"It breaks my heart to have lost yet another - the Silver Back of the tribe no less - to the beautiful but devastating game of wing suit proximity flying..." – Leo Houlding. The climbing and BASE jumping communities are mourning the loss of their Dark Wizard this week. Dean Potter (43) and his friend Graham Hunt (29) died in a BASE jumping accident, after leaping from a 7,500 ft promontory called Taft Point in Yosemite. Leo Houlding, Hazel Findlay, Tom Randall and others pay tribute.
"My vision turns black and white except for the searing red line. Sounds fade. I feel faint, face flushed with heat. My muscles tense, but I hold calmness in my center and loosen my arms from the shoulders to my fingertips. The moment sickens me, and my mind tries to stop it, but I command myself to walk." – Dean Potter on his thought process while highlining.
Potter's first memory was a dream of falling, then flying. Strange beings appearing next to him, gesturing the correct body position for human flight. Another cherished childhood memory was falling from the top of his house onto a patio, then Bedouin woman encircling him and chanting to cast away evil spirits. The climber said his fear of heights vanished that day.
The 6'5" 'Dark Wizard' had been an intense, brooding fixture on the Yosemite scene for twenty years, over which time he'd become world-legendary for pioneering his hybrid dark 'arts': solo climbing, highlining and wingsuit flying. He was one of the world's most experienced BASE jumpers.
Potter first made headlines back in the late 90s for making fast, ground-breaking link-ups of classic Yosemite routes. He only used a rope and gear for the cruxes. Like: the Nose and the NW Regular Route on Half Dome in a day. He called this technique the 'art of no rules', and set the stage for climbers like Alex Honnold to explore further possibilities.
“At the time it was totally new, it really opened up potential on the big walls, and in the alpine world, to be able to move incredibly fast, outrun storms, and still have the safety of a tiny little bit of gear.” – Dean Potter on 'the art of no rules'.
In the 2000s Dean became a Youtube sensation for taking the simple slackline and elevating it into something extraordinary: 'highlining' across jaw-dropping landscapes like Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite and the Three Gossips in Arches National Park, often with no protection. He also broke the speed record for the Nose twice.
Potter made the 'best free-solos of his life' on a three-week Patagonia trip in 2002: Fitzroy, Super Canaletta; Cerro Torre's Compressor Route; and the first ascent, all free-solo, of a new route on Fitzroy. He called the line Californian Roulette. When descending it, rockfall nearly killed him. That was when he began seriously considering BASE jumping off mountains instead.
The missing puzzle piece: BASE jumping combined perfectly with his other 'arts'. Dean termed soloing with a small parachute in case of a fall 'Free BASE', and highlining with one 'BASEline', thereby inventing sports so dangerous that he was pretty much the only one practicing them.
In 2009 he set a record for the longest BASE jump. After leaping from the Eiger North Face he stayed in flight for 2 minutes and 50 seconds.
Potter felt so comfortable BASE jumping that he began taking his four-legged best friend out with him. A video of Whisper wearing goggles, and looking at ease strapped to his back high in the sky, went viral. No stranger to high places, Whisper had already summited many of the highest peaks in the Alps roped between Dean and girlfriend Jen.
BASE jumping with a dog was controversial of course (BASE jumping is illegal in Yosemite anyway); as was his infamous climb of Delicate Arch, after which Patagonia dropped him as an ambassador. But visionaries can't be expected to follow comfortable mainstream ideals about right and wrong.
in 2013, following several wingsuit deaths, Dean tried to rationalise an activity that had become a huge part of his life by focussing on ways to 'eliminate human error and gear malfunctions' to make the sport safer.
We don't know what went wrong up there last weekend. Friends called Search and Rescue when the pair didn't return from their jump on Saturday night. Rescuers said neither had deployed their parachutes.
Leo Houlding pays tribute:
I met Dean on my first trip to Yosemite when we were both unknown dirtbags, hungry to make our impact on the hallowed valley walls. His powerful presence and visionary attitude were striking and we immediately became friends.
Over the following decade we shared many extremely intense experiences together. On the boulders, in the meadow, on the high lines and of course on and off the walls. I learnt a great deal from him about how to move quickly and efficiently on big routes, how to charge the valley exits evading the ranger danger and how to really get the very best performance out of yourself.
He committed his whole life to the pursuit of what he called his three arts: free soloing, Highlining and BASE jumping, and devoted himself to them with the discipline of a Samurai. We called him the Dark Wizard.
The same energy that gave him the power and vision to become the legend that will be remembered came with a forceful, uncompromising edge. He was a warrior always searching for the next battle, never quite at peace in between. A character trait that led to more than a little controversy over the years.
A few years ago after a particularly intense season as partners we had a big fall out. It wasn’t until our close mutual friend Stanley died under tragically similar circumstances last year that we were able to let go of petty squabbles and make up remembering that we had shared much over many years and were old friends with a deep respect for one another.
With Dean’s death the era of the Yosemite Stone Monkeys is over. It breaks my heart to have lost yet another, the Silver Back of the tribe no less to the beautiful but devastating game of wing suit proximity flying. It has given us so much joy but yet greater pain still.
I wish I believed in the after life, that we will once again run like lost boys around Never Never Land, teasing Captain Hook and never growing up. But I don’t. They are gone and life goes on. Without them. I feel happy to have enjoyed such high times but so sad that we won’t enjoy anymore.
Goodbye Deano, you were already a legend and have left a deep impression in the sacred stone of Yosemite and in the hearts and minds of a great many. (PS If I’m wrong about the death thing - Big Up to Stanley, psyched to continue charging with you monkeys in five or six decades ;-)
Tom Randall:
Dean was the first international 'superstar' I remember as a teenager, growing up in climbing. He was just so incredibly exciting to watch. Everything he did seemed to be inspiring. I think if that comes across on screen then the person must be an even bigger personality in real life. I think we all know that this is a huge loss in every sense. His influence will remain in the consciousness of thousands of climbers for many years to come.
Dean was kind of an enigma, though. I've been to Yosemite 14 times over about as many years and never met him. He was like a deer in the woods, always wandering off just when you thought you might share a word with him. He was a very private guy really. Which always seemed at odds with his huge media profile. But I think perhaps that's the way he balanced things.
Hazel Findlay:
I was always struck by how massive Dean was, in height and in character. One of the things I love most about the climbing community is all the characters that are larger than life. Dean had such a unique imagination for bold and adventurous feats in climbing, highlining and BASE jumping. He'll remain a huge inspiration for a long time.
Robbie Phillips:
Dean Potter lived his life for freedom, exploration and imagination. He never stopped visualising the possibilities of the impossible. He will forever inspire us to see beyond the cold stone walls of limitation and dare to imagine that anything in life is possible.
Pete Whittaker:
In crack climbing and 24 hour link up challenges Dean was a very talented person, and I've certainly taken inspiration from his achievements. Because of the breadth of activities he covered - climbing, BASE, highlining - so many people will have taken inspiration from what he did. It's a sad loss.
Nick Bullock:
Although I never met Dean Potter, I, like others attempting to live an alternative, fulfilling and creative lifestyle, feel a sense of great loss. He appeared to be a deeply thoughtful and caring person and the world needs more people of his ilk.
WATCH: Dean Potter making the first FreeBASE ascent of Deep Blue Sea (5.12+) on the north face of The Eiger, Part 1:
VIDEO
WATCH: Dean Potter making the first FreeBASE ascent of Deep Blue Sea (5.12+) on the north face of The Eiger, Part 2:
VIDEO
WATCH: Dean Potter BASE jumping with his dog:
VIDEO
WATCH: Dean Potter highlining across Yosemite Falls:
VIDEO
« Back