A 47-year-old man died Sunday from injuries sustained after a fall in Zion National Park. Park officials say the man was from California. His identity is being withheld until his family is notified of his death.
The man was climbing the Iron Messiah, a technical climb, when he fell. According to park officials, the man’s climbing partner, a native of France, witnessed the fall.
“They were on the approach and it was a fairly easy fifth class terrain, and apparently he fell backward, fell about 80 feet,” said Zion National Park Chief of Interpretation Aly Baltrus. “He was not roped in and was not wearing a helmet at the time.”
Baltrus said the man’s climbing partner notified park rangers of the fall at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Medics reached him around noon.
“They requested a Life Flight medical crew and they were able to stabilize him during what was almost a three hour evacuation,” Baltrus said. “He was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he later passed.”
The area where the climber fell remains open.
According to the climbing website SuperTopo, it is common for climbers to scale the first 300 ft. of the Iron Messiah without a rope.