Caution tape, warning signs and even electronic messaging failed to keep people from venturing onto a bridge of avalanche debris that formed over the Provo River near Bridal Veil Falls this spring.
So, Utah County officials decided to eliminate the problem.
With one impressive blast of dynamite Wednesday morning, the Utah County Sheriff’s bomb squad destroyed the bridge made of ice, tree limbs and other debris and sent two massive blocks of ice down the Provo River. Utah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Spencer Cannon said he estimated the ice blocks were up to 15 feet deep in places and between 40-50 feet long.
“The main reason we did this in the first place,” Cannon said, “is because we believe that if we didn’t do something, there is a high likelihood that somebody would die from either climbing or jumping in the river like that guy did last week.”
On Friday, an Instagram video surfaced of a man jumping into the rushing river from a hole in the debris bridge. The man survived the stunt.
Cannon called the man an “idiot.” He noted that search and rescuers estimated the water temperature is currently close to freezing, which could have resulted in dire consequences if anything hadn’t gone to plan.
“If he had missed the spot where he wanted to get out and had gone down another 50 to 100 yards, there’s a good chance he would have gotten so cold he couldn’t have reacted to work to get himself out,” Cannon said. “When you get cold and you start to get hypothermic, one of the first things that happens is you lose your ability to function. And not long after that you lose the ability to even think clearly. So jumping in like that, even somebody who’s a strong swimmer, they’ve got maybe a 50-50 chance of getting out because it’s not like you’re doing your polar plunge thing where you jump in and then you get back out.”
While the conglomeration of rocks and ice across the river is gone, much of the trail is still covered in debris. Cannon said he expects that will be left to melt and that a cleanup effort will be needed this summer to make the trail passable again.
