Canyoneer Jim Turner, 47, of Salt Lake City, sustained serious injuries when he fell about 40 feet while completing the last, 100-foot rappel on the popular Pine Creek route on Monday, August 13th. Turner’s brother rappelled down to him, determined that he was too injured to make it out on his own, and hiked out to report the incident, making contact with rangers just before 8 p.m. While a team was assembled to undertake the lengthy and highly technical 400-foot raising required to extricate Turner from the canyon, ranger/paramedic Rob Wissinger hiked to Turner’s location and determined that he was stable enough to survive the night with additional treatment and supplies. A second medic and other rangers hiked to Pine Creek and spent the night with Turner. Rescue plans were modified to assure that a safer, daytime rescue could be completed the following morning. The SAR team employed a Norwegian reeve highline to lower the litter and raise Turner and his attendant. He was lifted 400 feet to a window in the side of the Mount Carmel Tunnel, pulled through the window, then taken by park ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he was found to be suffering from a fractured back, a bruised lung, and strained pelvic ligaments. The extrication was completed around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Plateau district ranger Ray O’Neil was the operations chief.
