A 23-year-old Salt Lake County man died Thursday evening as a result of head trauma he received after falling 30 feet from a rope swing in the Ferguson Canyon area of Cottonwood Heights.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Lt. Jay Southam said dispatchers received a call at about 6:25 p.m. from a friend of the victim reporting the accident. The man and a group of friends were swinging on a rope from a ledge atop a steep drop-off to a creek that runs through the canyon.

Unified Fire Authority spokesman Jay Fearnley said friends of the victim reported that he appeared to lose his grip on the rope and fell to the bottom of the canyon, striking his head on rocks below and rolling into the creek.

Fearnley said the man was unconscious but still breathing when UFA paramedics arrived but died during transport out of the area. About 20 rescuers, including personnel from Salt Lake County Search and Rescue and the UFA's Heavy Rescue Unit, were involved in efforts to move the victim from the rugged canyon to a dirt road about a half-mile away. Fearnley said a heavy tree canopy prohibited a helicopter rescue, though an Air Med unit did respond.