ST. GEORGE — A rappelling accident in Kane County resulted in a man receiving traumatic injuries Tuesday.
The Kane County Sheriff’s Office received a report Tuesday that a 37-year-old man had fallen 20 feet while rappelling down the final stretch of “Fat Man’s Misery,” a popular slot canyon just outside of Zion National Park that empties into the East Fork of the Virgin River in Kane County, according to a press release from the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team.
The line the man had been using snapped, and he fell onto slick rock below, resulting in traumatic injuries to his entire body, according to the press release.
A member of the rappelling group was able to hike high enough out of the canyon to receive cell phone service and contact help.
The county’s search and rescue team was called in, as were helicopters from Classic Air Medical and the Utah Department of Public Safety.
The DPS helicopter was able to use its hoist system to lower search and rescue personnel into the slot canyon and subsequently lift the injured man out of it so he could be flown to Dixie Regional Medical Center for care.
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The Utah Department of Public Safety’s helicopter aids in a search and rescue operation as it hoist out an injured climber who fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo by Shawn King and Mica Steiner Church, courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
A segment of the Fat Man’s Misery slot canyon where a climber fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo by Shawn King and Mica Steiner Church, courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
A climber in the Fat Man’s Misery slot canyon fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo by Shawn King and Mica Steiner Church, courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s helicopter aids in a search and rescue operation as it hoist out an injured climber who fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s helicopter aids in a search and rescue operation as it hoist out an injured climber who fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo by Shawn King and Mica Steiner Church, courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
Classic Air Medical aided in a search and rescue operation to retrieve an injured climber fell 20 feet after his rappel line snapped, Kane County, Utah, June 23, 2020 | Photo by Shawn King and Mica Steiner Church, courtesy of the Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, St. George News
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