A 47-year-old man became the eighth climber since 1983 to die in a climbing accident in Zion National Park when he apparently lost his balance and toppled backwards about 80 feet down a steep slope.

Park officials said the man, whose name was being withheld pending notification of his family, was climbing with a partner Sunday morning on a route in Zion Canyon known as the "Iron Messiah" at the time of the accident.  The climb is rated a 5.10 in difficulty.

The two were on "an approach pitch in easy 5th class terrain when the climber apparently fell backward," park officials said. The man, who was not roped in and not wearing a helmet, hit a series of ledges before coming to a rest.

Rangers were notified of the accident at approximately 11 a.m. and medics reached the victim within an hour. The climber was stablized during the almost three-hour evacation, but later died at Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah.

This is the fourth fatal accident in the park for 2014.