Anyone climbing up the ravine south of Bridal Veil Falls at 7 a.m. on Saturday would have believed that Sen. John Valentine, Utah State Senate president, was about to die.

The blood coming down his face, the multiple bruises that covered his body and his moaning were so realistic that even this photographer, for the few seconds before the senator laughed, was really worried about him.

But Valentine was playing the role of victim no. 1 during the exercise of the Utah County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team, a training operation that the team carries out twice a month.

Two other "victims" were also rescued in the same exercise, one off of a steep cliff and the other airlifted by helicopter.

According to Mountain Rescue Training Sgt. Marc Lloyd, the team did "an absolutely tremendous job" in all the operation's phases. Sgt. Tom Hodgson congratulated team members at the end of the exercise pointing out, among other things, that "the communications were fantastic."

Sen. Valentine has volunteered for search and rescue for 27 years. "Fortunately, I don't have to play the victim always," Valentine said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.