Parent Falls 70 Feet Off Utah Cliff During Family Spring Break Hike

A family spring break hike in Utah’s backcountry turned into a harrowing rescue situation after a parent fell 70 feet from a cliff.

The accident occurred on Friday in Moab after the family of four went hiking by rock arches in the Pritchett Canyon area, Fox News reported, citing the Grand County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. 

The family reportedly split up during the trek when one parent and child walked faster than the other parent and child. At one point during the hike, the parent who was trailing behind got too close to the edge of a cliff and plummeted to the bottom, according to the report.

“No one else in the group saw the fall, but one of the kids heard the screaming and rushed down the hiking route to alert the other parent that something had happened,” the sheriff’s search and rescue team said.

The other parent was able to send a text to 911 using their iPhone’s satellite function, and a rescue helicopter responded in five minutes and landed approximately 150 yards from the fallen hiker, according to the report.

Officials said the rescue was “difficult” because the parent was “lodged in a sloping sandstone gully.”

“The estimated distance of the fall was 70–80 feet followed by a 50-foot bouncing tumble, all on slickrock,” rescuers said. “Many hands would be needed for this rescue.”

Rescuers said the hikers had a “badly broken body” with “open fractures and possible internal injuries.” They said the hiker was put in a rescue litter to be moved and the operation was performed using ropes, webbing, carabiners, anchoring bolts, and descent devices over a span of three hours.

The hiker was flown to a hospital in critical condition, and their current condition has not been released. 

“As for the reason for the rescue, no one saw the patient fall,” the search and rescue team said. “The cliff edges in many places around Moab are deceptive. They slope gently from the top at first and quickly progress to vertical. It is not known what led up to the accident or what/if anything could have prevented it.”

The rescue team urged hikers to use extreme caution when exploring the rugged terrain of the Moab area and said it “wishes the family the best of luck moving forward.”