Jon Gjerde is a world champion in aerobatic hang gliding. The 51-year-old Norwegian is no stranger to the skies. But last week during the Norwegian "Ekstremsportveko" festival—that is "Extreme Sports Week"—he had a brush with death. Fortunately, thanks to a parachute and a cool head, he came out relatively unscathed. But the footage is haunting.

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As you can see right around the 30 second mark, his hang glider gave way just as he came out of a loop. Following a disorienting series of twists and turns, he was able to deploy a parachute and slow his ascent into the lake below. It was a much better alternative to slamming into the ground at full speed, but he's lucky he didn't drown.

Here's a clip of the crash from a GoPro attached to the glider's frame:

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According to Bergensavisen, a Norwegian newspaper, Gjerde escaped with fairly minor injuries, though a bit worse for the wear. The newspaper includes a photograph of his face after the accident, complete with vicious bruising and blood-red eyes; it's not a pretty sight. He is, however, alive.

Unlike typical parachutes which are attached to a person, hang gliding parachutes tend to be affixed to the frame of the glider itself. As you can see in the second video, there's nothing on Gjerde's back directly. Deploying such a 'chute is not necessarily easy either, especially when you are spinning out of control. The process generally involves snagging a bagged parachute mounted to the glider's frame, and then throwing it clear of actual craft in order achieve a tangle-free deployment.

Wills Wings, a hang glider and paraglider supplier, describes the process as going a little something like this:

LOOK for the handle, GRASP the handle, PULL the deployment bag from the container (with most systems a down-and-out at about 45 degrees works best), LOOK for clear air, THROW towards clear air and with the direction of the spin, PULL the bridle (reach back to your main support strap to locate it) to clear the 'chute from the deployment bag and accelerate the deployment sequence. If the parachute does not open, pull it back and repeat the throw.

You can see it all pretty clearly in this slightly lower-intensity and unrelated parachute deployment from 2013:

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It was no small feat, as Gjerde describes in a post on Facebook. "My vision failed," he says. "I struggled hard against g-force to get my rescue out."

He's lucky to be alive.

Source: Bergensavisen via Reddit

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