Sitka lawmaker breaks his leg paragliding

JUNEAU (AP) — A Sitka lawmaker broke two bones in his right leg after crashing his paraglider in Anchorage on Feb. 19.

Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins returned to Juneau on Feb. 23. He had been recuperating in Anchorage following surgery and attending committee meetings remotely.

He will be on crutches for about six weeks.

Anchorage Rep. Laddie Shaw was out paragliding with Kreiss-Tomkins when the accident occurred at Flattop Mountain.

“We just got together and went for a little hike on Flattop Mountain,” said Shaw, a former Navy SEAL who regularly climbs the mountain and goes paragliding from the top. The peak is at 3,510 feet.

Shaw was on a separate paraglider than Kreiss-Tomkins, 33, who was taking his first flight from the mountain after becoming a certified paraglider pilot in California this winter.

The Sitka legislator got into “a bad spot” when it came time to land, leaving him with few safe options, Shaw told the Anchorage Daily News.

Kreiss-Tomkins said he “just took a more roundabout flight plan and was not where I wanted to be for the landing.” He struck trees in an open field of snow.

He said he’s focused on recuperating. “If I do it again, I’ll get back to basics and just drill the fundamentals. It can and should be done safely, and so I don’t want to overreact. But I just need to figure out my mobility situation and take it one day at a time,” he said.