State Sen. Dan Rutherford, who broke his jaw during a vacation in Colorado last weekend, blamed the mishap on the high altitude, he said in an email exchange Wednesday.

Rutherford, R-Chenoa, is recovering in a Denver hospital and will miss the start of the 2008 legislative session, which began Wednesday and continues Thursday.

According to his email message, Rutherford, 52, was in Denver on business for a day and a half. While there, he said he felt shortness of breath. He attributed it to the city's high altitude.

The symptoms only worsened when he went to Vail on Saturday.

After an early dinner, he said he felt dizzy while walking with friends and blacked out.

"Went straight forward, chin first, into the sidewalk and fractured both jaws Saturday night," Rutherford wrote.

Altitude sickness generally is caused by exposure to low air pressure at high altitudes, usually over 8,000 feet above sea level. Vail is at about 8,200 feet above sea level.

Because of a major snow storm that closed roads to Denver, Rutherford spent Saturday night in a Vail hospital. He was transferred to Denver on Sunday and underwent surgery, which resulted in his jaw being wired shut.

He said his jaw will be wired shut for a "couple of weeks." Following that, there will be physical therapy.

"After extensive tests, shortness of breath and blackening out was attributed to altitude sickness," Rutherford noted.

Rutherford, a state lawmaker since 1992, said he will return to Illinois in a couple of days and work from home and his district office in Pontiac with "modified public appearances."

He said he is "fully functional, just no speaking engagements for a while."

Rutherford made an unsuccessful bid for Illinois Secretary of State in 2006. He currently is overseeing Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in Illinois.

Rutherford's 53rd Senate District encompasses a large swath of north-central Illinois, running from the Indiana border on the east to the Illinois River on the west.