LOGAN, Utah -- A 1,000-foot jump that could have killed three friends from Logan was caught on camera last Sunday.
The trio of 21-year-olds was visiting Logan Canyon when they decided to try sliding down an icy ravine created by an avalanche.
"I just wanted to do it," said Devin Pfister.
He was the first of three to make the jump around 9 p.m. Sunday evening. His first attempt went smoothly, but then he wanted to try again, in order to capture better footage on his GoPro camera.
"That's when Randall decided he was going to jump because he couldn't see me, and we couldn't see the rocks either," Pfister said.
After losing sight of Pfister, who had tumbled beyond their view, his friend decided to slide down after him.
"All I can remember is I just couldn't stop, and I was freaking out. I turn around, the next minute all I know is I'm going down a 15-foot cliff," said Randall Rees.
With a broken cheek bone and sprained ankle, Rees was still conscious and alert.
Moments later, Pfister and Rees watched as their other friend came tumbling after them, ending in the worst crash of the three.
"The thought went through my mind, if I don't stop before I hit these rocks, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. And sure enough, as soon as I hit, I started spiraling through the air," said Aaron Speedy.
A cluster of trees and rocks broke Speedy's fall.
The men called up to three friends waiting at the top, who immediately called 911.
After arriving, it took Cache County Search and Rescue nearly all night to rescue the three.
"It's not one that I would go sliding down, even in my younger days, probably," said Vice Commander, Bart Esplin.
A crew of about 20 responded to the canyon, where they had to rappel down to reach the three.
According to Esplin, they were only a few hundred feet away from another cliff.
"Fate smiled on them that day. It could have come out a lot worse," he said. "They're lucky."
The jump was the first the three friends had ever tried, and it will likely be their last.
"Life is about making memories, but you should do it safely," Speedy said.
According to the friends, their documentation of the ordeal almost never surfaced. The GoPro that Pfister had been wearing fell off during his fall. A few days later, a search and rescue crew retrieved it as part of a training exercise.
