Police ID 23-year-old killed in rock climbing accident

Police ID 23-year-old killed in rock climbing accident

(Christopher Campbell)


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NORTH LOGAN — A man who died after falling around 80 feet while rock climbing has been identified.

Cache County Search and Rescue and the Logan Fire Department responded to the accident in Green Canyon around 3 p.m. Thursday, according to the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew Del Gross, 23, fell between 50-100 feet while rock climbing and sustained a severe head injury, the sheriff’s office said.

Gross had been climbing with three others, one of whom called 911. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders.

Search and rescue crews secured Gross on the side of the mountain, but were called off the scene due to the lightning strikes in the area, the sheriff’s office said. They later returned when the weather calmed down and his body was transported off the mountain around 5:30 p.m.

Cache County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Matt Bilodeau said the area where Del Gross was climbing was not a sheer cliff, but rather rose at an angle. He did not believe the trio was using ropes or rock climbing gear. Bilodeau did not immediately know Friday how high up the mountain Del Gross was when he fell.

Gross was from Maryland and had been attending Utah State University, officials said. His body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Salt Lake City where the cause of death will be determined.

Contributing: Pat Reavy

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