Remembering Climber and Base Jumper Dean Potter

“He is really the torch bearer in this modern era of this rebellious heart of climbing and he will be deeply missed.”

Dean Potter broke not just climbing records but the laws of gravity in his career as a rock climber and as a BASE jumper. He free-solo climbed a small part of El Capitan in Yosemite and his role in pioneering climbing in Yosemite is chronicled in the film Valley Uprising by Boulder film maker Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer, of Sender Films.

Potter was more recently known as a pioneering BASE jumper, using a parachute or a wingsuit to jump from a cliff. Potter and his BASE jumping partner were killed on May 16, 2015, while attempting a wingsuit flight from Taft Point above Yosemite Valley.

We spoke with Boulder film maker Nick Rosen.

Rosen and Mortimer’s documentary Valley Uprising  featured some of Potter’s jumps.