SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- One slip can cost a rock climber his life -- an experience to which Christopher Townsend says he came a little too close.

Townsend, 27, of Somerville, Mass., narrowly survived a fall on New Hampshire's White Mountains over the weekend.

An experienced rock climber, Townsend is alive to talk about a horrible fall, 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 New Hampshire's popular Cathedral Ledge, Townsend had reached the first stage of a climb, about 40 to 50 feet up. His climbing partner was still on the ground, controlling his safety rope.

That was when Townsend fell, tumbling until the safety rope finally snapped tight and broke the fall. But then, Townsend smashed his head against the rock. And he was left hanging in midair.

The fall "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 onto 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 and a story that will surely be included in next year's edition of the worst accidents in North American Mountaineering.