Amber Bellows Newlywed dies after BASE jump attempt in Zion National Park in Utah

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(CNN) -- A newlywed woman died after plunging about 2,000 feet in a BASE jumping attempt in Utah's rugged Zion National Park, authorities said Sunday.
Amber Bellows, 28, and her husband of two weeks, Clayton Butler, climbed up Mount Kinesava, a 7,276-foot peak that overlooks the park, on Saturday, the National Park Service said.
The Salt Lake City couple were said to be experienced BASE jumpers -- in which participants leap from fixed objects, such as mountains or buildings, using parachutes to slow their falls.
The risky activity is illegal inside Zion National Park, authorities said.
Bellows jumped first on Saturday afternoon, but her parachute didn't open properly, Butler told authorities. He said he jumped after her, but he couldn't reach her.
Butler, 29, then hiked out of the remote area to find help, alerting park authorities at about 6:30 p.m.
Recovery teams located Bellows' body around 10 a.m. Sunday. Using a helicopter, they hoisted her from the difficult terrain to a nearby ambulance, the Park Service said.
"Both Clayton and Amber are conscientious, experienced BASE jumpers and this was a tragic accident," Joshua Lloyd, her manager and videographer, said Monday. "Amber will be missed throughout the entire community and we ask for privacy and respect for the family at this time."
Lloyd said he'd been told her jump looked fine at first, but her main parachute didn't deploy properly.
Her death, the first of a BASE jumper in the park, is under investigation, authorities said.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N22XZXV_Brg
"It is just really sad, and our condolences go out to her family and friends," said Jim Milestone, the acting superintendent of the park.
"BASE jumping is so dangerous," Milestone said in a statement. "Even for those that are experienced, like Amber Bellows. That is one of the reasons it is not allowed in the park."

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Update: Search teams locate body of Zion BASE jumper
Written by Drew Allred on February 9, 2014 in Community News, Life, Local News, Nation/World, News, Outdoors, State - 4 Comments


ZION NATIONAL PARK — The body of the woman who recently fell to her death in Zion was found Sunday morning. The woman reportedly fell 1,500 feet Saturday when her parachute didn’t deploy during a BASE jump in Zion National Park.

The woman was 28 years old and from Salt Lake City, Zion National Park spokeswoman Alyssa Baltrus said, she was an experienced BASE jumper.

the rescue team is starting to devise a plan for recovering the body

Her body was located at approximately 10:05 a.m. Sunday using a helicopter from Grand Canyon National Park, Baltrus said. Now, the rescue team is starting to devise a plan for recovering the body. This plan will most likely use a short-haul method, depending on what the terrain looks like.

Mount Kinesava, where the BASE jumper reportedly jumped from, is a well-known formation near the entrance of Zion National Park. BASE jumping in Zion is illegal.

A short-haul is when a helicopter carries something a short distance, Dave Nally said. Nally is the author of the book “Deaths and Rescues in Zion,” which chronicles every reported death that has occurred in Zion National Park. Nally has hiked to the top of Mount Kinesava a handful of times.

Kinesava is a plateau, approximately 3,000 feet from top to bottom, with a 1,000 foot sheer cliff on its east-facing side, Nally said. This cliff ends at a sloping shoulder which continues down to the the valley where the town of Springdale is located.

There is no real trail because the area is backcountry and not maintained by the park

There is no real trail because the area is backcountry and not maintained by the park, Nally said. However, there are some cairns here and there to guide hikers to the top. “It’s a lot of loose scrambling.”

The hike to the top of Kinesava takes approximately half a day, Nally said. In his experience, cell service is available for the majority of this hike, he said.

Nally, who recently almost went and hiked Kinesava said that it was covered in approximately 10 inches of snow a week ago.

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Federal prosecutors have dismissed a misdemeanor citation filed against a man who leaped off a cliff to save his wife, whose parachute had failed to open during the newlyweds’ adventure in southern Utah.

Amber Marie Bellows, 28, died after she fell Saturday performing what’s known as a BASE jump. BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span, and earth, the fixed objects from which participants jump. A Zion National Park officer cited Clayton Hoyt Butler, 29, for flying a parachute through a national park without a permit. The charge could have led to six months in prison.

But the U.S. attorney’s office for Utah said late Wednesday that the “interests of justice do not warrant prosecution” of Butler.

“To be sure, BASE jumping in Zion National Park is unlawful, and this tragic BASE jumping accident underscores some of the reasoning behind the regulations which prohibit such conduct,” spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said in a statement.

Many other parachuters have faced federal charges because they jumped off cliffs in national parks in what has been a decades-long battle between parks officials and thrill-sports enthusiasts.

Rydalch said sentences have reached as much as three months in prison for one defendant and a $5,000 fine for a company involved in a jump. She said the U.S. attorney's office could not determine exactly how many people have faced charges related to such jumps.

Butler and Bellows were married Jan. 24, according to an obituary published in the Salt Lake Tribune. The couple had completed several successful jumps, according to videos posted on Butler’s YouTube profile. And he had posted a picture on Facebook just before the couple began hiking up the 3,000-foot mountain, which Bellows was the first to jump from.

“Her family wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the Zion National Park rescue team who risked their lives to help bring Amber home,” the obituary read.

More than $8,000 had been raised for Butler in an online campaign. Bellows' funeral is scheduled for Friday.

Parks officials said this was the 29th case of a fatal fall at Zion, but the first involving a BASE jump. Because jumpers remain so close to the building or cliff from which they jumped, the sport is considered more dangerous than skydiving from a plane.