A climber was seriously injured in Little Cottonwood Canyon after a boulder came loose and rolled over him. KSL reports two climbers were navigating through Gate Buttress above an area known as “Certain Death” on Sunday when crews said the refrigerator-sized rock came free:
“His climbing partner said he was above him a little bit and kind of heard a yell and some loud noises and looked back and kind of saw this big boulder tumbling down. His partner popped up and kind of ran for a couple feet and fell over and started yelling in pain.” –Mike Finger with Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue
The injured man is described as an experience climber. Crews carefully made their way up the steep, rocky terrain for a rescue, but a medical helicopter ultimately hoisted the injured climber off the mountain.
“We had an injured climber on Friday, too, so this was our second injured climber in, I don’t know, 48 hours? A lot of times Spring comes around and the rocks have loosened from the freeze-melt cycle over the winter.”
images from slcosar FB