ELDORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A rock climber broke both legs after he was struck by a rock that slipped from his partner's hands above him after he fell.

Boulder County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Marci Linton said the man with the broken legs was airlifted to St. Anthony Central Hospital following the accident Sunday afternoon. He was identified as 25-year-old Chris Klinga. His climbing partner was 38-year-old Chris Lee. Both men are from Boulder and were rock climbing at Eldorado Canyon State Park, a popular rock climbing area, south of Boulder.

Lee was leading the climb and Klinga was below him, on belay. At one point, Lee reached up to continue climbing when a large piece of the rock wall broke loose into his hands.

The rock was approximately 3 feet by 3 feet and when Lee fell, he grasped the rock between his hands and it hit him in the abdomen area, Linton said. The rock continued to fall and hit Klinga in his legs, breaking both of them.

Klinga had used the rope and brake system to stop Lee's fall, so Lee was not seriously hurt. Lee was able to lower himself down to Klinga and eventually hiked out of the climbing area to get help.

Klinga was on a ledge below the yellow spur-climbing trail of the Red Garden Wall and could not hike down. It took rescuers five hours to get him off the ledge and down to the road.

"The evacuation included a 150-foot vertical evacuation, and a 300-foot scree evacuation," Linton said.

Lee was taken to Boulder Community Hospital.

Both climbers had proper equipment including helmets and were experienced climbers.