SPARTA, Mich. -- A 23-year-old Michigan man credits God for allowing him to survive an about 100-foot fall while hiking with a friend in Colorado, and recalls thinking he would die as his body tumbled.

Derek Anderson, of Sparta, was hiking Wednesday in Boulder County when he fell. He said he waited 45 minutes for his hiking partner to reach a phone -- and about four more hours for rescuers to reach him.

"God gave me peace. I knew my body was somewhat broken, and I was still on a slant and didn't know if I'd slide further," Anderson told The Grand Rapids Press on Friday from his hospital bed at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver.

Anderson, who is earning a master's degree in pastoral studies, said: "I should be dead. If I had slid another 3 feet, I'd have fallen to boulders below me. So I honor God who continues to give me breath so I can praise him."

Anderson was en route to Utah for a mission trip building churches and had stopped to visit Joe Harbison, his roommate at Bob Jones University, a Christian college and seminary in Greenville, S.C.

The newspaper said the pair faced rainy trail conditions as they climbed the south face of a hill without helmets or climbing gear. They had "passed the hard stuff and were almost to the top," when Anderson grabbed for a rock.

"No sooner had I pulled on it when it pulled out, and I started falling," Anderson said.

His father, Roger Anderson, said both his son's shoulders and elbows were separated and the leg bones just above the heel were shattered. Surgery on his feet was planned.