LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: BASE jumper speaks out following harrowing jump that went wrong

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A BASE jumper who is lucky to be alive after a jump off of Camelback Mountain went terribly wrong is speaking out.

The jump took place on Tuesday, and the extremely hard landing that Landon Dirnberger experienced left him with some bad injuries, including a broken pelvis and shattered heels.

Dirnberger, 39, said he has been BASE jumping for years, and said he has done the jump from Camelback Mountain so many times, that he has lost count.

On Tuesday, however, something went wrong for Dirnberger.

"I had an off-heading landing, which led to the flying into the cliff," said Dirnberger. "I started backing up, I hit the cliff again, and then started to back up again, eventually falling to the ground."

Doctors said Dirnberger is lucky to be alive, having suffered a few minor bumps and bruises, besides his injuries to the pelvis and heels.

"He's pretty lucky," said Dr. Charles Hu with Honor Health. "A lot of people have a lot of severe injuries than he had."

In video showing the jump that went wrong, the shock expressed by bystanders who took the video can be heard clearly. Although Dirnberger has a long road to recovery, including at least one more surgery and several months of physical therapy, he said the experience has not scared him away from the sport he loves so much.