Dean Potter dies in yosemite

I recall reading an article on DP free soloing something huge in Yosemite many years ago. He was waltzing up El Cap or Half Dome or something with just a chalk bag. Like 2k' off the deck with the breeze blowing through his hair. It seemed nuts at the time, but he was fearless and every move was within his considerable ability.

RIP

a young dean potter doing a solo (free and aid) of the nose ….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvmzhyAygdE

and "freebase" (climbing with only a parachute for protection)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqEkFBNiP3c

he was truly one of the elite

when one pushes the limits … theres always the possibility of something going wrong

the word that peers sometime used to describe him in the best way was …" BATSHIT CRAZY!!!"

RIP

Graham Hunt too. RIP both.

"Life is a terminal illness and we have no excuse to not live each moment like it's our last."

Tiffany Reed

^^^

Unless you'd like another not-quite-so-harrowing moment tomorrow.

Death wish granted. At least now his poor dog won't be subjected to his risky attention seeking behavior.

It sounds like they died doing something like this, and maybe missed a gap that they needed to get through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWfph3iNC-ka

Not a bad way to go.

Very sad to learn of this.

For a long time I hoped/thought that Potter would be one of the very few, like Reinhold Messner, who repeatedly tempted fate and got away with it because of his supreme skill and confidence, and a supernatural sense of judgment.

I also felt this way about John Bachar. And Alex Lowe.

May all the bold mountaineers RIP.

Sad, but a good example of ……

I don't agree, Bob. Somebody with Dean's love for extreme climbing, combined with overconfidence, would not have made it out of their teens. Dean was driven by a love for life, not a wish for death, and he had superb judgement and skill. If you measure a life by it's content rather than by the clock, Dean came safely through several millennia of remarkable exploits.

While people can sit and criticize him for having a death wish or write off his life as a lesson in overconfidence, I believe he ultimately pisses people off simply because he didn't need permission from anyone to take an unconventional and uncompromising path. Dean Potter boldly broke the mold and knew exactly what he was getting himself into while doing it.

He joins a long list of people that were willing to trade their lives to show us some new facet of human passion and possibility and for that he will always be an inspiration to me.

As far as we know, we only get one life. We get to chose how to spend our limited time. So long as he isn't hurting others, I can't really criticize how he spent his life. And it looks like he did a lot of pretty cool stuff that I'll not pull off in my lifetime.

I am with Ralph, Ben and Craig on this.
He knew the risks, he lived a full life .

I have never understood the criticism of people like Potter. He wasn't hurting anyone that I can tell. He experienced things in this life most will only dream about and in the end that is amazing. Being cautious only leads to elderly regret for most. I doubt I'll climb free solo, but I appreciate the calculated recklessness by which his life was marked. I hope I can find more of it in my own life.

That's sad but I'm glad Whisper wasn't with him on this one. I never liked him taking the dog on jumps.

LYOL.

He commissioned a shelter of his design for patagonia big walls he would carry in a daypack.

Idea was to have something for a bivy on a ledge that needed just an overhead anchor and then he could toss gear in the corners
for stake it out and have a windless, dry place to sit/sleep.

Agree with John S. on this—

"Death wish granted. At least now his poor dog won't be subjected to his risky attention seeking behavior. Nor will our national treasures such as Delicate Arch be damaged by his illegal climbing. RIPieces"

There's a discussion of him here—

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/111467-Dean-Potter-International-Rock-Climber-dead!!

How glorious it is – and also how painful – to be an exception. – Alfred de Musset

Poor judgement on Delicate Arch. Poor judgement taking his dog flying. No argument from me on those points.

Buy do you really think that those mistakes define his life? Is that really all you can see?
If all you see in what he did is "risky attention seeking behavior", I think nobody is going to be able to convince you otherwise by argument.

But what I see is an exhilarating and inspirational embrace of the wonder of life.

"How glorious it is – and also how painful – to be an exception. – Alfred de Musset"

This Musset dude was just plagiarizing Frank Sinatra.

My sympathy to his loved ones.

Maybe this is "too soon", but I think this is an example of taking things too far. He's missed out on a lifetime of interesting experiences.

It's like drinking alcohol. If you drink a couple drinks in an evening it makes you happy, but if you do much more it doesn't make you happier but eventually ruins your life.

But it's his decision. Also affects loved ones.

"He's missed out on a lifetime of interesting experiences."

Seriously? He's already had twenty lifetimes of interesting experiences.

I really don't understand the judgmental people. What do you think life's about? Scoring as many birthdays as you possibly can with the objective of dying at 105, demented and incontinent?

"Also affects loved ones."

Unless you have a commitment to raise a young family, this is nonsense. If somebody truly loves you, they respect your autonomy to live your life the way that you choose.

Again, +1 with Ralph's entire post.