Climbers Shot At in Little Cottonwood Canyon

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a gunman opened fire on Monday evening on climbers in Little Cottonwood Canyon, a popular Utah climbing area.

Samuel Clairmont and partners were rappelling from the fourth pitch of Pentapitch, a well-travelled 5.8 multi-pitch, when a man in a sedan started shooting from Vaults Road before driving away.

Clairmont later posted a warning on the local forum Mountaibuzz.com that read, “Warning to all climbers in SLC area.

“Today, me and two friends were on the upper ledge (rapping fourth pitch) of Pentapitch when multiple rounds were fired at us from a green sedan on the side of the vaults road, near gate B.

“Of the 15 Shots, five to seven whistled past us and hit rock around us. The other shots were fired and nearly hit climbers on Stiffler’s Mom.”

The climbers on Stiffler’s Mom were Brandon Wilde and Nate Lamb. “We were about 250 feet up or so on the third pitch,” Wilde said. “Nate was climbing, I was belaying. I kind of thought they were fireworks at first.”

No one knows if the shots were meant to kill the climbers or scare them. “One witness stated a green passenger car with approximately three occupants could have been involved,” noted a police report.”

Little Cottonwood Canyon is a busy place with hikers, paddlers, cyclists and climbers in the summer.