Death in Zion 11/28

[rockgremlin]

55-yr-old SLC man falls on head while scrambling up an unnamed side canyon in Zion.

Full story: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11102153


Tragic end to the holiday weekend. Too sad.

[tanya]

A man hiking in Zion National Park fell to his death Friday, park officials said.

About 3 p.m., the 55-year-old man was scrambling up a small, unnamed side canyon off Highway 9, Zion National Park spokesman David Eaker said Saturday.

About 20 feet up, the man slipped and fell on his head. While his hiking partners tried to revive him, a witness headed for the park's east entrance, about two miles away, to report the fall.

Park rangers, who are also medics, arrived at the scene about 12 minutes later with a defibrillator, but the man had died.

Eaker did not release the victim's name or his hometown because all family members have not been notified, but the Associated Press reported the man is from Salt Lake City. The Kane County Sheriff's Office and National Park Service are investigating .


Very sad.... hiking on the east side should require sticky hiking shoes.

[erial]

An earlier story in the Spectrum was more specific as to the location of the accident:

GEORGE - A 55-year-old man from Salt Lake City died Friday afternoon
after taking a fall in Zion National Park.


Bonnie Schwartz, chief ranger for the park, said the accident was
reported about 3 p.m.

"The individual, who had taken the fall, fell from an unnamed canyon
off of Highway 9," she said.

Schwartz said the canyon was on the county line curve two miles west
of the east entrance to the park.

"He (the victim) took a short fall of 15 to 20 feet and ended up with
some head injuries causing him to die from the fall," she said.

Schwartz added the man was hiking with some friends and it was
a "witnessed fall." Details about the fall will be released after all
those present have been interviewed and witness statements have been
taken.

Family notification is underway. Officials will release the victim's
name after all members of immediate family have been notified.

[Don]

Victim of hiking fall was U. director of sustainability
By Clayton Norlen

Deseret News

Published: Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 12:08 a.m. MST
http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705267177,00.html

The University of Utah is reeling after the death of Craig Forster, director of the U.'s Office of Sustainability, who died Friday after a hiking accident in Zion National Park.
Forster, 55, was hiking with friends in Zion Nation Park during a holiday weekend outing. While walking along an unnamed canyon trail near state Route 9, Forster lost his footing and fell nearly 20 feet, landing mainly on his head, according to a statement released by park officials.

Park officials said friends immediately began CPR on Forster as a witness to the accident ran to alert park officials to the situation. Park rangers, who are also trained medics, arrived on the scene within 12 minutes with a defibrillator but were unable to revive Forster.

Forster was a professor in the architecture and planning department and the director of the Office of Sustainability, a budding office at the university that was created at the encouragement of students on campus.

"The Office of Sustainability was a student initiative, and it is rare when a professor will take a student project and help it come to life," said Patrick Reimherr, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah. "He incorporated students into the office well, he let students generate their own projects and worked with them to create success."

Reimherr worked with Forster on the sustainability core committee and said Forster could always keep projects moving in the right direction while letting students maintain ownership of their ideas.
Since the office began operating two years ago, Brenda Scheer, dean of the college of architecture and planning, said Forster and students have helped introduce innovative solutions of sustainability to the campus. The office spearheaded initiatives such as a recycling program, the installation of advanced watering systems, a co-generation plant and a campus farmers market.

"People knew Craig for his ability to let people shine," Scheer said. "People were at their best with Craig; he was truly irreplaceable for that."

Forster's academic work was in the study of hydrogeology, yet Sheer said he was a professor who thrived in areas that required an interdisciplinary approach. His strength as an educator and colleague was his ability to get dynamic groups of people together and working in a cohesive group, Scheer said.

Bonnie Batey, Forster's wife, said his passion for educating and networking left little free time for her husband. But he was passionate about music and the outdoors. Forster played in a Hungarian band and was an avid skier.

"A colleague of Craig's told me that he never saw Craig happier than when he was working with students," Batey said. "He liked the idea he was passing on the torch. Motivating people was one of his great loves."

[erial]

Zion National Park (UT)
Hiker Falls To His Death In Canyon

Rangers received a report of a falling accident near the park