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Well after seeing the the doctor today it seems my back is 90% healed. I had a base jumping accident at my local cliff on Sept. 28th. which resulted in a cracked L1 and a burst fracture of L2, in which I lost about 25% of it. Now I am a hiker and backpacker first, but base has been a part of my life for the last 9 years. I've made several hundred jumps in that time, and was on the world record in 2003. I dont consider myself an adrenaline junkie nor do I have a death wish. But I do enjoy the groundrush! Just to fill in what happened, I was making a sunset jump with a friend of mine. I had about 50 jumps at this particular exit point, so it wasnt new. 246 ft to impact, with another 100ft or so of talus, making it about 350ft overall. Had a clean exit, took a healthy 1 second delay and had a clean deployment. As I was flying away I noticed that I was alot higher than usual, so as to avoid overshooting the landing area I decided to sink the canopy a bit to lose some altitude. As I was sinking, the canopy went into a full stall, and then collapsed. I fell the remaining 35 feet onto my feet. Immediatly I knew my back was broken. I wiggled my toes, was able to move my feet, and then flopped around in pain like a fish out of water for about an hour till the paramedics showed up. So since the accident I have had to wear this turtle shell brace and not really move. That sucked. But I got out of the brace last week and went and hiked camelback 2 days after that. Now I wanna see if I can wear my backpack on short hikes to get the muscles back to strenght for the longer stuff. HAZ has been a lifesaver, I dont know what I would've done without it the last few months. But now im ready to get out and do some hikes!!!

Great news....I've been pulling for you ! :wlift:

Congratulations on being free of your turtle shell, hope to see you post some killer hiking photos!

In response to base871:
Congratulations..great to hear your recovery is going well and that you will be back on the trail soon & posting again! ( I know first hand what a burst-fracture of L-1 can do.. my only helicopter ride so far. Like you, I also know what patience, determination, and a positive attitude can do to fix it)

wow man! as a neuroradiologist i evaluate spines (and brains) for a living. you are describing a very serious injury - i'm glad you're pulling through. not everyone would.

Yea, that one's serious. Good to hear you're back on your feet!

So glad to hear it, and glad that there was a community here to support you in your recovery. You're an inspiration!

Wow, what a story! Glad to hear that you are on the mend. Sounds like you have the right attitude to facilitate a speedy recovery.

base871 wrote:I fell the remaining 35 feet onto my feet. Immediatly I knew my back was broken. I wiggled my toes, was able to move my feet, and then flopped around in pain like a fish out of water for about an hour till the paramedics showed up.

That sounds nasty. Glad to hear your up and about. Good Luck with your continued progress.

Congratulations! I recall your previous post, and I'm glad you gave a more complete description of the incident ( ). Best wishes on your continued recovery.

Glad to hear you are on the way back to being 100%.

Congratulations! When my son broke his back in three places, he found that continued back exercises really help...keep up the good work!

Glad to hear you are doing well, Jake. Sorry to hear about your accident, but I know you will pull through. You always do.

Thanks everyone! Wont be long before I get to fly my newest toy off a mountain or cliff!!!!!

In response to base871:
Hope your recovery is still going well. I can't help but reflect back when I see you post.

Wow. Well it looks like you have turned a painful and scary experience into a character building opportunity. Your determination is inspirational. Attitude is everything, and at this rate, it looks you will be back to 100% soon. Glad to see you are walking again

I look forward to reading more about your continued improvement.

Thanks! As of now I think I am about 95% good. Im flying again, Got a different wing that lands a bit different, and been doing alot of exercising. Hiking with the speedwing and harness up mountains has been quite easy, gonna do do an easy overnight backpacking trip soon. Wanna be ready for some Colorado 14ers this summer. Gonna hike up and fly down. Been mountain biking and climbing also, and that has helped also. Wow, next week it will be 6 months since I got busted up, still seems like yesterday.

AHHHHH. Colorado, my favorite place for summer time hiking. You have any favorite places to hike in Colorado? My parents lived in the Springs for a couple of years, so visiting them was a great way to satisfy my craving for outdoor adventure. I miss the trees and the clean air. Speaking of trees and clean air, I can't wait for the Fossil Creek HAZ event planned in April It will be a nice break from the polluted air of Phoenix!

Glad to hear you are back at it again, glad to hear you are doing better!