BASE jumper plunges to his death in ‘rugged and hazardous’ valley, Utah officials say

A man died while BASE jumping into a Utah valley, deputies said.

The 32-year-old man went BASE jumping near Parriott Mesa on Wednesday, July 20, the Grand County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue said.

BASE jumpers parachute from a high structure or cliff. The man crashed into a slope and died, deputies said.

“Due to the subject’s location at the top of a rugged and hazardous talus slope more than 1,000 feet above the valley floor, Classic Air Medical was requested to transport GCSAR and GCEMS responders and equipment as close to the accident site as possible,” deputies said in a July 25 news release.

A helicopter crew from the Utah Department of Public Safety also rushed to the scene. Crews used a rope system to lower the man’s body to where the helicopter could respond, deputies said.

The man’s body was lowered 100 feet and loaded into the helicopter.

“The DPS helicopter arrived shortly afterwards and transported emergency personnel and gear back to the staging area at the Castle Valley Fire Station,” deputies said. “The operation took about 6 hours.”

The Parriott Mesa is a large mesa near the entrance to Castle Valley about 20 miles northeast of Moab.

This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 11:53 AM with the headline "BASE jumper plunges to his death in ‘rugged and hazardous’ valley, Utah officials say."