ALPINE, Utah Dec. 24, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 48-year-old woman was injured while sledding with friends up one of Utah County’s more rugged, roadless canyons, requiring a helicopter rescue.
The possible broken ankle left the woman unable to walk in the Friday afternoon mishap in the Horse Tail Falls area of Dry Canyon, above Alpine, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff’s spokesman.
Her injury came some two miles from the Dry Canyon Trailhead at around 2:15 p.m. Because of the terrain accessible only by hiking trails and covered in deep snow, Cannon said search and rescue members and sheriff’s deputies were not able to arrange a rendezvous with a Life Flight medical chopper until 4:45 p.m. The woman was flown to Utah Valley Hospital.
Her sledding party, as well as rescuers, ruled out carrying her down the mountainside, which could have taken three or four hours with the deep snow, Cannon said.
With the freezing temperatures at the time, her condition would have “deteriorated rapidly” in the long trek down on foot. The area is not accessible by vehicle, he said, even in the spring.
