Hiker dies after 100-foot fall in Wayne County canyon

WAYNE COUNTY -- Searchers recovered the body of a 70-year-old Colorado Springs man Saturday who fell100 feet while rappelling in Wayne County.

According to Tal Ehlers with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, the man had been hiking with another man in No Man's Canyon near Hanksville Friday. Family members became concerned when they hadn't heard from the hikers, and search and rescue was called out around 4:30 p.m.

A Utah Highway Patrol helicopter assisted in the search, which was called off late Friday night and resumed Saturday morning. Searchers spotted the two men around 11 a.m. Saturday.

Ehlers says the other hiker -- a 57-year-old man from Tennessee -- was flown to a Moab hospital where he was treated for dehydration. The name of the victim will not be released until the family is notified.


http://m.ksl.com/story.php?nid=148&sid=14711354

That's the second group that's been in trouble in No Man's recently. Did the anchor fail?

Sounds like more then a slip and fall as somehow the second guy ended up without a rope... or at least thats how I read it.... YMMV...

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HANKSVILLE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Searchers found the body of 70-year-old Louis Cicotello of Colorado Springs who fell 100 feet while climbing in Wayne County.

Rescuers say Louis was hiking with his brother, David Cicotello, in No Man's Canyon Friday. Family members called police when they had not heard from the two men.

Wayne County Sheriff's Office and Search and Rescue Crews used a helicopter Friday night and Saturday to search for the missing men. They finally spotted them on Saturday morning.

57-year-old David Cicotello of Tennessee says his brother Louis fell while repelling, and David became stranded on a ledge.

David was rescued in a uniform effort by the High Angle team and the UHP helicopter. He was then transported by helicopter to a hospital in Moab for medical evaluation.

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Coloradan in fatal hiking fall; brother is rescued
By Sheena McFarland - The Salt Lake Tribune

A Colorado Springs man died and his brother was stranded for days after a rapelling accident at No Mans Canyon near Hanksville.

Louis Cicotello, 70, died from his injuries. His 57-year-old brother, David Cicotello of Tennessee, was stranded on a ledge for at least three days after his brother fell. The two brothers had not contacted their family during their weeklong trip, and a concerned family member called search and rescue Friday. Crews of the Wayne County’s Sheriff’s Office and the Wayne County Search and Rescue team set out at 4:30 p.m. Friday, assisted by a helicopter from the Utah Highway Patrol. They combed the area for the men, but stopped after dark. The search resumed early Saturday. At 11 a.m., crews found the two hikers.

David Cicotello, who had no way to get down from the ledge, was taken via helicopter to the Moab Hospital for medical evaluation. He had run out of water but was in “very good condition, considering the situation,” said Tal Ehlers of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

“We so completely appreciated having a helicopter in the area because there is zero radio communication in those slot canyons,” Ehler said. “[David Cicotello] didn’t have a way to communicate, but even if he had, it wouldn’t have worked. Had his family not called, he himself would have perished.”

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51...david.html.csp

Sad, I wonder how it happened. A side note though; I hope I'm still hiking with ropes at 70 years old. That's impressive.

FYI: Long time canyoneer Millie Yawn is the widow of Louis Cicotello. And I've been told we will have the details in the near future. My condolences to the family.

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On Sunday 3/6 Louis fell and died in the North Fork of No Man's Canyon, in the Robber's Roost area. His body was recovered by the Wayne County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team on Saturday 3/12. His brother David, who had been trapped in the canyon, was rescued the same day.

We are concerned that rumors about the facts of this event are beginning to circulate on the canyoneering websites. We want to ask if you might be able to ask the community to refrain from speculation at this time. A report of the event is being prepared by Louis' friends, and will be posted later this week.

Thank you.
Ted Maynard

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RIP and may his brother heal physically and mentally from this tragedy. Must have been a horrible ordeal.

We were down in the area last weekend and kept wondering what the helicopter flying over was. We were afraid that a tradgedy had happened.

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Originally Posted by Scott P

We were down in the area last weekend and kept wondering what the helicopter flying over was. We were afraid that a tradgedy had happened.

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There were two SAR's in the Roost this past weekend. In addition to 'No Man's' some dude got stuck in the Squeeze Variation of Bluejohn for 3 days while looking for the "Blue Pools".

I'm working on getting the details to both.

I'm still predicting a very busy years for SAR in the Roost. :nod:

We are concerned that rumors about the facts of this event are beginning to circulate on the canyoneering websites. We want to ask if you might be able to ask the community to refrain from speculation at this time. A report of the event is being prepared by Louis' friends, and will be posted later this week.

Thank you.
Ted Maynard

Great point.

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We are concerned that rumors about the facts of this event are beginning to circulate on the canyoneering websites. We want to ask if you might be able to ask the community to refrain from speculation at this time.

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Have not seen any rumors or speculation here. I did, however read an article from Tennessee that stated the surviving brother waited for rescue in a cave for 6 days.:eek2: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...ah-cave-6-days

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

some dude got stuck in the Squeeze Variation of Bluejohn for 3 days while looking for the "Blue Pools".

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sounds like rumor and speculation to me... and if it's not, a link to the source is appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Don

I hope I'm still hiking with ropes at 70 years old. That's impressive.

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Amen Attachment 42520

MTSU official rescued after being stranded in Utah cave for 6 days
Man stayed in cave on side of cliff after rappelling accident killed his brother
Chris Echegaray - The Tennessean

For six days, David Cicotello was stranded in No Man's Canyon, Utah, in a cave hundreds of feet up the side of a cliff. No food, no radio, no cell phone service. His brother had plunged to his death during a rappelling accident, pulling the only rope with him.

Cicotello, a 57-year-old admissions official at Middle Tennessee State University, had no choice but to wait for rescue.

When he ran out of water, he drank leftover tea from a small cooler. He sat still, conserving his energy, until finally he heard a helicopter.

"He waved and he was spotted," said Tal Ehlers, Wayne County (Utah) Sheriff's spokesman and a member of the search and rescue team.

Cicotello, after 145 hours of despair, was rescued on Saturday.

"He must be in good health, in fairly decent shape and by the grace of God…." Ehlers said. "He stayed fairly deep in the cave. He stayed out of the wind and weather, preserving himself from the elements, staying warm and dry."

Cicotello is resting in Colorado Springs after dehydration and suffering minor injuries, Ehlers said.

Cicotello and his brother, Louis Cicotello, 70, of Colorado Springs, Colo., were in the middle of a 50-foot rappel in a crevice on the side of a cliff on March 6. It was a two-part drop of about 200 feet, Ehlers said. Louis fell at 1 p.m., taking the rope with him. Ehlers said they may have run out of rope — a miscalculation.

There's an average of six climbing accidents a year, Ehlers said.

"I think people underestimate how rugged and how very unforgiving it is out there," he said. "They also overestimate their own ability and experience."

Family members, who knew the men were on a weeklong trip, reported them missing on Friday, but the search was called off at night.

The family is holding a memorial service for Louis Cicotello on Saturday at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, where he was a visual arts professor. The family has asked for privacy.

David Cicotello, who has been at MTSU for six months, told colleagues he was looking forward to hiking with his brother.

"We wish the best for David and are thankful he is doing well," said Debra Sells, MTSU's vice president for Student Affairs and vice provost for Enrollment and Academic Services. "This is a tragic loss for his family. David has been well received by the campus. He is personable and worked very hard to integrate himself with faculty and students. He is really well liked."

Cicotello was hired in September after a national search. The Pennsylvania native left the University of Nebraska at Omaha to join MTSU.

"Being part of this enterprise has been great," Cicotello said in statement released by the school in October. "I'm feeling welcomed, and the hospitality extended to me does not go unnoticed."

Cicotello, who has an undergraduate and master's degrees in English from the University of Kansas, is also a baseball writer, according to MTSU.

He co-edited a book about Forbes Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates'' former stadium. He also co-authored Mysteries from Baseball's Past, and he is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

MTSU officials were not sure when Cicotello will return to work.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...ah-cave-6-days

via comment on Ryan Cornia's site: "The last rap requires some careful rigging. As of 3/20/10, the anchor(s) for the last rap consist of 2 chockstones and a very loose deadman anchor. We backed up this anchor with a climber's hexcentric for all but the last rappeller. Regardless of the anchor situation, make sure you use a biner block for the last rap, and separate the ropes before the last person rappels."

An accurate account of what occurred in No Man's Canyon last week is posted here:

Death in No Man's

Sorry about starting a new thread, it just seemed to me that such an important and detailed account deserved it's own thread.

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Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs

sounds like rumor and speculation to me... and if it's not, a link to the source is appreciated.

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Oh sweet... the ankle biter is back.... trying to suck the life out of Bogley with every post....

You are correct my dear sir.... outside of numerous emails with friends, family, acquaintances, rangers and SAR personal I don't know shit... Sorry... but I don't know how to dumb it down for you any more than that.

:popcorn:

if you do have a source, simply mentioning it (even if it is anonymous) is reasonable. otherwise, it sounds exactly like your own speculation. i've seen steve's post on the yahoo group about a second rescue, but i haven't seen anything from the NPS or anywhere else of significance. so feel free to tell us where the info came from. otherwise, it's a bit disingenuous.

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

some dude got stuck in the Squeeze Variation of Bluejohn for 3 days while looking for the "Blue Pools"

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

We are concerned that rumors about the facts of this event are beginning to circulate on the canyoneering websites. We want to ask if you might be able to ask the community to refrain from speculation at this time.

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Oh sweet... the ankle biter is back.... trying to suck the life out of Bogley with every post....

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Jeesh, Shane, you used to be so very enthusiastic about people joining and posting on this site! What happened?

:lol8: :haha:

And Carpey, c'mon, you know Shane has thousands of contacts across the globe which he talks to all the time -- Kinda like McCarthy's 697 Communists working for the State Department.

And he is Waaaaaaaay too busy working up his AP dispatches to cite sources... :roflol:

Tom

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Jeesh, Shane, you used to be so very enthusiastic about people joining and posting on this site! What happened?

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Oh... I'm still enthuiastic about peeps joining and posting... but if you insist on being an ankle biter/troll at least be creative, witty and entertaining.