PINAL, Ariz. — Johnni DiJulius had every intention of landing on solid ground when he jumped off the Superstition Mountains from 500 feet high.
Instead, DiJulius said his body twisted when his parachute opened, and he came crashing down.
“I made about two seconds before I had parachute open to impact on cliffs,” DiJulius said. “That’s probably the biggest fear in BASE jumping.”
DiJulius had jumped more than 100 times, but this time, he was dangling 40 feet from the bottom of a cliff.
The video of the January jump has since gone viral.
“The number one thing I was thinking is, 'stay awake, stay conscious, don't let my head hit,'” DiJulius told 12 News.
When he looked up, DiJulius said he saw his parachute had ripped and the only way down was by rock climbing.
“I was shocked it was even flying at all,” he said. “I didn’t want to test the theory of 'is my parachute gonna hold me up while I'm hanging here?'” DiJulius said.
The 29-year-old former Ohio State wrestler gripped tightly to the mountain for an hour.
“[I] found like a little ledge I was able to, you know, Spiderman,” he said.
He called his fellow BASE jumpers from below and they climbed up to him and guided his steps until he reached solid ground.
“Once I got down, the adrenaline was off. And my initial thought was just, you know, hug my brothers,” DiJulius said.
He made it out without any injuries.
BASE jumping stands for building, antennas, span and Earth – the sites the thrill-seekers jump from.
“It's kind of like a step past skydiving,” DiJulius said.
Since then, DiJulius has jumped about 10 more times and said he has plans to go back to the Superstitions soon.
“We call it a redemption jump, he said. "I'm sure that's in the next few months."
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