AMERICAN FORK CANYON -- Rachelle LeBaron can't recall a nightmare more frightening than the minutes her friend tumbled 25 feet down a sheer cliff.
"It was so scary," said LeBaron, who ran screaming for help while two others stayed to watch over Aaron Johnson, a 17-year-old Utah County boy who was climbing a part of American Fork Canyon called "Rockapella" on Thursday when he fell.A nearby climber, Joey McGovern, heard LeBaron and called for assistance. A few other hikers who were in the wooded area attended to Johnson.
About 40 minutes later -- just after 2 p.m. -- medical crews were scaling the hill to the rocky spot where Johnson landed. He suffered head and back injuries.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Harris said Johnson was hooked to a safety rope when he fell. One of his friends, Jen Thomsen, was holding the slick new rope.
Eventually, the weight of the 150-pound Johnson became too much for the slender Thomsen. She struggled to keep the rope taut but was lifted into the air and knocked off balance.
"Her friend tried to hold onto her, but they still weren't able to hold onto the rope," Harris said. "(Johnson) came straight down and landed on his back."
Utah County sheriff's deputies, members of the search and rescue team and paramedics placed Johnson in a backboard and slowly carried him down the steep mountainside.
"This area is extremely steep, and we are using a lot of rope," said Utah County Sheriff Lt. Dave Bennett. "Even though it is a short distance up, it is difficult to come down."
Bennett said Thursday's incident was Utah County's first serious climbing accident of the summer. A woman fell from nearly the same spot last year, he said.
Some 17 deputies and volunteers were careful not to knock rocks loose as they came down the mountain.
Even then, a few mid-size rocks were pushed down the mountainside, barely missing deputies and rescue-team workers standing in the brush downhill.
Johnson remains hospitalized in serious condition at American Fork Hospital.
Thomsen, a novice climber who has practiced only at a Provo climbing gym, was visibly shaken as a sheriff's deputy asked questions about the incident.
Harris also felt compelled to soothe her worries, to convince her it wasn't her fault.
She won't climb again soon, she says. "Not for a while."