On October 16th, a 28-year-old woman fell through a log jam while attempting the Das Boot/Subway Route in the Left Fork of North Creek, sustaining an unstable lower leg fracture.  Two members of her party hiked through the Subway towards the Left Fork Trailhead until they were able to obtain cell phone service and reported the accident to the park at 6:30 p.m. The reporting party said that the injury had been splinted and that the woman and her companion had enough food, water and clothing to spend the night without NPS assistance. Zion’s SAR team coordinated with Grand Canyon National Park for a short-haul mission the following day. At first light on October 17th, rescue teams traveled through the Das Boot canyoneering route to reach the woman. A technical lowering operation and a short litter carry were required to move her to a short-haul extraction site, where she was picked up via helicopter short haul at 2:30 p.m., 23 hours after the accident, and transferred to Hurricane Fire and Rescue for ground transport to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. This was the second short-haul mission completed at Zion utilizing a multi-park team consisting of a Zion short-haul rescuer already on scene working with Grand Canyon National Park spotters and aircraft. By removing the need to insert a short-haul rescuer, the risk and cost associated with short haul missions in Zion has been significantly reduced.

Contact Information
Name: Ryan McDonald-O'Lear, IC