SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- A Massachusetts rock climber is savoring life this week after narrowly losing it on a steep ledge in the White Mountains over the weekend.

Christopher Townsend, 27, of Somerville, Mass., said one slipup nearly cost him his life -- but he was lucky to be wearing the right gear when he slipped and bashed his head on a rock, momentarily slipping into unconsciousness.

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Townsend, 27, narrowly survived the fall on Cathedral Ledge while on a climb with the Harvard Mountaineering Club Sunday.

An experienced rock climber, Townsend was alive and talking about the horrible fall Monday, thanks to his climbing partner and safety gear, including the now cracked helmet he wore at the time of his fall.

"I was wearing a helmet, which was critical. Helmets are good, that's why I always wear them," Townsend said. "People there said the helmet probably saved my life."

Climbing the popular ledge in New Hampshire, Townsend had reached the first stage, 40 to 50 feet up. His climbing partner was still on the ground, controlling his safety rope, when Townsend fell.

Townsend careened down from the top until his safety rope finally snagged, arresting the fall, but he smashed his head against the rock in the process. Halfway down, Townsend was left hanging in mid-air, unconscious.

"I was unconscious for about two minutes. It was a serious fall, one of the worst I have seen this year." - Christopher Townsend

"It tripped me in a way that I essentially fell backwards, head over heels such that my body inverted so that it torqued my head into the wall, and that's how I fell and I was there dangling and dazed," Townsend said.

Holding on to the safety rope, his partner kept him from free-falling to the ground.

"I was unconscious for about two minutes. It was a serious fall, one of the worst I have seen this year. I imagine it was a freak accident," Townsend said.

Townsend suffered no broken bones, just a gash on his head, a trip to the hospital, and a story that will surely be included in next year's edition of the worst accidents in North American Mountaineering.