Taylorsville man falls to his death

A Taylorsville man who was rock-climbing with a youth group Saturday fell to his death near the Mount Olympus trailhead.

Mike Ashton, 33, was climbing with a group of about 10 young people between ages 12-15 in the area of Pete's Rock, otherwise known as the Climbing Rock, close to 5400 S. Wasatch Blvd., according to Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Jaroscak.

"He had climbed up about 60 to 100 feet up on the rock and was rapelling down. Apparently there was some sort of contest to see who could come down the fastest. He pushed off the rock and the anchors came loose and he came to his death," Jaroscak said.

Fellow climbers and the young people tried CPR to no avail. The Unified Fire Authority arrived about five minutes later and pronounced him dead, Jaroscak said.