Novato Man Dies in Utah Canyon Accident

Media outlets in Utah are reporting that Yoshio Hosobuchi, a retired neurosurgeon from Novato, lost consciousness and died after hanging upside-down overnight in a waterfall, unable to free a foot that became stuck as he rappelled down the canyon wall.

The accident occurred Tuesday night, and Hosobuchi had died by the time Zion National Park rangers arrived Wednesday morning, according to a story in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Web searches show that Hosobuchi, 74, lived for the past 12 years on Knolltop Drive in a neighborhood just east of Olive Elementary School. He became a registered doctor in California in 1969 after completing schooling at the University of Chicago and Loyola University of Chicago.

Do you have memories of Dr. Hosobuchi? Share your condolences and thoughts below. 

Hosobuchi was hiking with his 61-year-old wife Tuesday and rappelling down a canyon. It appeared he died when his ankle became entangled in a harness around his waist, leaving him dangling upside down in a waterfall, Zion National Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said. She said Hosobuchi and his wife were hiking in the Left Fork Canyon, also known as the Subway Slot Canyon, in the middle of the park.

The nine-mile hike, one of the park's most popular ones, includes swimming across cold water ponds and rappelling to reach the canyon floor, she said.

"His wife said her husband wanted to cross it off his bucket list," Baltrus said.

The adventurous couple took a rappelling course the day before, she said.

Something happened that made Hosobuchi cut the harness around his waist and his foot became entangled in the harness, leaving him hanging upside down in the waterfall, Baltrus said. "His hands were five feet from the canyon floor," she said.

Hosobuchi's wife was unable to help and she started hiking out of the canyon, Baltrus said.

A group of people who were hiking ahead of Hosobuchi and his wife notified park rangers the couple probably would not make it out of the canyon by nightfall because they were hiking at a slow pace, according to Baltrus.

Hosobuchi and his wife were supposed to meet friends for dinner Tuesday evening and when they didn't show up, the friends notified park rangers at about 10 p.m., Baltrus said.

A search and rescue team encountered Hosobuchi's wife on the trail around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday and reached Hosobuchi that evening, Baltrus said. She said the team hooked Hosobuchi to their rappelling gear and cut him free of the harness, Baltrus said.

Hosobuchi was pronounced dead at the scene and was flown out Thursday morning by helicopter. The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office is conducting an autopsy.

The Zion National Park website describes "The Subway" as one of the park's most popular canyoneering routes that requires several rope rappels. It was the first death in the Subway Slot Canyon in recent history, but there are a number of rescues annually, according to park
officials.

"The Subway is deceiving," Zion National Park Superintendent Jock Whitworth said in a news release.

Whitworth said the 9-mile hike requires rappelling and ascending skills, extensive route-finding experience and swims through several cold and deep pools.

"Unfortunately, its location inside the wilderness also means that rescues are not always possible or timely enough. Sound decision making and problem solving are critical," he said.

— Bay City News Service ... Novato Patch's Brent Ainsworth contributed to this report. 

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