BASE Jumper rescued from mountain
http://verdenews.com/...&ArticleID=57315 SEDONA -- It's being called the most difficult mountain rescue in years for the Sedona Fire District. About 1 p.m. Monday, a 911 call sent crew members to the towering Lee Mountain north east of Bell Rock in the Village of Oak Creek.
One of three BASE jumpers from Prescott leaped from the top of the mountain peak intending to open his parachute and float to the ground.
Instead the chute malfunctioned, but still the jumper was able to "fly" into the cliff face. He told rescuers later that he aimed for a ledge, but collided with the rock face about 10-15 above the ledge and had to drop down to the secure position.
Sedona Fire spokesman Gary Johnson says the rescue then began and didn't end 10.5 hours, until about midnight Tuesday morning.
Sedona Fire Fighters working with Coconino Search and Rescue volunteers and a DPS Ranger helicopter dispatched from Tucson worked out a process to bring the jumper-patient down to solid ground. The helicopter pilot could not safely conduct a "short-haul" from the cramped location, so the pilot navigated the mountain face for the rescue crew, which involved about 30 members from Sedona Fire and the Coconino Search and Rescue.
Fire fighter Mike Pace roped up and rappelled down to meet the 27-year old patient on the ledge about 1/3 of the way down the mountain. Then, with the two of them strapped together, they rappelled back to earth, a total distance of about 900 feet.
The BASE jumper then taken by All Terrain Vehicle, equipped for patient transport to a waiting ambulance to be taken to the Flagstaff Medical Trauma Center.
BASE jumping, is a sport where participants jump from fixed objects and use a parachute to break their fall. "BASE" is an acronym standing for the four categories of fixed objects: building, antenna, span, and Earth (cliff).
Gary Johnson said crews train just for an eventuality like this, even though it is low frequency and high risk. He said it is a great example of teamwork among three agencies.