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With all the chatter and noise online, it’s really amazing what you can miss on the internet these days. The incident above happened in the Arizona outback sometime in the last year. Johnni DiJulius, a BASE jumper with a really interesting story (he wrestled at Ohio State), was making a jump when he got turned around 180 degrees ( a worst-nightmare scenario), ripping his chute on the rock before catching on another rock tower some 50 feet off the ground. After being bounced off the face like a rag doll, he then had to downclimb to get off the rock.
“I was the last jumper on a 30 person party load. One of the biggest fears in BASE is a 180 degree turn when your parachute opens. Things like body position, pack job, or wind can cause these,” he wrote. “After I opened I grabbed my toggles but didn’t turn it away in time. When I finally fought it off the wall, I looked up and saw five of my seven cells were ripped. I couldn’t steer and was shocked it was still flying. I lost too much altitude fighting it off the wall, and since I couldn’t steer with a ripped canopy, I knew I wasn’t going to make it out of the talus. I hit the second cliff and got hung up. At this point I knew I was not injured but wasn’t sure if anyone saw me because I was the last to go.”
Miraculously uninjured, DiJulius was able to hike out of the area and find his friends. But the video is crazy, watching him get lucky has he bounced off the rock, his helmet somewhat ironically covered in a “No TMRW” sticker, a brand he works with. The most difficult part, he says, was getting off the wall. “I just freaking huck it, land on my back on this bush,” he told ABC 13 out of Houston in March. “I couldn’t really turn around. I call it a ‘oh crap’ jump.” He also told the outlet he was moving at some 50 mph when he hit the second spire. Luck was certainly on his side.
You can check out a more detailed video, here.
