Refrigerator-sized rock crashes on climber who had to be rescued, Utah officials say

Two climbers were looking for new routes Sunday in an area coined “Certain Death” when a massive rock came crashing down, Utah officials said.

The rock was the size of a refrigerator, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team said.

“One climber had pulled off a large rock the size of a refrigerator that rolled over the top of him,” rescue officials said in a news release.

The climber was injured, and needed to be rescued. Officials sent two rescue teams to find the injured climber, who they did not identify.

Rescue officials couldn’t get to the injured climber because of where he was located and his injuries, the search and rescue team said.

Officials called a LifeFlight helicopter and hoisted the injured climber off the mountain. The search and rescue team did not say what condition the climber was in or how seriously he was injured.

The climbers were exploring a part of Little Cottonwood Canyon, a steep canyon about 25 miles from Salt Lake City. “Certain Death” is an area within the canyon that makes for a difficult climb.

It is a steep crack in the landscape that climbers have to navigate, photos on the climbing crowdsourcing site Mountain Project show.

“This route was probably named this scary name because it was first climbed back when large protection was unavailable,” a climber said on Mountain Project. “With modern big gear one could sew it up.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Refrigerator-sized rock crashes on climber who had to be rescued, Utah officials say."