National Park Service

Video Shows Dramatic Helicopter Rescue of Stranded Hikers at Zion National Park

The hikers were caught in freezing temperatures in a snowy section of the Utah park

NBC Universal, Inc.

Two missing hikers stranded in a snowy, remote part of Zion National Park in Utah were hoisted into a hovering helicopter sent to rescue them on Saturday.

The men had tried to hike down what’s called the Subway canyon on Friday but did not return as planned, the National Park Service reported. When officials at Zion received the report of two overdue hikers, a rescue team prepared a landing zone for the helicopter from the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The helicopter crew used infrared technology — Forward Looking Infrared — to locate the two, who were caught in freezing temperatures for more than 24 hours.  A rescue specialist was lowered to help them into the helicopter using a hoist, and they were flown to a waiting medical team from the National Park Service. 

One of the hikers was dangerously hypothermic and taken to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition as of Thursday. 

The hikers were not identified.

“Although we cannot train for every scenario, the crew was well prepared for this mission, and did an outstanding job evaluating the situation and coming up with a way to overcome the difficulties of this particular rescue,” Luke Bowman, the chief pilot for the Utah Department of Public Safety, said in a statement.

The Zion chief park ranger, Daniel Fagergren, called the execution of the rescue outstanding but warned that helicopters are not always available nor are they always able to fly in winter weather. 

Temperatures in many of the park’s canyons drop to below zero at night, streams and pools are iced over, and deep snow covers the trails at higher elevations, he said.

“When you visit, you need to understand and be prepared for the conditions you might face here,” Fagergren said. “These kinds of operations are inherently dangerous for our staff and our partners, and they don’t all end like this one.”

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