up the dog food in a multicam-tactical mumu and made the dog tow him out on snow skis. This would not have happened to Wolfcri because he has a Jeep. This would not have happened to 83rdrecon because he has a H3. This would not have happened to nihilsum because he has a Taco. UKJohn would have made the dog dig the BOV out dt would have made the dog tow the BOV to Aspen. And this really would not have happened because the whole crew would have been in aspen brewing beer with Waldo and building the Aspen edition bug out trailer with Wolfcri and the Aspen SkiHomeBag with Protus. Never mind it would have to be in Southern Idaho
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Originally Posted By PA22-400
igloo no = fail no muticam = fail dog dead not eaten = fail no dog food = fail no kirfu = fail no tactical mumu = fail mall ninja BOV = fail Protus would have loaded up the dog food in a multicam-tactical mumu and made the dog tow him out on snow skis. This would not have happened to Wolfcri because he has a Jeep. This would not have happened to 83rdrecon because he has a H3. You can't get more Mall Ninja BOV than an H3. They have no articulation, IFS and a horrible turning radius... they basically handle like a snapping turle who's upside down lol. Sorry, being a jeep guy I couldn't resist. 
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Quoted:
Originally Posted By PA22-400
snip You can't get more Mall Ninja BOV than an H3. They have no articulation, IFS and a horrible turning radius... they basically handle like a snapping turle who's upside down lol. Sorry, being a jeep guy I couldn't resist.
Grazor, my post was meant to be fun. In all seriousness though there is a very vocal and rude group of Jeep owners that get personally offended that people find utility in something other than a Jeep. H3 owners are not offended if you want a Jeep––they will say nice Jeep. But Jeep owners cannot see a Nicely set up H3 with mobile communication and BO gear without slinging insults. |
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Where is this vocal and rude group? I've never met them and I'm certainly not part of them. I'll wheel with anyone so long as they have tow points.
I was only meaning to sling a little proverbial shit but just for the record... jeeps suck until you spend 10 grand replacing all the weak links. After you do that they're great. The same can be said for most other vehicles though, after you replace all the weak stuff then it's a great rig. H3 is fine if you do some tuning to get it a little more reliable. IFS anything is not a good way to go for any offroad rig, I've seen many break on obstacles that weren't even overly challenging. I think most people choose jeeps because of the extensive aftermarket supply of parts and the name recognition, they're really not better than most other rigs when they're stock though. |