Zion National Park (UT)
Climber Dies In Fall Below Angels Landing

Lyle Dale Hurd III, age 49, of Santa Clara, Utah died Friday afternoon, October 26, after taking a lead fall while climbing in Zion National Park. Hurd was in a party of four individuals on the Northeast Buttress route, a popular climbing route below Angels Landing. The group was traveling in pairs and Hurd and his partner were following the other pair up the route. Hurd was leading the fifth pitch when he fell over 40 feet onto a ledge pulling his top piece of protection out. His partner witnessed the fall and called 911 before providing medical care to Hurd. Twenty members of the Zion search and rescue team responded. When park medics reached the ledge, they confirmed that Hurd had not survived his injuries. The SAR team worked through the night to evacuate the body and conduct preliminary investigations. The Northeast Buttress is an eight pitch big wall climb in Zion located below Angels Landing that is rated at IV 5.10+. This was Hurd’s first time climbing this route although he was an experienced climber and had completed several big wall climbs in Zion. The incident is currently under investigation by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the National Park Service. This is the fourth fatality in the park for 2012 and the seventh climbing fatality since 1983.