A Utah hiker died last week after being struck by lightning while climbing with his brother, just a short distance from the summit of Salt Lake County’s tallest peak, officials said.
Craig Nelson, 59, began the Saturday morning trek with his brother toward the east peak of American Fork Twin Peaks, after the two used the Snowbird tram to gain part of the elevation before continuing on foot.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said at a Monday news conference that the brothers were familiar with the route and had completed the hike together multiple times in the past.
According to Rivera, the men paused around 10:30 a.m. for lunch and began to see signs that the mountain weather was shifting.
Nelson’s surviving brother later told investigators they kept an eye on the sky and chose to continue because they had not seen any lightning at that point.
“As we know in Utah, the weather changes very frequently,” Rivera said, noting that conditions in the area can be “very unpredictable.”
Roughly an hour later, Rivera said, the brother reached the east peak ahead of Nelson and decided to turn back after seeing the weather deteriorate.
Nelson, however, kept moving toward the summit.
The brother told investigators that he saw Nelson suddenly collapse about 20 feet away from him and believed he had been struck by lightning.
The brother rushed back toward the Snowbird tram until he regained cellphone service and called 911 shortly after noon.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter quickly located Nelson near the summit, but rescuers had to wait for the storm to move through before they could safely reach him.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Snowbird Ski Patrol later helped escort Nelson’s brother off the mountain, according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team.
American Fork Twin Peaks rises to 11,461 feet and is the highest point in Salt Lake County.
Rivera emphasized that mountain weather can change with little warning and urged hikers to check the forecast before heading out.
She said hikers should leave exposed ridgelines and summits as soon as storms begin moving in.
The sheriff’s office also urged hikers to move to lower ground, stay away from isolated trees and bodies of water, and, if they cannot reach shelter, crouch low with their feet together until the storm passes.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains open while the Utah medical examiner determines Nelson’s official cause of death.
