Volunteers: Technical rescue needed to save man at Zero Gravity slot canyon in Emery County
Jul 18, 2024, 10:42 AM
EMERY, Emery County — Volunteers said it took a technical rescue to free a stuck man from an extremely tight spot in a popular but remote slot canyon at the north end of the San Rafael Swell.
Search and rescue crews from the Emery County Sheriff’s Office received a distress message from a Garmin inReach GPS device at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, sending them on a late-night, hour-and-a-half drive to an area known as the “Zero Gravity” slot canyon.
Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington said the Utah County man, in his 40s, had become wedged and unable to free himself near the narrowest point of the slot canyon.
Rescue teams knew because of the circumstances they were in a race against the clock.
“When you get stuck in a position like that, there’s something called suspension trauma,” said Greg Jewkes, a captain with the search and rescue team. “Your limbs are just hanging and there’s really no way to move so the circulation is compromised and then you get into blood issues when the circulation is not happening and the blood is just stagnating in their legs.”
Jewkes said crews scrambled to set up a technical rescue involving a rope system to save the man.
“From that point, we actually use another rope setup to hook to them,” Jewkes explained. “Usually they’re in a harness and we hook to their harness and we’re able to lift them through the tight position and then we just bring them straight up out of the canyon.”
Rescuers said the man only suffered some scrapes and minor injuries and did not require a trip to the hospital.
“It definitely could have been worse,” Jewkes acknowledged.
Huntington commended the work of the volunteer rescuers both on Facebook and during an interview with KSL TV.
“They’re just getting to work, getting the job done and doing their best to help people,” Huntington said. “They’re most happy when they’re helping people.
Jewkes noted the search and rescue team is all-volunteer and is always looking for donations, noting the expense of rescues in extremely remote areas of the state.
With flash flood potential moving into the area over the next few days, crews urged everyone to be aware of the forecast and careful when visiting the county’s extremely picturesque locations.
“It’s pretty amazing how those canyons are built,” Jewkes said. “It’s beautiful, but it’s also dangerous.”
