A man fell to his death Saturday while canyoneering in Utah’s Zion National Park, the National Park Service said in a news release.
The 40-year-old man died after accidentally falling near the Heaps Canyon exit around 6 p.m., the park service said Sunday. He was not immediately identified.
The man was canyoneering with three other people when he fell 50 to 60 meters, the NPS said. The group was following an approved route through the area when he fell.
The Zion National Park Technical Search and Rescue Team and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded and provided emergency medical care to the man, the NPS said.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter transported the man from the area of the fall to a helispot near Watchman Campground, where Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue and Intermountain Life Flight provided additional assistance, according to the agency.
However, he was pronounced dead before he could be taken to a hospital.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said in a statement.
Both the park and the sheriff’s office are investigating the death, the NPS said.
Two of the three other canyoneers were safely removed from the canyon Sunday morning, also by a DPS helicopter, the park service said.
The third person, with the help of Zion’s search and rescue team, descended through the gorge and reached the ground safely around 2 p.m. Sunday, the NPS said.
More than 50 rescuers were involved, the NPS said, including personnel from the Springdale Police Department, Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Intermountain Life Flight.
Saturday was not the first canyoneering death in Heaps Canyon, which the park service has described as “a strenuous, challenging, technical canyon with a descent of approximately 3,000 feet” that “usually takes 12 to 20 hours to complete, and consists of a number of reminders. in cold water and ends with a final descent of 85 meters to the Upper Emerald Pool area.”
In 2015, a 24-year-old man died after falling while canyoneering there with three other people, the NPS said.
In 2021, a 31-year-old man also died in the gorge. He was found hanging from a rope about 260 feet above Upper Emerald Pools after missing a small rock ledge where he had to stop and re-anchor his rope before rappelling the remaining distance to the ground.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
