Heres the pilot’s first hand account, which sums it up best.  Developing the feel for the glider’s airspeed is another very important skill you must develop, not to mention being able to say no go.

On December 11th at around 2pm I launched from crestline. Conditions were beautiful and wind speed was around a constant 10mph with your typical gusts. Nothing unusual during preflight or takeoff. There were other pilots(both PG and HG) in the air, but none flying crestline proper. There were a few over on billboard side and some above Marshall.

Anyways, I was making some passes back and forth in front of launch, and then after a while, I started to set up an approach for a top landing. I’ve done this maneuver at this particular site maybe 50 or so times, just so you can gauge experience. I made a few different approaches, utilizing the ‘flapping’ technique, also known as a butterfly landing. Each time I was either too high, or pushed out after being too far forward to land. Well, after a few attempts, I just got impatient and aggressive with my toggle inputs, and on approach I stalled my wing between 10-15 feet off the deck. My wing stalled behind me and threw me down on my back so hard that I bounced.

My parents and grandmother were both present and witnessed the whole thing. My mom was an EMT, so within minutes they had my neck supported and an ambulance on the way. The fire department got my wing down from the trees, and I was shipped off to Loma Linda medical center. I have two compression fractures in my back, and had surgery to insert supportive hardware. I’m all good now, and in a few months I’ll be fully recovered.