A 47-year-old California man died from injuries sustained in a rock-climbing fall at Zion National Park on Sunday, . Christopher Spencer had been climbing , a challenging 5.10 route, with a partner.
The climbers were on an easy fifth-class approach when Spencer fell backwards approximately 80 feet down the slope. He was not roped in or wearing a helmet at the time of the fall. Spencer was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Spencer’s fall was the fourth fatal accident in Zion National Park this year and the eighth fatal climbing accident there since 1983.