63-year-old woman in critical condition after falling 30 feet at Snow Canyon State Park

A 63-year-old woman was transported to the hospital by Intermountain Life Flight after falling approximately 30 feet from a cliff in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah, Nov. 20, 2017 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 63-year-old woman is in critical condition Monday after falling approximately 30 feet in Snow Canyon State Park. Following a two-hour rescue, the woman was transported to the hospital by Intermountain Life Flight.

Emergency personnel lower an injured woman to safety in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah, Nov. 20, 2017 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News

The woman was climbing in an area of the park known to canyoneers as Leopard Skin Trail located on Island in the Sky – a popular climbing and rappelling area across from the sand dunes area of the park.

Emergency crews were dispatched to the area around 11:40 a.m. after receiving reports that the woman had fallen 30 feet, Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Chief Deputy Nate Brooksby said.

Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue’s high-angle team and medical personnel from Ivins EMS responded to the scene and hiked up the steep and rocky terrain to reach the woman.

Medical personnel were able to provide some medical care to the injured woman, giving the high-angle team some time to set up their ropes, Brooksby said.

Washington County Sheriff’s Sgt. Darrell Cashin, the sheriff’s liaison for Search and Rescue operations, said the woman was in critical condition after sustaining head and back injuries during the fall.

After preparing a pulley lowering system, rescuers loaded the woman into a Stokes basket before lowering her approximately 200 feet down the cliff face, Brooksby said.

Once the woman was lowered to sturdier ground, she was placed on a medical all-terrain vehicle and transported to a nearby road, which had been shut down for the Life Flight helicopter to land.

Just after 2 p.m., the woman was loaded into the helicopter and transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George to be treated for her injuries, Cashin said.

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This report is based on preliminary information provided by witnesses and law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • comments November 20, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    look like she landed on a lil shelf and didn’t go all the way down. still a big drop. bad bad

  • LunchboxHero November 21, 2017 at 11:50 am

    Many thanks to these rescue workers. You are appreciated!

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