A tech CEO and father-of-four tragically died after he plunged 200 feet while climbing in Utah’s Zion National Park over the weekend – just three days before his birthday, officials said.
Justin Bingham, 40, had been canyoneering towards the exit of Heaps Canyon with three other climbers when he suddenly fell to his death Saturday evening, according to the National Parks Service.
Bingham and his group had been following their itinerary through the long and physically demanding canyon when he fell to his death.
First responders with the Zion National Park Technical Search and Rescue Team and Washington County Sheriff’s Office rushed to the scene and provided aid at about 6 p.m., officials said.
Bingham was airlifted out of the canyon by a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter but he died before he could reach the hospital.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said in a statement.
Officials are still probing the exact cause of Bingham’s death, but the National Park Service have already said it was accidental.
Bingham was the CEO of Opiniion – a Utah-based tech company focusing on property management solutions.
Company staffers paid tribute to their boss in the wake of his shock death, describing him as a “visionary” whose “spirit of adventure and dedication to living life fully will be deeply missed.”
“If you spent any time around him, he was the eternal optimist. ‘Everything is always going to work out.’ He told me so many times…. But he was right, and it usually did,” said Opiniion president, Devin Shurtleff.
“Justin wasn’t just a leader here at Opiniion — he was a mentor, a dad, and a friend to many of us. He believed that the relationships we build are what make this work meaningful, and he truly lived that every day.”
An experienced climber, Bingham’s Instagram account is filled with photos of him canyoneering throughout other parts of the national park.
His page also features a slew of photos and videos of him skiing with his wife Lindsay and their four young children – sons Turin, Ashton and Landon, and daughter Ava.
Bingham’s funeral was scheduled to be held in Alpine, Utah on Oct. 14, according to an online obituary.
He would have turned 41 on Oct. 8, per the obit.
