We’re shocked and saddened to report that extreme sports legend Dean Potter is one of two BASE jumpers found dead in California’s Yosemite National Park. The athletes were attempting a 3,500-foot wingsuit descent from Taft Point, a high overhang above the Yosemite Valley.
Potter, 43, and Graham Hunt, 29, were reported missing late Saturday by friends, said park spokesman Scott Gediman. Park authorities found the two men’s bodies around noon Sunday during a helicopter search, Gediman added.
It is believed that the pair jumped together, but park authorities found their bodies at different points.
Dean Potter redefined climbing with ropeless/tetherless solo ascents. He also set records for wingsuit flights and highline walks.
He said he was compelled to such feats by a need to overcome an early fear of falling to his death.
“When I was a little boy, my first memory was a flying dream. In my dream, I flew – and I also fell,” he said last year in a video interview with Outside Online. “I always wondered as I got older if it was some premonition of falling to my death.”
Our thoughts go out to Potter and Hunt’s family and friends.
