LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah -- Utah Highway Patrol released video footage of a helicopter rescue in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The incident happened on June 11. A mountain climber fell about 30 feet, hit his head and dangled on the side of the canyon.
“This was a pretty difficult rescue,” UHP Sgt. Wyatt Weber said. “Probably one of the more difficult ones we’ve had to do to date.”
A crew of three people aboard a rescue helicopter flew to the victim.
Video shows the chopper hovering about 100 feet above the fallen climber as a rescue specialist is lowered to offer aid.
“We needed to get him off that mountain and get him to some medical care,” Weber said.
Sgt. Weber served as the hoist operator and also helped the pilot keep the chopper steady long enough for the rescue specialist to do his job.
“My guy is still attached to that cable and if I move the aircraft too far away or the aircraft drifts too far left or right, now, he can’t access the patient,” Weber said.
After hovering for about five minutes, the climber was secured and lifted to safety. The teamwork of the three person crew helped save the man’s life.
“The pilot couldn’t do it by himself, the rescue specialist couldn’t do it by himself, nobody could do this job by themselves. Everybody has to come together to make it work,” Weber said.
