BASE jumper crashes into mountainside in Colorado canyon, officials say. See rescue
A BASE jumper was injured when he crashed into a mountainside in a Colorado canyon, rescuers said and news outlets reported.
The accident occurred about 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22, near a backcountry highway along a creek, Arvada Fire said on Facebook.
The agency helped two local fire rescue agencies with a technical rope rescue to lift him up and over a snowy creek, photos show.
The BASE jumper called 911 himself, and rescuers spotted him on the other side of the creek from the road about 60 to 80 feet up the slope of the mountain in Clear Creek Canyon, about a 20-mile drive west from Denver.
“Luckily he had cell service and was able to call for help,” Golden’s Deputy Chief of Operations Sean Jones told The Denver Post. “That’s not common in that area.”
Rescuers gave him medical care and fastened him into a rescue basket to move him to the other side of the creek, where medical teams gave him further care and took him to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
“Crews worked late into the evening” to complete the rescue, Golden Fire-Rescue said on Facebook.
The rescue took about two and a half hours, The Denver Post reported. The BASE jumper was getting medical care on the highway by 8:30 p.m. and heading to the hospital by 9:30 p.m.
Officials closed Highway 6 near the accident at about 7:30 p.m. and reopened the road shortly after 11 p.m., KMGH reported.
BASE stands for buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Participants in the extreme sport jump from one of those four, then use a parachute to land.
It’s similar to skydiving, except BASE jumpers typically start less than 500 feet from the ground while skydivers take off between 9,000 and 14,000 feet, The Denver Post reported.
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 5:31 PM with the headline "BASE jumper crashes into mountainside in Colorado canyon, officials say. See rescue."
