"Speed glider" rescued near Breckenridge

The Summit County Rescue Group and other agencies spent about eight hours Sunday rescuing a man who hurt himself while "speed gliding."

Two men took off from the summit of Quandary, a 14,00- foot peak south of Breckenridge, on Sunday afternoon. Their intention, according to one of the men, was to ski down the East Ridge and then make either a sharp right or left hand turn and glide to the bottom.

According to a news release from Summit County Rescue, speed gliding is a popular sport in Europe that involves skiing with a foot-launched parachute which is smaller than a paragliding or sky diving chute, and which may lift the skier off the ground intermittently depending on the wind speed and direction. The sport is also called speed flying or ski gliding.

The first man launched his chute and glided successfully to the bottom on the south side of the mountain, but the second man reportedly "lost wind" and crashed near the top, injuring himself. According to one witness, he had compound fractures in both legs.

Five bystanders, who happened to be hiking Quandary that day and were not related to the injured man, stayed with him while he was waiting for emergency responders and even assisted rescuers with the beginning of the evacuation.

The patient was evacuated in a strenuous, eight-hour effort using a combination of hand-carrying, sliding in a toboggan and belayed lowering systems. The effort was completed about 11:15 p.m.

According to the patient's companion, he was an experienced speed-gliding instructor with many hours of flight time.

The temperature was estimated at approximately -5 near the summit of the peak during the evacuation.