'Tragic': Utah, Colorado Men Die In Separate Falls At San Rafael Swell

EMERY COUNTY, UT — Two men from Utah and Colorado died in separate falls in recent days at the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, Utah.

On Friday, Craig Barlow, 50, of Salt Lake City, Utah, fell off a cliff in the Upper Black Box, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Barlow was sitting on a boulder on a ledge and watching his friends rappel when the ledge broke loose, authorities said. He fell about 50 feet and landed about 3 feet of water.

Two people who were in Barlow's group hiked to a spot to get cell service and called for help as other members attended to him.

Air rescue teams were sent from Moab, and crew members said they needed a search and rescue team to perform a rope rescue. A state-operated helicopter flew rescue crews and gear to the area, and another helicopter landed on a shelf in a tight area farther up the canyon, authorities said. Paramedics entered the canyon through water and treated Barlow.

Search teams rappelled into the canyon, but overhangs and loose rock prevented them from hoisting him out, the sheriff's office said. Instead, crews carried Barlow up the canyon to an area where they could climb up a 40-foot sandy embankment and trek to the helicopter.

Barlow died at a hospital.

The following day, Arlo Lott, 41, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, fell about 70 feet after his rappel anchor broke loose in Farnsworth Canyon.

A helicopter from Moab again responded to the canyon, but canceled air support as high winds created unsafe conditions, the sheriff's office said.

Rescue teams entered the canyon with rope rescue gear and rappelled down to Lott. Once they prepared him for transport, they waited for winds to subside enough to allow a helicopter to return. Two previous requests for a helicopter to hoist Lott out of the area were made, but dangerously high winds prevented them from taking off.

"The man’s condition worsened as he was being raised out of the canyon," the sheriff's office said.

After Lott was brought out of the canyon, medical flight crews worked to give him lifesaving measures for nearly an hour. He died at the scene.

A state helicopter brought out rescue crews and their gear after winds subsided.

"Emery County Sheriff’s Office expresses sincere condolences to the families and friends of these two men," the sheriff's office said. "We also appreciate all agencies who responded to these two tragic accidents."

Lott was an ultra-marathon runner who ran in the Never Summer 100k and The Zion 100 km Run in 2019.

The San Rafael Swell Recreation area is about 217,00 acres in size. It features badlands of brightly colored — and "wildly eroded" — sandstone formations, deep canyons, and giant plates of stone that are tilted upright, according to the Bureau of Land Management.