A MOTORCYCLIST catapulted over a wall at the top of a ravine has survived after his 50ft fall was broken by foliage.
It is believed the man, from Chester, broke both legs in the collision with two cars near Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, Gwynedd on Wednesday afternoon.
Rescue teams quickly reached the man, who is in his 40s, but it took 90 minutes for paramedics to stabilise the man and winch him to safety before he was airlifted by the North Wales Air Ambulance to Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital, Bangor.
The crash happened on the narrow A5, close to the Silver Fountain Inn a mile south of Betws-y-Coed, North Wales.
The alarm was raised at about 4pm, and around 12 firefighters from Betws y Coed and Llanrwst used lines and a specialist stretcher taking one and a half hours to carry out the rescue.
Rescuers said he was lucky to have survived after being catapulted such a distance.
A North Wales Police spokesman said the male rider, from Chester, ended up in a gully.
“The man suffered serious injuries and there were some problems in recovering him from the gully,” the spokesman said.
A motorist said: “The man was heading towards Pentrefoelas and it seems he collided with a car, a Vauxhall Cavalier, came off the bike and hit the windscreen of the second car, went over a wall and ended up down the gully.”
A North Wales Fire Service spokesman said the firefighters used ropes to get into the gully and lift the casualty back onto the roadway.
Witnesses should contact police on 0845 607 1002.
