Injured Snowmobiler Rescued After Falling Down Mine Shaft In Utah

An injured snowmobiler in Utah was rescued Sunday after accidentally driving over a vertical mine shaft and falling in, officials said.

The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team was notified of a snowmobiling accident in a remote area of the Soapstone Basin trail near Heber City at around 10:17 a.m. Sunday. The snowmobiler, a 53-year-old man, accidentally drove into a vertical mine shaft.

First responders found the man and his snowmobile “hanging” about 20 feet above the bottom of the mine shaft. The Wasatch High Angle rescue team was called in to assist with a rope system to extract the man.

Summit County Search and Rescue, Utah Division of State Parks, South Summit EMS, and the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office also responded to assist in the rescue, which took 5.5 hours.

Wasatch Search and Rescue said that due to the extent of the man’s injuries, which were not specified, Intermountain Life Flight was called in to provide a medical evacuation.