Climber who died after Mount Olympus fall is identified
May 22, 2021, 7:39 PM | Updated: Dec 29, 2022, 12:14 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — The Unified Police Department has confirmed that search and rescue crews have recovered and removed the body of a climber from Mount Olympus in the foothills of Salt Lake City.
Authorities confirmed 54-year-old James Roache died after sustaining injuries from a 100 foot fall. He was taken off the mountain about 4:30 PM on Saturday.
The department says he and a friend were getting ready to do some rock climbing when Roache slipped off a ledge due to snow and fell near the base of the West Slabs. He “slid a considerable distance before hitting rocks below and dropping into a narrow space between a wall of rock and deep snow which had melted away from the wall,” according to a Facebook post from the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.
It also confirmed Roache’s friend was air lifted off the mountain. Life Flight and the Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau assisted in the rescue.