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SALT LAKE CITY — A 34-year-old woman is dead and a 30-year-old man is hospitalized after a climbing fall in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Friday.
About 7 p.m., Unified police received a call reporting that two people had possibly fallen in the Storm Mountain area. Unified police were dispatched to the scene along with search and rescue teams to rescue them.
Drones were used to locate where the pair had fallen, but due to the difficulty of accessing the area it took emergency personnel some time to reach them, said Unified police detective Amee Race.
Kaitlyn Brann, 34, of Park City, died at the scene. Her climbing partner, whose name was not released, was transported by medical helicopter to a nearby hospital. The 30-year-old man is expected to survive, Race said.
The detective said she didn't know if there was snow where the pair was climbing, but "this is a very dangerous time to hike due to the amount of snow, there is a lot of melting water, and the rocks can shift very easily," said Race. "It's important to note the climbers were very well prepared for the situation — just given the elements, unfortunately, this was the outcome."
