Hypothermia kills woman in Zion Park

SPRINGDALE, Utah — A woman died and a man was rescued and treated for hypothermia after they were caught in extreme cold weather while hiking in Utah’s Zion National Park, officials said.

The married couple were on a permitted, 16-mile hike through the park area known as the Narrows, the National Park Service said Thursday.

The woman, 31, and the man, 33, were not identified by the park service.

According to the park services, the Zion National Park Search and Rescue Team responded Wednesday after shuttle drivers said visitors reported an injured man and a unresponsive woman in the Narrows.

The rescue team found the man on a trail being helped by other hikers and took him to the Zion Emergency Operations Center. Rescuers moved farther up the Narrows and found the woman near the Virgin River. They administered emergency aid but determined she was dead, the park service said.

The couple started their trip through the Narrows on Tuesday. They stopped about 1½ miles from the north end of Riverside Walk, a paved trail.

The park service reported that the man told rescuers he and his wife became “dangerously cold” overnight and experienced symptoms consistent with hypothermia.