Rock Squashes Couple

[Iceaxe]

Falling rocks is something that always scares the snot out of me. I've had some big boulders flake off near me before. Once while doing some Powell Canyons I had two car size rocks flake and bracket me. A couple years back a guy was squashed by a car size rock up at Donut Falls.... Also watched a 300' section of cliff flake when doing Imlay but it was about 1/4 mile away.... Scary stuff.

Lake Powell: Rangers find woman dead, divers still searching for missing man
By Jason Bergreen
The Salt Lake Tribune

One person died and another was still missing Monday after a thick sheet of rock broke from an alcove and capsized a boat at Lake Powell on Friday.

National Park Service rangers recovered the body of a woman Friday near Lake Canyon, about five miles downriver from Halls Crossing and Bullfrog.

Rangers Monday were still looking for a man who is presumed drowned, said Marianne Karraker, spokeswoman for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The 250-square-foot rock slab apparently fractured from the wall of a 20-foot-by-20-foot sandstone alcove where the pontoon boat was and crushed its bow.

Other boaters, who found the capsized vessel, told authorities they had passed the boat and waved to two people onboard about 20 minutes before it tipped over. The boaters contacted authorities at about 3:15 p.m. Friday to report the accident.

A diving team was searching for the missing man, but Karraker said underwater trees were impeding the search. The water near the search site is about 150 feet deep. An underwater robot was also being used.

The boat that capsized was registered in Colorado, Karraker said. A car with a similar registration was located at a nearby marina.

The accident is under investigation, and rangers were still trying to identify the woman who died, Karraker said.

Though the search for the missing man has been ongoing for four days, authorities don't have a set time when they will call off the recovery mission.

"We don't like leaving people down there," Karraker said.

[Jaxx]

That is scary. I always look at those big rocks in canyons and wonder if anyone is around when they fall, now I know.

[sparker1]

You always notice large boulders lying around and wonder when they fell or what it must have been like when it happened. Truth is, we don't really want to know what it's like as that knowledge might have a very short life.

Tragic incident, I presume just a case of wrong place, wrong time. You have to feel for them and their loved ones.

[COUNTRYBOY]

Thats too bad. I see those rocks on top of the cliffs, or see ones that have already falling now that the water is down, and I thought what would happen if someone was around.

[donny h]

Falling rocks concern me, as do falling trees and lightning, death may really come from above.

I think I got this phrase from Ralstons book, whatever the source, I like it as a safety mantra: GEOLOGIC TIME INCLUDES NOW

[Iceaxe]

Falling rocks concern me, as do falling trees

A guy that used to work for me was killed by a falling tree as he slept in his tent. His wife and kids were in the tent with him and he was the only one hit, really freaky deal....