In reply to:
BASE-jump crash sidelines freeskier
Troy Hooper - Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wed 04/05/2006 08:01PM MST
Extreme skier Ted Davenport propped his swollen, broken foot on a cushion as he settled in to watch his life pass before his eyes for the umpteenth time.
Despite the four metal rods wedged into his foot to replace his shattered metatarsals, Davenport, 25, didn't cringe when a homemade video showed him BASE jumping in Magland, France, and smacking into the side of a 1,300-foot cliff.
"It was super amazing. All I broke was my foot. That's it. I'm pretty lucky," said a smiling Davenport as he dissected each moment of his fall for a reporter at his apartment in Aspen.
The foot injury has sidelined Davenport's soaring ski career for the short term, but he has designs to get back to hucking cliffs -- on skis and by parachute -- in August. Davenport, who was the Overall European Tour Champion in 2005 and the Colorado Freeride Series overall titleholder the year before, is hoping his rehabilitation will be complete in time for the New Zealand Freeski Championships.
But for now the last adrenaline fix Davenport will remember is in Magland, France, where he and Team Obermeyer pal Kiffor Berg were exploring a cliff that freeskier star Shane McConkey, also a BASE-jumping enthusiast, told them about.
It was weeks ago when Davenport, with Berg filming him, inspected the beastly cliff, turned to the camera and shouted, "See ya!" Windy conditions can create real problems for jumpers when they only have seconds to open their parachute to avoid certain death. But Davenport's first cliff dive went off without a hitch.
His second jump there would be different. This time Berg decided to film Davenport from the bottom of the cliff -- a chance decision that would prove to be to Davenport's benefit. Leaping off the ledge and into the blustery wind, Davenport's free fall went awry as soon as he released his chute. The wind forced part of the canopy to fold underneath itself, throwing Davenport off course. His parachute lines became tangled as blasts of air carried him toward the cliff side.
"Teddy? Teddy? You OK?" Berg asked aloud as the camera rolled.
Davenport was not OK.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" shouted Berg.
Davenport stuck out his foot as he smashed into the cliff to lessen the collision, which came at estimated speeds of 25-30 mph. Then he kicked his legs around and somehow managed to spin his way away from the cliff just as the wind inflated his parachute to keep him from slam dancing with the rocks.
"The wind tried to kill me and then it saved my life," Davenport said.
Avoiding a couple of large trees, Davenport was able to maneuver himself safely to the ground where Berg met him and raced him to the hospital. He stayed at the hospital for three days before requesting his X-rays and heading home.
"All I can say is French hospitals are not fun," Davenport said.
Davenport figures the accident was 80 percent equipment malfunction and 20 percent pilot error. In retrospect, he realizes he shouldn't have jumped that day.
"I learned a huge lesson and I'm a better jumper because of it," said Davenport, who has BASE jumped 38 times. "I was a rookie BASE jumper on a day I shouldn't have been jumping. But I'm definitely going to keep on jumping."
But don't start calling Davenport a BASE jumper before a freeskier.
"My skiing career is my first priority. BASE jumping comes second. It's just an extracurricular activity," said Davenport, whose first jump was off Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho. He also jumps at an undisclosed, but legal, location in Glenwood Canyon.
BASE is an acronym signifying: Building-Antenna-Span-Earth -- the elements of the sport.
hoop@aspendailynews.com
