American climber and BASE jumper
Dean Spaulding Potter
(April 14, 1972 ? May 16, 2015) was an American
free climber
, alpinist,
BASE jumper
, and
highliner
.
[2]
He completed many hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and
enchainments
in
Yosemite National Park
and
Patagonia
. He won the
Laureus World
Action Sportsperson of the Year
in 2003.
[3]
In 2015, he died in a
wingsuit flying
accident in Yosemite National Park.
[4]
Early life
[
edit
]
Dean Potter was born in 1972
[5]
[1]
to an Army officer in a military hospital at
Fort Leavenworth
, Kansas
[6]
and grew up in
New Hampshire
. He taught himself to climb when he was in 10th grade in southern New Hampshire. He attended the
University of New Hampshire
, where he rowed varsity crew. Potter quit college and pursued his passion for climbing.
[7]
Climbing career
[
edit
]
Free solo
[
edit
]
Potter climbed many new routes and completed many solo ascents in Yosemite and Patagonia. He
free-solo climbed
a small part of
El Capitan
in Yosemite, where he pioneered a route he called
Easy Rider
by climbing down the slabby upper pitches of the route Lurking Fear (hardest moves rated
grade 5.10a
) and then traversed Thanksgiving Ledge to complete the last six pitches and six hundred feet of the route Free Rider (hardest pitch 5.11d, two pitches of 5.10d, 5.10b, 5.10a and 5.7). This was the first major section of El Capitan to be free soloed, but his path avoided the significantly more challenging climbing on what is the easiest way up El Capitan below (several 5.12 pitches, with difficulty up to 5.12d on Free Rider).
[8]
[9]
Big wall
[
edit
]
In July 2006, Potter climbed
The Reticent Wall
, one of the hardest routes on
El Capitan
in
Yosemite Valley
, in 34 hours and 57 minutes with
Ammon McNeely
and Ivo Ninov, slashing five days off the existing time.
[10]
Potter and Sean Leary set a new speed record for climbing up
The Nose
of El Capitan in November 2010. They ran up the 31-pitch route in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 45 seconds. This was twenty seconds quicker than the existing record, set the previous October by
Yuji Hirayama
and
Hans Florine
. Potter's record was later surpassed by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds followed by
Alex Honnold
and
Tommy Caldwell
, who completed
The Nose
route in 1 hour 58 minutes in June 2018.
[11]
Delicate Arch climb
[
edit
]
Controversy surrounded Potter after his 2006 climb of
Delicate Arch
in
Arches National Park
, for which he lost his sponsorship from the
Patagonia
clothing company. "There wasn't any legal reason for me not to climb it," Potter said of Delicate Arch, despite well-established tradition forbidding climbing named features in the park. This incident resulted in a blanket ban on the activity within
Arches National Park
. Potter had previously created conflict with Park authorities by
slacklining
between the Three Gossips.
[12]
[
failed verification
]
"I didn't see any moral reason not to climb it. I didn't hurt it,"
[13]
he said, though rope grooves in the soft sandstone were later found, possibly created or enhanced by the professional photographers Potter brought along to publicize the climb.
[12]
Potter said he would not climb
Totem Pole
, the spire in
Monument Valley
that
Navajo
imbue with religious significance. Delicate Arch, despite its prominence on
Utah license plates
, did not have the stature of the sacred Arizona tower, he said: "I didn't see a reason why it's wrong, why we shouldn't mesh with nature."
[13]
An account said: "At first Potter's handler at Patagonia spread the word of his climb by calling the
Salt Lake Tribune
. Public outrage was immediate, though, especially in Utah, where many see Delicate Arch as a symbol for the state's wild beauty."
[12]
Potter's Delicate Arch climb was memorialized in hip hop artist Kris "Odub" Hampton's song "Not All Roses," which chronicles the controversy surrounding the climb. Odub's later "Cease and Desist" responds to the cease-and-desist order that Potter's attorney sent the artist in response to "Not All Roses."
[14]
Highlining, BASE jumping, and FreeBASEing
[
edit
]
Potter was also known for highlining and
BASE jumping
. He was introduced to
slacklining
by Charles Victor Tucker III, known as "Chongo", one of the first three people to highline across
Lost Arrow Spire
.
[15]
Potter completed a variety of highline-crossings without the benefit of a safety lanyard, backup line, or BASE jumping
parachute
. Some included lines suspended as much as 3,000 feet (910 m) above the ground in
Yosemite National Park
.
On August 6, 2008, he completed the first "FreeBASE" ascent of
Deep Blue Sea
on the north face of the
Eiger
.
[16]
Potter invented freebasing, a combination of
free solo climbing
without the assistance of ropes?but with a BASE parachute rig attached on the climber's back. In the event of a fall, a climber can revert into a base jump and survive.
[17]
In 2014, he released
When Dogs Fly
, a film charting the adventures of his
hearing dog
, Whisper.
[18]
The film went
viral
but was criticised by
animal rights
campaigners.
[19]
Death
[
edit
]
On May 16, 2015, Potter and Graham Hunt
died attempting a proximity wingsuit flight
from
Taft Point
above
Yosemite Valley
.
[20]
[4]
The route they were attempting, which they had flown before, required them to clear a small notch in a rocky ridge line. Hunt hit a side wall during the flight while Potter cleared the notch before crashing. Both died on impact.
[21]
Neither of them had deployed their parachutes.
[22]
[23]
[24]
Potter's and Graham's deaths brought the total number of BASE jumping death in
U.S. national parks
in 2015 to five.
[25]
Notable ascents
[
edit
]
- 2002
Supercanaleta
, Cerro Fitz Roy,
Patagonia
. First solo of route.
[26]
- 2003
Concepcion
5.13+ (67m), Day Canyon,
Moab
,
Utah
. First ascent.
[27]
- 2006
Heaven
(5.12d/13a) Glacier Point,
Yosemite Valley
. First free solo ascent.
[28]
- 2006
Southern Belle
(V 5.12d R/X),
Half Dome
, Yosemite Valley. Second ascent with Leo Houlding.
[29]
- 2008
Deep Blue Sea
(5.12+),
Eiger
,
Bernese Alps
,
Switzerland
. First FreeBASE ascent of the Eiger.
[30]
- 2010
The Nose
,
El Capitan
, Yosemite. Fastest ascent at the time (2:36:45), record later broken by
Alex Honnold
and
Hans Florine
.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Dean Potter, Graham Hunt Killed in BASE Jump"
.
Climbing.com
. May 17, 2015
. Retrieved
October 2,
2015
.
- ^
"Real Water Productions: Moonwalk"
. Vimeo. July 12, 2012
. Retrieved
January 4,
2014
.
- ^
"PAST WINNERS"
.
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
.
- ^
a
b
Kaplan, Sarah (May 18, 2015).
"Dean Potter, extreme climber, dies in Yosemite base jumping accident"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
May 20,
2015
.
- ^
Dean Potter
Archived
April 11, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine
on
outdoorsportsteam.com
- ^
"Dean Potter: What I've Learned"
.
rockandice.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 4, 2018
. Retrieved
May 18,
2015
.
- ^
Arnold, Katie (2007).
"The Man Who Thinks He Can Fly"
. ESPN
. Retrieved
September 27,
2013
.
- ^
Roy, Adam (February 10, 2012).
"The First (almost) Free Solo of El Cap"
.
Outside Magazine Blog
. Retrieved
April 18,
2013
.
- ^
Bisharat, Andrew (May 18, 2015).
"How Dean Potter Reinvented Climbing, Jumping, Flying"
.
National Geographic News
. Archived from
the original
on May 20, 2015
. Retrieved
May 18,
2015
.
- ^
McDonald, Dougald (July 26, 2006).
"Reticent Wall in a Single Push"
.
Climbing Magazine
. Skram Media LLC
. Retrieved
February 15,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"The Nose, new record on El Capitan by Leary and Potter"
.
Planet Mountain
. November 8, 2010
. Retrieved
May 18,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Neville, Tim (June 2006).
"How Delicate Was Dean?"
.
Outside Online
. Mariah Media Inc
. Retrieved
February 15,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Thuermer, Angus M.
"Climber Potter, Patagonia agree to split the synchilla"
. Jackson Hole News & Guide. Archived from
the original
on July 13, 2011
. Retrieved
February 15,
2011
.
- ^
Levine, Whitney (April 23, 2007).
"Not All Roses: Climbing Rapper in Hot Water over Delicate Arch Parody"
. Climbing Magazine.
- ^
Janice Ahn, Brian Murphy, Ritesh Batra, Daniel Patterson, Keith Davis (December 18, 2008).
Chongo
(Short film). Cisco. Archived from
the original
on July 23, 2011
. Retrieved
February 15,
2011
.
- ^
Thomasma, Melissa (August 13, 2008).
"
"FreeBASE": Dean Potter on the Eiger Nordwand"
.
Alpinist
.
ISSN
1540-725X
. Retrieved
August 30,
2017
.
- ^
Bisharat, Andrew (May 18, 2015).
"How Dean Potter Reinvented Climbing, Jumping, Flying"
.
National Geographic
. Archived from
the original
on May 20, 2015.
- ^
Dean and Whisper: Climbing, Base Jumping Service Dog
- ^
"US daredevil Dean Potter dies during flying stunt"
.
BBC News
. May 18, 2015
. Retrieved
May 18,
2015
.
- ^
Friends Remember Graham Hunt and Dean Potter
on
alpinist.com
- ^
Lucas, James (May 19, 2015).
"Dean Potter and I Recovered Dead BASE Jumpers"
.
thedailybeast.com
. The Daily Beast Company LLC
. Retrieved
May 19,
2015
.
- ^
Branch, John (May 17, 2015).
"Dean Potter, Extreme Climber, Dies in BASE-Jumping Accident at Yosemite"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 18,
2015
.
- ^
Schaffer, Grayson.
"Dean Potter Killed in BASE Jumping Accident"
.
Outside Magazine
. Retrieved
May 17,
2015
.
- ^
Bisharat, Andrew (May 17, 2015).
"Pioneering Climber Dean Potter Killed in BASE Jumping Accident"
. National Geographic. Archived from
the original
on May 18, 2015
. Retrieved
May 21,
2015
.
- ^
"Dean Potter's GoPro camera captured deadly Yosemite cliff jump"
.
San Jose Mercury News
. May 20, 2015
. Retrieved
June 30,
2015
.
- ^
MacDonald, Dougald (January 8, 2009).
"Haley Solos Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta"
.
Climbing Magazine News
. Skram Media. Archived from
the original
on January 18, 2009
. Retrieved
May 27,
2009
.
- ^
Pegg, Dave (June 24, 2003).
"Immaculate Concepcion"
.
Climbing Magazine News
. Skram Media. Archived from
the original
on August 27, 2009
. Retrieved
May 27,
2009
.
- ^
Hansen, Holly (September 11, 2006).
"Potter in Free Solo Heaven"
.
Climbing Magazine News
. Skram Media
. Retrieved
May 27,
2009
.
- ^
MacDonald, Dougald (November 10, 2006).
"Scary Half Dome Route Gets Second Free Ascent"
.
Climbing Magazine News
. Skram Media
. Retrieved
May 27,
2009
.
- ^
Thomasma, Melissa (August 13, 2008).
"
"FreeBASE": Dean Potter on the Eiger Nordwand"
.
Alpinist
. Alpinist LLC
. Retrieved
February 15,
2011
.
External links
[
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]
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