ST. GEORGE, Utah — Searchers in southern Utah found the body of a hiker yesterday who they said fell to his death from a cliff ledge in Snow Canyon State Park.
The searchers were in a helicopter when they found the body just after 9 a.m., officials said.
The man fell between 80 and 100 feet on Sunday while hiking the Island in the Sky trail.
The search began after a call for help about 6 p.m.
Washington County sheriff’s officials say the dead hiker was one of three men in a group hiking north of Santa Clara. The men became stranded during a hazardous climb.
Sheriff-elect Cory Pulsipher said the other two hikers were found safely on Sunday.
The search for the missing hiker resumed yesterday morning after being suspended late Sunday because of cold and dangerous conditions.
Heavy snow fell from Wisconsin to Utah over the holiday weekend, and blizzard warnings were issued for the area, according to the National Weather Service.
A low pressure system prevailed in the West yesterday and was expected to drop down the Pacific Coast, eventually reaching southern California.
The 7,500-acre Snow Canyon State Park has 16 miles of popular hiking trails.
Although it is in a desert climate, it is colder at higher elevations.
In 2009, two women hikers were killed in separate falls from an observation point at Zion National Park in Springdale, Utah.
Also in 2009, a hiker fell to her death into a ravine on Mount Olympus, east of Salt Lake City.
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