Not many details on this accident yet, but it looks like another rappelling death outside Moab. Heartbreaking stuff.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25067429&ni…nyon-from-swing&fm=home_page&s_cid=featured-1
DAY CANYON, Grand County — A man is alive after falling 200 feet from a rope swing Sunday evening.
A man and a woman were rappelling in Day Canyon, just west of Moab, when the accident occurred, the sheriff’s office reported. The two were doing a double swing from one side of the canyon to the other, then planned to rapel.
While the woman was clipped in the swing, the man removed his feet from the stirrups then fell, Chief Deputy Darrel Mecham, Grand County Sheriff’s Office said.
About 9 p.m., crews were able to reach the man, who was still alive, with a helicopter. The extent of his injuries are unknown.
The woman’s condition is also unknown, but crews were working to get her safely back on the ground. Click to expand…
Mountaineer
More detail from SLTRIB http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56266517-78/canyon-floor-mecham-swinging.html.csp:
The man was swinging with a woman from a rope attached to a cable stretched across the canyon, which is near the Gemini Bridges area northwest of Moab, Grand County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Darrel Mecham said.
After the couple finished swinging and reached the canyon wall, they planned to rappel down to the canyon floor. But as the man was getting out of the swing harness, he fell, according to Mecham.
A group of people who were with the couple was able to rescue the woman. A medical helicopter then landed above the canyon floor, and the crew rappelled to the canyon floor to reach her wounded companion, Mecham said. Medical personnel were unable to stabilize the man in order to transport him to a hospital and he died on the canyon floor, Mecham said.
Mountaineer
Appears he passed away shortly after. Not many details, but I wonder if he un-clipped first, then tried to transition to rappel; or if he was always on the rope with only stirrups.
Tragic. My heart goes out to the family, friends, and all.