ST. GEORGE — Two teens stranded on a 75-foot-high ledge in the Babylon area south of Leeds were rescued Saturday by Washington County Search and Rescue.
A group of five teens, who were all from Las Vegas, were camping on privately owned land near the Babylon area for a few days when they started hiking around tall cliffs in the area at about noon on Saturday, said Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Darrell Cashin. The four males and one female were on remote land that was owned by one of their fathers, Cashin said.
“As they were hiking, they became ledged out,” Cashin said. “In other words, they got halfway down a cliff, but couldn’t go up or down any farther.”
Three of the teens tried to go down the cliff, and one of them fell about 20 feet and bounced down onto the rocks, Cashin said. The teen who fell had a few scrapes and bruises, Cashin said, but no major injures. After the teen had fallen, the two others behind him became too scared to descend the cliff, so they elected to stay perched on a ledge on the side of the cliff, which Cashin estimated to be about 75 feet high.
The group was able to call 911, and 13 search and rescue volunteers responded to the scene.
“The high-angle team located them, set up some anchoring and rope systems, and got down to them,” Cashin said. “They put them in harnesses and lowered them down one at a time to the bottom.”
After it was determined no one had serious injuries, the teens were released to their parents, Cashin said. The whole rescue took about three hours because of how remote the area was.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews | @SpencerRicks
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.