A Salt Lake City woman died on Sunday, after she and her husband of two weeks climbed thousands of feet for a BASE jump attempt at Zion National Park in Utah.
28-year-old newlywed Amber Bellows and husband Clayton Butler, 29, reportedly climbed up 7,276-foot-tall Mount Kinesava this past weekend to attempt the BASE jump - an extreme sport in which jumpers free-fall from mountains and buildings with parachutes, CNN reported.
Bellows and Butler were reportedly seasoned BASE jumpers, but the Zion National Park officials have banned the action due to its dangerous nature.
According to CNN, Bellows took the first leap on Saturday. When her parachute malfunctioned and didn't deploy correctly, her new husband reportedly jumped after her. Butler told law enforcement officials he couldn't grab hold of her, so he rushed out of the secluded field to alert authorities of the accident.
He finally reached police at about 6:30 p.m., CNN reported.
Acting superintendent at Zion National Park Jim Milestone said an investigation into her death has been opened.
"BASE jumping is so dangerous," Milestone wrote in an official release. "Even for those that are experienced, like Amber Bellows. That is one of the reasons it is not allowed in the park."
"It is just really sad, and our condolences go out to her family and friends," Milestone told CNN, adding that her death was the first from a BASE jumper at Zion.
