Members of Utah’s cliff-jumping community are mourning a U.S. airman who died last weekend at a Weber County reservoir — a place responders say can be risky for divers and a challenge for rescue crews.
“A life was lost, a family and a friend circle are left heartbroken, and this is not something that anyone should have to go through,” said Ross Patton, a Utah cliff jumper.
Angel Harris, 23, an airman from Delaware stationed at Hill Air Force Base, died Saturday at Causey Reservoir, about 15 miles northeast of Ogden.
Colby Ryan, chief deputy with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, said responders received a call Saturday afternoon – but faced several challenges getting to Harris.
For starters, rescue teams had trouble gaining access to the reservoir, because people who were recreating there did not obey parking restrictions.
A helicopter dispatched to the scene had to land at a campground “nowhere near the water,” Ryan said, and rescue teams had issues using the boat launch ramp, and other responders had difficulty getting ambulances or fire engines to the scene.
“It really played into this weekend’s recovery, especially in the initial responses,” Ryan said. “There’s limited parking up there. There is obviously no parking for a reason.”
Patton, who said he has jumped from hundreds of cliffs around the country and world, said he believes “Causey is the absolute best” for cliff jumping in Utah.
The cliffs, he said, are largely straight up and down so jumpers do not need to jump as far horizontally to clear the rocks, and the water is deep.
However, Ryan said, the cliffs that make Causey Reservoir popular go deep into the water’s depths, complicating rescue and recovery efforts.
Beneath the surface, Ryan said, there are canyons and overhangs that make it dangerous for first responders or recovery team members to search for someone who might have drowned.
Ryan said visibility underwater is near zero, and Patton confirmed how little he can see beneath the surface.
“If someone were to start to go down, you have a matter of seconds before they are no longer visible,” he said. “It’s imperative that you have someone in the water or ready to jump in after you if you land wrong.”
Patton said that in the groups he jumps, someone is always on a paddleboard, ready to help in case something goes awry.
Ryan said the waters are also frigid, so hypothermia is a risk.
Patton said the water temperature in many other lakes is much colder. To him, “what’s more important than the temperature is whether or not the person who is jumping is conditioned for it and is expecting it.”
Because of the underwater cliffs and the temperature, Ryan said, Weber County mandates that people enjoying recreation on the water use life jackets.
Ryan also warned that the reservoir’s location in the mountains means that “severe weather phenomena” can turn “nice smooth” water into “four- to five-foot swells” with little notice.
Ty Hunter, Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation’s boating program manager, noted that the area has limited cell service, so people should make sure they have an alternative way to contact someone in an emergency.
If people are looking to cliff jump, Hunter said they should know the laws and gauge risks like cliff height, water depth, obstacles and swimming strength. Causey, he said, has a maximum depth of 180 feet.
“This is a high-risk outdoor activity, and injury and or death can result from a simple mistake or miscalculation,” he said. “The water temperature may feel warm at the surface, but it will change as you go deeper, so be aware of how you react to cold water shock. If you are unsure, do not jump.”
According to a report from Fox 13, Harris initially surfaced after his jump. Then he went back under, and didn’t come back up until divers recovered his body, which they found 48 feet below the surface.
The death sparked conversation among the cliff-jumping community, Patton said.
“The cliff-diving community sheds tears,” Patton said. “We discuss the incident and how it could have been avoided. And we check ourselves on our own rules and safety practices.”
Patton and a group had planned to go to Causey the next day, but said it didn’t feel right. They stayed away “out of respect for the family, those who have lost their lives in the past and out of respect for the mountains.”
But cliff diving goes on, he said, though he would like to see a memorial at Causey for those who have died there. A pair of drownings in 1988 and 1989 spurred the county’s life-jacket mandate — and other drowning deaths were reported in 2015 and in 2020.
A memorial, Patton said, would also serve as a warning, a reminder for anyone thinking about jumping.