Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — An injured climber who had to spend the night in a cliffside crevice in Kolob Canyon was rescued by a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter using a hoist on Sunday.
The Utah Department of Public Safety's Aero Bureau, having to fly in from the Salt Lake City area, performed the rescue around 7 a.m., after the 35-year-old hiker spent nearly 12 hours standing overnight on a 6-inch-wide crevice on a cliffside of the canyon on the outer border of Zion National Park according to park and public safety officials.
"He fell 30 feet and caught himself on a little ledge and a little bush or tree," said Sgt. Wyatt Weber with the Aero Bureau, who took part in the rescue. "If he missed that ledge, he would have gone down another 100-plus feet."
Weber said the male climber, who wasn't identified by name, had gone up the vertical cliff-face near where Kolob Canyon Road curves at Lee Pass while his father stayed down in a nearby parking lot. While working his way down, going down a different way than he had gone up, he slipped and fell around 8 p.m. on Saturday with only the 6-inch ledge and bush saving him from a much longer fall.
After yelling down to his father, Zion National Park rangers were alerted and attempted to reach the climber but couldn't, and the Aero team was called in, Weber said.
The hiker was wearing just a T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. He was without a flashlight, food or water and had to stay awake in the cold. According to the National Weather Service, the temperature dipped down to 47 degrees overnight.
Read the full article at St. George News.
