These shocking images show a 24-year-old BASE jumper in Germany dangling off the side of a cliff after he was caught up in a gust of wind and slammed into the cliff face in the German Alps.

The incident took place on Rotenfels Mountain, which is located in the municipality of Traisen, in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in south-western Germany, on Saturday, 26th February.

The BASE jumper was eventually rescued by firefighters, with the local German police saying in a statement obtained by Newsflash that he was unharmed.

The Bad Kreuznach police department from the nearby town of Bad Kreuznach said: “On Saturday, February 26, 2022, at around 12:45 p.m., several emergency calls were received that a paraglider would be hanging in the rock face on the Rotenfels below the bastion.”

They added that he had been caught up in a gust of wind that slammed him against the cliff face. They said: “On site it turned out that a 24-year-old man from Hesse had jumped off the bastion. After the parachute opened directly, the man was caught by a gust of wind and pressed against the rock face.”

They also said that the man, who has not been named but who is reportedly 24 years old, managed to cling on for dear life until he was rescued. They said: “The man was able to hold on there until the mountain rescue team arrived. This secured the man until he was rescued by the Hessian police helicopter. The man was unharmed in the action.”

The DRK mountain rescue service also participated in the rescue and manager Thomas Meffert, 55, is quoted in German media as saying: “When we got to the site, it was said: ‘Thomas, you have to get down there very quickly. The man is only hanging on the ropes of the paraglider.’”

The father of two, who has reportedly been with rescue service for 12 years, added: “The Rotenfels is very brittle, parts of it crumbled away again and again. The winds were extreme.”

He also said: “It was like in the movies: the paraglider was just hanging on the ledge. The young man kept slipping his fingers.”

Meffert added: “When I got to him, I secured him, reassured him and explained what I’m doing now. The man was very cooperative, thanked me 1,000 times, apologised. Everything went very smoothly.”