Experts Warning Rock Climbers Of Difficult And Dangerous Utah Route

Rock climbing and hiking are fun activities that give you great exercise. But if you don't know exactly what a trail holds, they can be very dangerous and sometime fatal.

Experts are warning Utahns of the Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup, or the WURL. The climbing trail circumnavigates Little Cottonwood Canyon and crosses more than 20 named peaks on the path, reported FOX 13 Salt Lake City. The path is extremely challenging and climbers often have to be rescued from the trail.

Michael Finger, member of Salt Lake County Search and Rescue, said:

"It’s just not something you should read about on the internet and be like, 'Hey, I’m going to go try this Saturday because it looks interesting.' You should know what you’re in for and know what the route’s going to be like before you go try it. Most of the time you’re scrambling, you’re finding the safest path through the rock, you’re doing a lot of route finding, you’re really far from help if anything goes wrong, you’re really exposed. So if you do slip and fall, it’s most likely going to be fatal or life-changing."

Sam Jewkes, who completed the WURL, said:

"You’re spending at least — probably most people — at least 20 to 24 hours on a knife-edge ridge, scrambling the entire time. Mentally, you’ve got to be engaged that entire time, knowing what moves you’re going to do on the rocks. It’s really intense for that aspect."

Jewkes said:

"You know, if you get hurt at the top of Lone Peak, if you get hurt at the top of one of the ridges and we don’t have the helicopter available, it’s going to be three to four hours before anybody can get there, and that’s just to get there and not get you out if you’re hurt."