Photos: Family hike gone wrong after parent slips and falls down Utah canyon

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FILE: Injured California hiker rescued on steep trail

A solo hiker in California was rescued after becoming injured on a steep trail on Friday.

MOAB, Utah – First responders in Utah were faced with a complicated rescue over the weekend after a parent fell down a canyon during a hike and sustained critical injuries.

A family of four, consisting of two parents and two children, went for a trip to Pritchett Canyon in Moab, Utah, as they were visiting the area for spring break, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

Upon arrival, the family decided to stop and walk around near Pritchett Arch. The place they stopped is only about five miles long, but entails very rough terrain, so driving there could take as long as three hours one way, according to officials.

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While on their journey, they decided to venture to Cummings Arch, a smaller arch set high in the cliffs, compared to the original location, which was closer to the bottom of the landscape.

While traveling, the group split in two, with one group hiking ahead of the others. Somehow, during the hike, one of the parents got too close to the edge and fell around 70 to 80 feet.

Members of the Grand County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team complete a complex rescue for an injured hiker in Utah.

(Grand County Sheriff's Search and Rescue / Facebook)

According to the family and officials, no one saw the fall, but one of the children heard screaming and rushed back down the hiking trail to alert the parents to what had happened.

The parent tumbled for another 50 feet after impact, sliding down the slick canyon rocks.

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Officials stated that the other parent was able to contact first responders by using the satellite function on their iPhone and texted 911.

Search and rescue officials were paged to respond and quickly located the individual within five minutes due to their proximity to first responders, who landed within 150 yards.

Helicopter team stands by while first responders secure and prepare an injured hiker for transport in Utah.

(Grand County Sheriff's Search and Rescue / Facebook)

Upon hearing the extent of the situation, a medical helicopter was requested due to open fractures and possible internal injuries. It was clear to rescuers that this would be a complex rescue on top of sifting through a shallow wash and difficult terrain.

According to officials, the parent sustained broken bones and needed to be packaged in a rescue litter for extraction.

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"From the air, the scene was described to ground rescuers in Moab as steep and sloping terrain with a short section of vertical terrain; technical rope rescue assets would be needed to assist in this rescue," Grand County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue said in a statement.

Search and rescue crews constructed a complex lowering system to assist with the technical rope rescue, drilling holes into rock to anchor the litter.

Crews had to make several trips to get more ropes, webbing, carabiners, anchoring bolts and descent devices to aid in the extraction of the parent, who was in critical condition.

"Following the short technical rescue, the patient was carried up to the LZ (landing zone) where they were loaded into Intermountain 20 and flown to the closest trauma center," officials said.

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Despite the helicopter landing so close, the technical rescue took a long time to set up and safely maneuver the patient without further injury.

In total, the rescue operation took just under three hours thanks to the amazing work of first responders.