SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man stranded on a cliff in a remote area of Uintah County on Saturday likely wouldn’t have been rescued if not for nearby campers who heard his cries for help, authorities said.
The man, 52, became stuck on the cliff while trying to climb up a slot near Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery in Vernal. He made it about three-quarters of the way up before he fell, according to a news release from the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office. He hit his head in the fall and was knocked unconscious.
The man said he didn’t know how long he remained unconscious. When he awoke, he started calling for help.
A group camping near the area heard him and began searching. Among the group was a member of the Wasatch County Search and Rescue team. But they were unable to find the man due to echoes along the canyon walls, sheriff’s officials said.
About 1:40 p.m., the Uintah County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team joined the operation, along with helicopter crews from the Utah Department of Public Safety and Classic Air Medical.
The Classic Air Medical team spotted the man but was unable to reach him in the steep terrain, officials said. A drone also pinpointed his location. The Department of Public Safety helicopter eventually was able to retrieve him from the cliff.
The search took about five hours, officials said.
“The area he was climbing in is out of the way. You wouldn’t really expect someone to be climbing there,” Uintah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dustin Cheshire said in the statement.
“If it hadn’t been for the camping group with a Wasatch County search and rescue member who heard this guy yelling and screaming, it’s unlikely anyone would have found him,” he said.
The helicopter crews also played a big part in the timely rescue, according to Cheshire.
“Without the helicopters, we might still be working with ropes to get him down off the cliff,” Cheshire said.
The man suffered a head injury and injuries to his lower extremities that made him unable to walk. He was flown to a Colorado hospital.