Wes Skiles Condolences

[BillBowden]

Wes taught my basic cave class in the early 80's. This is a terrible sad day. If ever there was a man full of life and in love with what he did, it was Wes.

[DogHouseDiver]

Wes' images of the caves of the Mill Pond were my inspiration to pursue cavern and cave diving. He has left an indelible impression on the cave diving community and the world through his images, videos, movies, and interpersonal repationships.

We are so lucky to have had such an advocate, documentarian, and ambassador to the sport. We are fortunate to be able to reflect on Wes' body of work over a lifetime committed to diving.

My mental image of Wes moving into the next big cave beyond this world has him going forward with his cameras and lights on, grin on his face under his mouthpiece, then looking back to signal... It Goes!

Godspeed Wes.

[Herbie]

Very sad news, my prayers go out for Wes and his family/friends. This was a great person who lived life the way it should be lived. A happy and giving person , acheiving the apex in his profession and one of the top cave divers in the world. Wes I hope you and Sheck, along with all of the others you loved who have passed on, are together in Gods paradise, hopefully pushing new passage in an spring of eternal life. God bless you my man.

[loquat149]

Horrible news...Skiles was truly one of the great ones. I saw him present at one of the NSS-CDS seminars and thought I'd like to introduce myself to him some day...never did and now regret not doing so when I had the opportunity.

I have just e-mailed the Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, and asked him to consider an appropriate way of honoring Wes and his contributions to Florida]

Great idea...just did the same.

Dave

[CrawDaddy]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I met Wes only recently. What an awful loss. My condolences.

Fran Amanti

[bmwcaves]

I can't even process this thought right now. Wes was my inspiration as I know he was to thousands of people all over the planet.
My prayers are for the Skiles family.
Brian Williams

[jmaddox]

If a man is judged, at least in this world, by the legacy he leaves behind, then you sir, Mr. Skiles, have done an extraordinary job. For that everyone should be thankful. His ability to show people the wonders of the natural world was unparalleled. He had an amazing gift, was larger than life and will be sorely missed by many, many people. I will keep him, his family and friend in my prayers.

[bdunn]

I just heard about this from Wayne. I feel like someone just punched me in the chest. I have known Wes since 1975. He was one of the first divers I met when I began cave diving. He is one of the true giants of this sport and his positive influence has gone far beyond the world of cave diving.
Goodbye my friend, I am better for having known you. My condolences to Terri and his children.

[diveknut]

We have lost one of the greatest advocates for our sport and our springs. It has been my pleasure to have known Wes and I can say I learned something on every dive that I had with Wes even when he was not trying. I will miss him and all the dives we may have had in the future, it has really been a loss to those who knew him and even to those who did not. His positive influence has effected alot of lives. I implore the nss-cds to do something in Wes's name to memorialize his contributions to the agency and cave diving/exploring as a whole.

[Walter Pickel]

Found this article with some statements regarding Wes' sad death - http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...es-Skiles-dies