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MOAB — A Salt Lake man died Sunday during a rappelling/rope swing accident.
Adam Jason Weber, 32, was killed after a 7:11 p.m. accident involving a rope swing combined with rappelling, according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office.
Weber and his fiance, Stacee, were engaged in a tandem rope swing that included a rappel to the floor of Day Canyon after completion of the swing. Day Canyon is about seven miles west of state Route 191 and the Gemini Bridge Parking area.
As Weber went to rappel down, he took his feet out of his stirrups and fell about 200 feet, said Grand County Chief Sheriff's deputy Darrel Mecham. Stacee was still clipped on the swing, and crews were able to get her down, while another crew in a helicopter went to the bottom of the canyon to locate her companion.
The sheriff's office said the distance of the rappel to the canyon floor after the swing was approximately 100 feet and the rope swing had been anchored to a metal airline cable. That cable had been anchored between the canyon walls, with a span that was approximately 600 feet.
It took several days to put the equipment into place and several people had successfully completed the rappel and the rope swing prior to Weber's fall.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, but Weber succumbed to his injuries.
Weber's mother told KSL her son lived "larger than life." He was an adventurous outdoorsman who had climbed more than one Utah mountain.
The sheriff's office advises recreationers that this is the third fatality the agency has investigated this year involving rope swings or rappelling and urges people to use extreme care and caution.
Contributing: Jennifer Stagg
