By TOM SCHULTZ and ROB GRANT

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITERS

A local paraglider spun out of control in mid-flight Saturday and slammed into a rocky mountainside in Los Padres National Forest.

Suffering facial cuts and back injuries, the glider pilot was trapped on the chaparral-covered perch for more than an hour and a half until rescuers using a helicopter were able to pluck him from the spot and fly him to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. He was listed in fair condition and was expected to remain there overnight, hospital administrators said.

The man's name was not officially released, but friends said he is Rolf Schoyen, a Goleta resident in his late 20s. They said he is an experienced glider whom they expect will return to the sport after his injuries heal.

Schoyen crashed shortly before 2 p.m. near Gibraltar Road and south of East Camino Cielo near a popular paragliding launch spot called "The Eliminator" or "Thermal Factory" by other fliers there Saturday.

"The front of the paraglider collapsed," said Joe Slaughter, an onlooker who said he used to participate in the sport.

Slaughter said Schoyen's red and yellow parachute-like craft started to spin and Schoyen almost recovered, "but he couldn't get it back."

Schoyen, described by authorities as a diabetic, reportedly had an insulin pump with him in addition to water and a two-way radio. He was able to communicate with other enthusiasts in the area, said another pilot who identified himself only as Tony.

"He would respond spottily at times" during the rescue, Tony said. "Things like this happen."

Another experienced flier said a lack of altitude likely made it impossible for Schoyen to recover from his uncontrolled spin, even though he knew proper recovery techniques.

Paragliding instructor Tom Truax, an well-known enthusiast who hiked to the crash site to assist in the rescue, said he has known Schoyen for at least three years. He said the injured pilot completed what amounted to a roughly 15 mile, round-trip flight before crashing about a mile from his launch site.

"He's a fairly experienced cross-country type pilot," Truax said.

Another friend said Schoyen recently returned from a national paragliding competition in Aspen, Colo., where he placed well, and that a new harness he bought about a month ago likely helped support his body in the crash. The accident happened just hours before his birthday, which is today, the acquaintance said.

Paragliding differs from parasailing, a similar sport, in that paragliders launch from cliffs or hillsides while parasailers are pulled by boats.

In Schoyen's rescue, crews using a helicopter supplied by the Ventura County Fire Department lifted him to safety in a sling. Ventura County was called in because that department had the best equipment to retrieve the flier, said Joe Guzzardi of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Officials from the Santa Barbara County Fire and Sheriff's departments, the Montecito Fire Department and American Medical Response, a private ambulance company, also responded.

It was not the only accident of the day at the site.

During the rescue operation, a man rappelling down the same mountainside about a quarter mile above the downed paraglider fell 20 or 30 feet, Guzzardi said.

He said the rappeller was treated for minor injuries and taken to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital.

"It was strictly a coincidence that this occurred in the same area," Guzzardi said.