Gliding champ cheats death, g-forces in extreme accident

A Norwegian hang gliding champion is recovering after a dizzying mid-air mishap sent him plummeting semi-conscious into a lake.

Aerobatic maven Jon Gjerde was attempting something like a whipstall when his wing folded, sending him into a potentially deadly spiral above Voss during the Ekstremsportveko show late last month.

Fighting off extreme G-forces, the veteran daredevil managed to pull the ripcord on his emergency parachute despite being on the verge of passing out.

Connected to the glider frame, the 'chute opened fine, and luckily, as Bergensavisen reports, there was plenty of support on the ground waiting for Gjerde.

"My vision failed," the 51-year-old wrote on Facebook. "I struggled hard against (the) g-force to get my rescue out."