ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah (KTVX) – A man who was canyoneering with friends at Utah’s Zion National Park died Saturday after falling between 150 and 200 feet, the National Park Service announced.
The man, 40, was with three friends near the exit of the Heaps Canyon area when he suffered the fall at around 6 p.m., according to an NPS press release.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene. The victim was airlifted to a campground where further medical aid was administered while awaiting transport to a nearby hospital, officials said.
“The man was pronounced dead before he could be transported by air ambulance to a hospital,” NPS wrote.
The incident is under investigation.
Two of the victim’s friends were safely picked up in a helicopter by Utah Department of Public Safety officials. A third was helped out of the area that afternoon.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” said Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh.
Canyoneering, as described by the NPS, is an activity that combines hiking, swimming and rappelling. “Zion National Park has become one of the premier places in the country to participate in this exciting activity,” reads an online resource for Zion visitors published by the NPS.
Heaps Canyon, where the man fell, is said to be the more challenging journeys at Zion by canyoneering enthusiasts, with a risk of flooded conditions and a series of increasing rappels — up to 290 feet — near one of the exit points.
“Everyone needs to be able to climb out of the potholes. Everyone needs to be able to handle the rappels on some pretty exposed anchor stations on their own,” Jeremy Gorzalski, a canyoneering enthusiast, told Nexstar’s KTVX. “So it’s not a place for beginners at all.”