Injured hiker rescued in Big Cottonwood Canyon

BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — What was to be a long back-country camping trip for a Salt Lake City man was cut short Wednesday, after a fall knocked him unconscious.

A rescue helicopter plucked Kris Foster, 23, from Big Cottonwood Canyon during a multi-agency rescue operation.

Foster hit his head after falling about 15 feet while hiking with a friend, in an area called Stairs Gulch, said Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson.

Foster lost consciousness after the fall, and his companion used a cell phone to call Foster's mother. Debbie O'Brien, who said her son sounded "tired and dehydrated," told her son to stay put until rescuers arrived.

Police then called the hikers' cell phone and worked to coordinate a rescue.

Foster apparently slipped in and out of consciousness while rescuers talked to his friend, Steve Greer, Hutson said.

The two men initially said they did not know where they were, so rescuers had to search for the pair for several hours, Hutson said.

A Utah Highway Patrol helicopter brought Foster down the mountain at about 4:25 p.m. He climbed out under his own power and had a bandage on his leg and visible cuts on his face.

Limping into the arms of family and friends, Foster even sported a faint smile.

Paramedics examined Foster at a command post at the base of the canyon, and he was transported to Intermountain Medical Center with leg and head injuries.

Foster and Greer, 28, had been camping in the canyon since Tuesday and were planning on staying for several more days.

O'Brien said the trip was her son's first hiking experience.

"He's more used to flat ground," she said as she waited for him at the base of the canyon. "But I'm glad he didn't take a chance and he stayed put until the police could reach him."

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