Incident:Insident history from the NPS log in Pine Creek 1992-08-19

Incident:Insident history from the NPS log in Pine Creek 1992-08-19
Date	1992-08-19
Location	Pine Creek
Severity	Fatality
Canyoneering-related	Yes
SAR involvement	No
Navigation problem	No
Swift water problem	No
Environmental problem	No
Communication problem	No
Planning problem	No
Skills problem	No
Body movement problem	No
Rigging problem	No
Rappel problem	No
Insufficient gear	No
Gear failure	No

Summary

This is a collection of the parts log of incidents in Pine Creek Canyon from 1992 to 2018. Based on the Pine Creek Incidents report, the most common type of accident involves rappelling or climbing gear issues.

Specifically, these incidents usually fall into one of two categories:

1. Equipment and Skill Deficiencies A significant number of rescues were caused by visitors entering the canyon without proper technical gear or the expertise to use it. Examples include:

August 1992: Using a hardware store rope instead of climbing gear.

May 1999: A group stuck due to lack of gear and skills.

April 2001: Using only lengths of webbing for a technical descent.

March 2018: Canyoneers using 3mm wetsuits in freezing conditions, leading to near-hypothermia.

2. Rappelling Falls and Loss of Control Many of the most serious injuries occurred during the final 100-foot rappel of the route:

June 2002: A 51-year-old lost control and fell the final 20 feet.

August 2007: A 47-year-old fell 40 feet during the final rappel.

July 2008: A park volunteer fell the entire 100-foot distance of the final rappel.

April 2010: A climber lost control and ended up hanging upside down on the rope.

Notable Secondary Causes Flash Flooding: Several incidents (May 1995, October 2000, May 2001) were caused or severely complicated by sudden water surges.

Jumping: The report explicitly notes that jumping into pools (rather than down-climbing or rappelling) is a leading cause of preventable injuries, such as the broken fibula reported in October 2014.

Accounts

nps report https://npshistory.com/morningreport/incidents/zion.htm

Wednesday, August 19, 1992 92-440 - Zion (Utah) - Rescue On the afternoon of August 12th, four young Utah men attempted to descend into the canyon at Pine Creek Narrows utilizing a rope purchased from a hardware store. Because of the sheerness of the rock face and the numerous pour-offs, full-length climbing ropes, some climbing equipment and some expertise on their use are required for this descent. Despite their lack of all three, the group descended to the first pour-off, leaving a portion of their rope behind. At the second pour-off, three of the youths descended to the end of the now-shortened rope, then dropped into a plunge pool. The fourth member decided not to take the plunge and was therefore able to retreat and report that his companions were unable to get out of the pool. Four rangers and a local climber responded, rappelled to the trio, demonstrated ascending techniques, and belayed the youths out of the canyon - their first ascent, conducted on vertical rock and in the dark. The rescue operation was completed at 11:00 p.m. [Larry Van Slyke, CR, ZION, 8/17]

Thursday, May 18, 1995 95-228 - Zion (Utah) - Rescue On the morning of May 16th, J.H., E.S., and M.S., all 19 years old, rappeled into Pine Creek Canyon, a technical canyoneering route that begins near the east entrance of Zion Tunnel. They soon discovered that they were not prepared for existing water conditions, and that they could not extricate themselves from the canyon. They were trapped on a portion of the route near the popular Canyon Overlook trail, however, and a visitor heard and reported their calls for help. Responding rangers conducted a technical rescue and evacuated the trio. A thunderstorm struck the area as ranger Dave Buccello and the last of the three victims were being lifted from the narrow, slot canyon floor; while they were hanging on the rescue rope at the midpoint of the 150-foot canyon wall, a flash flood covered the canyon floor. It is certain that all three would have died if they hadn't been rescued. [Steve Holder, CR, ZION, 5/17]

Friday, June 2, 1995 95-247 - Zion (Utah) - Multiple Rescues Over the Memorial Day weekend, rangers were involved in three separate, complex technical rescues. On May 28th, a 20-year-old male fell 80 feet while scrambling on slick rock on the east side of the park and landed in a narrow crack system about 300 feet above the ground. A park medic rappelled to his location and provided advanced life support while the rescue team set up a technical haul system. Following a difficult, eight-hour extrication, the patient was flown to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with over 50 fractures of his mandible, crushed temporal-mandibular joints, severe fractures of his right wrist and foot, and numerous other injuries. He will likely undergo at least five surgical procedures, and has been flown back to his home state of New Mexico. While rangers were clearing from this rescue, the park was notified of two injured juveniles in the remote Left Fork slot canyon on the park's west side. They were raised about 400 feet to the drainage rim the following morning, then helicoptered to an ambulance. Injuries were confined to a fractured fibula on one victim, and bilateral ankle sprains on the other. The two were part of a group of 21 who had ignored posted closures of this drainage due to high runoff from heavy snow melt and spring rains. On May 29th, four individuals were raised 100 feet out of the Pine Creek slot canyon after becoming stuck due to a lack of appropriate climbing gear and skills. This was the third technical rescue from Pine Creek in the last two months. [Dave Buccello, Frontcountry DR, ZION, 6/1]

Monday, November 20, 1995 95-736 - Zion (Utah) - MVA with Fatality Rangers responding to a report of a motor vehicle accident on the Zion-Mount Carmel road east of the main tunnel into the park on the afternoon of November 14th discovered a vehicle at the bottom of a 50-foot vertical cliff face in Pine Creek Canyon. The Swiss driver, M.H., 53, was found dead at the scene; there were no other occupants in the vehicle. M.H. had stayed at Zion Lodge the previous evening. He had told the desk clerk that he was on cardiac medication and not feeling well and insisted that the desk clerk take emergency contact phone numbers in the event that he became seriously ill. It's believed that M.H. had a cardiac event and lost control of the vehicle while trying to get off the road. [CRO, ZION]

Tuesday, November 2, 1999 99-637 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescues On October 16th, park dispatch received reports of three backcountry incidents - all requiring SAR and EMS - within the space of 30 minutes. The first was a fractured ankle in Hidden Canyon, the second a fractured ankle at Upper Emerald Pool, and the third a minor injury requiring evacuation of a party of three from Pine Creek Canyon. A total of 18 park staff and SAR team volunteers participated in the rescues, which required levels of intervention ranging from a simple wheel-out to semi-technical evacuation to a technical rope-raising operation. The park's SAR team had just finished the last day of a week-long technical rescue seminar at the head of Pine Creek when the reports started coming in. This permitted a quick response to the Pine Creek incident and immediate mobilization of personnel to assist on the other two evacuations. All those needing medical attention were en route to the hospital within three hours of receipt of the first reports. [Aniceto Olais, CR, ZION, 10/22]

Friday, October 13, 2000 00-646 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue Four men between the ages of 30 and 50 entered Pine Creek Canyon on the afternoon of October 10th. It was rainy that day, with a 60% chance of thunderstorms. A short time after they entered the canyon and had made several rappels, a flash flood came down the drainage. The men were able to climb to safety on an eight-foot-high pinnacle. Their cries for help were heard and reported to park dispatch. Ten members of the park's SAR team were mobilized and were able to reach a point on the rim directly above and across the drainage from the stranded party. The four men were evacuated via a tag line from the pinnacle to the other side of the flooded creek; they were then helped to the rim and up another pitch until they reached a point where they could walk out. The leader of the party was subsequently issued a citation for creating a hazardous condition. [Kevin Killian, IC, ZION, 10/11] Monday, April 23, 2001

01-157 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue Four visitors entered the slot canyon on Pine Creek around 1 p.m. on April 22nd. None of them had a wet suit, and the only descending gear they had with them consisted of two lengths of webbing. After passing the second rappel, they realized that they were not equipped to continue down the canyon. One person was able to climb back up the canyon and alert a ranger. The park's SAR team responded, and team member Bo Beck rappelled about 100 feet down from the canyon rim to the stranded party. Each of the three people was then raised to the rim. There were no injuries. The leader of the group was cited for failing to obtain a canyoneering permit. Ray O'Neil was the ops chief for the rescue. [Chuck Passek, ZION, 4/23] Wednesday, May 16, 2001

01-215 - Zion NP (UT) - Falling Fatality Ten-year-old M.M. of Las Vegas fell to his death on the evening of Sunday, May 13th. M.M. was hiking on the Canyon Overlook trail with family and friends during a rain and hail storm. The rain caused flash flooding, including a stream of water that cascaded across the trail. Initial reports are that M.M. and his brother were swept off the trail and over the edge while attempting to cross this stream. The younger brother got caught on a tree and was rescued, but M.M. fell about 250 feet down a steep slope and another 150 vertical feet in the slot canyon formed by Pine Creek. Park dispatch received the call just after 6 p.m. The park SAR team was immediately dispatched; the first ranger to arrive, a park medic, rappelled down into the canyon, located the boy, and determined that the fall had been fatal. Another rainstorm that swept through the area caused additional flash flooding and hampered recovery efforts. The boy's body was recovered around 11 p.m. [Aniceto Olais, CR, ZION, 5/14] Tuesday, June 4, 2002 02-202 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue The park's SAR team responded to a rappelling accident in the Pine Creek slot canyon at 2 p.m. on June 1st. A 51-year-old man had been descending a 100-foot rappel at the end of the slot canyon when he lost control of the rappel and fell the final 20 feet to the ground. Rescuers reached the injured man at 3:30 p.m. and a park medic provided ALS treatment. The patient was placed in a litter and an 800-foot guiding line system was used to raise him and an attendant 600 feet to the canyon's rim. From that point, he was carried about a mile to the main park road, then transported to a hospital in St. George. Doctors determined that he'd suffered a fractured left tibia, compressed lumbar vertebrae, and second degree rope burns on both hands. Seventeen people were involved in the rescue, which concluded at 10 p.m. Kevin Killian was the operations section chief. [Chuck Passek, ZION, 6/2] Friday, June 03, 2005

Zion National Park (UT) Night Rescue of Injured Canyoneer On the evening of Wednesday, June 1st, the park was notified that a person canyoneering in Pine Creek was experiencing severe abdominal pain and unable to move. Two rangers, one of them a park medic, were dispatched to locate him and assess his condition. The injured hiker — M.H. of Houston, Texas — was found in a large boulder field down canyon from the last rappel in the Pine Creek slot canyon. In consultation with the Dixie Regional Medical Center, the rangers determined that the injury was most likely an abdominal hernia. The park search and rescue team was dispatched to complete the rescue. D.H. was carried on a litter through the boulder field, which took several hours. He was then lifted to the top of the last rappel, a distance of about 150 feet, and carried to the base of a cliff, where he was then lifted another 150 to 200 feet to the second window of the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel. He was transferred to a waiting ambulance at 5 a.m., then transported to the Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah. The rescue took about nine-and-a-half hours to complete and involved 24 members of the park's staff and local volunteers. It was one of the most difficult and involved rescues ever conducted in the park. [Submitted by Ron Terry, Public Affairs]

Thursday, August 16, 2007 Zion NP Injured Canyoneer Extricated Via Difficult Technical Rescue Canyoneer J.T., 47, of Salt Lake City, sustained serious injuries when he fell about 40 feet while completing the last, 100-foot rappel on the popular Pine Creek route on Monday, August 13th. J.T.'s brother rappelled down to him, determined that he was too injured to make it out on his own, and hiked out to report the incident, making contact with rangers just before 8 p.m. While a team was assembled to undertake the lengthy and highly technical 400-foot raising required to extricate J.T. from the canyon, ranger/paramedic Rob Wissinger hiked to J.T.'s location and determined that he was stable enough to survive the night with additional treatment and supplies. A second medic and other rangers hiked to Pine Creek and spent the night with J.T.. Rescue plans were modified to assure that a safer, daytime rescue could be completed the following morning. The SAR team employed a Norwegian reeve highline to lower the litter and raise J.T. and his attendant. He was lifted 400 feet to a window in the side of the Mount Carmel Tunnel, pulled through the window, then taken by park ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he was found to be suffering from a fractured back, a bruised lung, and strained pelvic ligaments. The extrication was completed around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Plateau district ranger Ray O'Neil was the operations chief. [Bonnie Schwartz, Chief Ranger]

Friday, August 1, 2008 Zion NP SCA Intern Injured In Fall While Rappelling An off-duty park SCA intern was rappelling at Pine Creek on the afternoon of July 30th when she fell approximatley 100 feet. Park staff responded and she was evacuated to a medical facility by an aircraft from Nellis Air Force Base, located outside of Las Vegas. The extent of her injuries are not known. The park was hosting a VIP/dignitary protection class at the time, and about half of the members of the class assisted in the rescue. [Bonnie Swartz, Chief Ranger]

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 Zion NP Update On Rescue Of Injured Park Volunteer On Wednesday, July 30th, K.B., 23, a backcountry volunteer in Zion (not an SCA as was originally reported), was canyoneering with a friend on her day off in Pine Creek Canyon, a popular route that she had completed in the past. As she attempted the route's final 100 foot rappel, K.B. fell the entire distance of the rappel. K.B.'s canyoneering companion immediately contacted park dispatch using K.B.'s park radio, which had been left at the top of the rappel. Responding paramedic rangers Lisa Hendy and Brandon Torres from the Grand Canyon rappelled from a window in the Zion Tunnel to reach K.B., where they found her being cared for by another canyoneering group who had not seen but had heard the fall. K.B. was able to talk to her rescuers, but was severely injured and could not recall exactly what had happened. The paramedic rangers provided advanced life support treatment while additional rescuers rappelled into the canyon. K.B. was packaged, placed in a litter, and carried about a quarter mile to an area in the canyon where an Air Force Blackhawk helicopter could safely lift her and Air Force medics into the hovering craft. She was then transported via helicopter directly to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. K.B. remains in intensive care in critical condition with multiple severe traumatic injuries, but is showing signs of improvement. In addition to Zion and Grand Canyon personnel, rescuers and responders included personnel from Yellowstone, Glacier Bay, Guadalupe Mountains, and the US Secret Service who were all attending a US Secret Service Dignitary Protection training class that was being hosted by the park. An investigation into the cause of the accident is continuing. [Bonnie Schwartz, Chief Ranger]

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Zion NP Injured Climber Rescued Following Fall On Saturday, May 9th, rescuers responded to a climbing accident near the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. A 27-year-old man was on a route known as "Feast of Snakes," which is located on the Pine Creek Canyon wall directly below the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, when the fall occurred. He had placed an anchor at the top of the route and was cleaning gear while being lowered by his partner, who was using a GriGri climbing device at the bottom of the climb. The rope being used by the climbers was too short for the slingshot belay technique and the end of the rope went through the GriGri, dropping the climber 20 feet onto his neck and back on a ledge below the route. Due to the steep terrain and loose footing, along with the mechanism of injury, rescuers called for a helicopter for a winch extrication. The rescuers had to first perform a technical lowering to move the climber from the ledge. An additional low-angle technical raising, followed by a low-angle lowering, were performed before carrying the patient to an open area away from the canyon walls. A Blackhawk from Nellis Air Force Base extricated the man and flew him to a waiting ambulance at the Coal Pits helispot. He was then taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with C-1, T-1 and T-5 fractures along with a lacerated spleen. About 25 park personnel were involved in the rescue. [Therese Picard, IC]

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Zion NP Climber Rescued From Pine Creek Canyon Park dispatch received a report of a climber in distress in Pine Creek Canyon just before 7 p.m. on April 30th. The caller said that a member of his canyoneering party had lost control during the final 100 feet of a rappel and was hanging upside down and unable to right himself. Rangers immediately recognized that this was a life threatening situation. A hasty team responded to a gallery window in the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel, where two rangers were lowered to the climber. The rangers were able to get him right side up and connect him to the rescue system. Personnel in the tunnel window then raised all three to a safe location. From initial report to completion of the rescue took just 56 minutes. The fast response is credited with saving the man's life. Only one person in the party of eight finished the last rappel; due to darkness and the inexperience of the climbers, it was determined that raising all party members to the tunnel window was the appropriate course of action. One lane of traffic was closed in the tunnel for rescue vehicles. A large haul team was required to raise the seven members of climbing party and their two rescuers through five raising evolutions. Nineteen park personnel participated in the operation. The IC was ranger Andrew Fitzgerald. [Cindy Purcell, Chief Ranger]

Thursday, October 16, 2014 Zion NP Rangers Conduct Two Simultaneous Rescues Over a span of ten minutes on the afternoon of October 10th, the park received reports of two visitors requiring evacuation by means of technical rope rescues from two separate locations. A 35-year-old canyoneer in Pine Creek Canyon had jumped five feet into a pool of water. He thought that the pool was deep enough to cushion his landing, but landed on a ledge hidden just below the surface. He broke his fibula and was unable to bear any weight on his injured leg. Ranger/Medic Matthew Chuvarsky rappelled through the canyoneering route to the man's location. The Canyon Overlook Trail follows the rim of Pine Creek Canyon; rangers set up a lowering system to lower a litter and attendant from the trail to the man's location, then raised him and two attendants 350 feet back to the trail. The second injury occurred in Hidden Canyon, where a 51-year-old woman jumped a short distance while she was down climbing an obstacle. She also suffered from a broken fibula. Evacuation of a victim from Hidden Canyon requires the construction of a 400-foot-high line to bypass a section of the trail carved into a cliff face. Ranger/Medic Matthew McCarthy hiked to the woman's location and explained the challenges of a litter evacuation to her. She decided to attempt to hobble out of the canyon with assistance from crutches and rangers and was able to complete the task. A litter team met her just past the cliff face and carried her to the trailhead. Twenty-five SAR team members assisted during the two incidents. Jumping, as opposed to using a rope or down climbing, is the leading cause of preventable injuries in the Zion Wilderness.

Monday, April 20, 2015 Zion NP Injured Man Rescued From Slot Canyon Park dispatch was contacted by the fee ranger at Tunnel East around 2 p.m. on the afternoon of April 3rd and informed that there was an injured man in Pine Creek Canyon requesting assistance. Pine Creek is a technical slot canyon requiring wet suits and multiple rappels. The reporting party was a member of the injured person's group and had ascended a rope that another group in the canyon had fixed at the first rappel. He said that a member of his party had broken his ankle at the second rappel in Pine Creek and would need SAR personnel to help him out. A technical rescue team was organized and had a high line with a reeve system set up by 5 p.m. A high line with a reeve is a system where a rope spanning the canyon is tensioned and the rescuer and litter are attached to the high line with a pulley and pulled across using tag lines on either side of the canyon. The rescuer is positioned directly over the patient in the slot canyon and lowered using a technique called a reeve. Ranger-Medic Ryan McDonald-O'Lear, who was lowered to the man, provided medical care and packaged him for extrication. Both were then raised to the high line and moved back across the span to the Canyon Overlook Trail. The injured man was carried off the trail by wheeled litter and transported via park ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center. Fifteen SAR personnel took part in the rescue, which took approximately 5 hours to complete. [Andrew Fitzgerald, Park Ranger]

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 Zion National Park Eight Rescued By Park's SAR Team The park's SAR team and Rockville-Springdale Fire were called out on the night of Saturday, March 17th, for what became a lifesaving event. A team of 16 rescuers responded to calls for help coming from the Pine Creek slot canyon. Eight canyoneers — wet, borderline hypothermic and too tired to continue — began yelling for help after they had made it through about half of the technical slot canyon. Two members of the party eventually found the strength to finish the slot and go for help. Once rescuers reached them, it was discovered the group was poorly equipped for canyoneering at this time of year. The canyoneers had inadequate footwear and gloves and should have been wearing insulated dry suits rather than the 3mm "farmer John" wetsuits for traversing the ice-cold pools of water in the slot. To complicate matters, a heavy snow storm rolled into the area, bringing sub-freezing temperatures and causing a flash flood on Pine Creek. The technical rescue SAR team worked through the night, under the trying conditions, to extract each of them, one at a time, using ropes and pulleys. "There is little doubt in my mind that we saved lives that night," said Dan Fagergren, the park's chief ranger. "Hypothermia is a real threat in slot canyons, even during the summer months, because the trapped water never sees the light of day. You can imagine how cold this group was, given the time of year, the drop in temperature, the blizzard like conditions and not being prepared." Source: Zion National Park.

April 30, 2025 Zion National Park Visitor rescue On April 13, an individual fell 30 feet in Pine Creek Canyon. Staff from the NPS and Hurricane Valley (UT) Fire and Rescue responded and were able to extract the individual via a litter carryout. The patient was said to have sustained "multiple injuries," but was in "stable condition." They were taken to St. George Regional Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Source: KUTV