Gal
Trad climber
a semi lucid consciousness
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Thanks for posting that Ryan-pretty incredible.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Very incredible. Thanks.
I wonder if "The Butte" can be paraglided? Wonder if there could be a launch worked out.
Dean is the man.
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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"the metal pier thing" which was discussed in the behind the scenes link I posted, was to clear the initial section of the face which was deemed too low of an angle to clear upon takeoff. The solution was to build a "plank" lower down, hence the fitting phrase, "walk the plank."
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RoryKuykendall
Mountain climber
California
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Thanks for posting the link. That was a pleasure to watch. Dean Potter is brilliant, but I thought the real star of the show was Mount Bute. What an absolutely stunning mountain.
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Finally, heck I've been trying to find that since it aired.
Beautiful Dean.
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Whoa, didn't catch it before, but Dean slips a bit on "wet rock"? at 10:53. Even more incredible is that a bit more than a minute was edited off of Dean's flight.
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QITNL
climber
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Jan 16, 2013 - 09:33pm PT
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My mom just sent me this link, she saw it at NPR:
http://vimeo.com/56298775
Moonwalk - The ultimate full moon shot. Dean Potter walks a highline at Cathedral Peak as the sun sets and the moon rises. Shot from over 1 mile away with a Canon 800mm and 2X by Mikey Schaefer.
10b4me posted it earlier but I don't think anybody noticed. Mom says "Please don't try it." Drats - oh well, at least I got my excuse.
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S.Leeper
Social climber
somewhere that doesnt have anything over 90'
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Jan 16, 2013 - 09:41pm PT
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wow, that was really something special!
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The Wedge
Boulder climber
Santa Rosa & Bishop, CA
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Jan 16, 2013 - 10:37pm PT
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All pretty rad!
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Jan 17, 2013 - 06:15am PT
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Dean is the man. I have asked about him when I meet someone who knows him and they all say that he is super kind.
His type of flying is a little different from the proxy flyers. Dean tries for distance and time. Proxy flyers are into buzzing things on the ground or along a wall.
The problem is that after endless searching on the internet, there just aren't many walls with enough relief to approach his Eiger jump, which was the tallest BASE jump.
In the U.S. we have a few walls with good relief, but nothing like the Eiger. The Eiger is massive, and beneath it is a long slope leading away for miles. Now even higher walls above sea level have been done, but I'm not sure if anyone has broken his Eiger record for longest flight. The one in the NG show is close.
The suit technology is improving rapidly. What was hot sh#t 5 years ago is now second hand.
Regarding the diving board, it was the only way to do this wall. Europe has many jumps that have artificial diving boards to make them possible, and in his case it was totally removed when finished. I heard that the rigging was pretty wild.
Funny that his dog's name is "Whisper." When out checking out sailboats I bet that Whisper was the most common boat name. Definitely not the most common dog name.
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skywalker
climber
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Jan 17, 2013 - 10:10am PT
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Now I know base jumping El Cap is illegal. If he fell would that be illegal? Just sayin'. Badass!
S...
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Bruce Kay
Gym climber
BC
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Jan 17, 2013 - 10:19am PT
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In the U.S. we have a few walls with good relief, but nothing like the Eiger. The Eiger is massive, and beneath it is a long slope leading away for miles. Now even higher walls above sea level have been done, but I'm not sure if anyone has broken his Eiger record for longest flight. The one in the NG show is close.
Just as a matter of interest, the original intent of the Butte Mountain jump was to fly right to tide water. thats about 10 km (?) horizontal for a 9000 foot drop. I don't have a clue as to how feasible such a thing is but I only know this as I know a number of the people involved. Obviously things evolved differently, such as the need for the diving board.
Anyway I thought that original concept was totally out of sight. I think the plan was to land in Chucks front yard or something.
Where do they land in Grindlewald? That must be a similar drop / horizontal ratio.
The Butte jump was about a 6000' drop into "Chucks Meadow" which is actually a swamp right at the base of the mountain, perhaps the equivalent of landing at Alpigen which is half way up the Cog railway. Tide water is another el cap lower than the swamp and a lot of horizontal to get there.
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Al_Smith
climber
San Francisco, CA
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Jan 17, 2013 - 10:51am PT
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Almost completely irrelevant, but for what it's worth, I've met and talked with Dean at length on numerous occasions in the Valley and elsewhere and he's one of the nicest dudes around. (...Even to slightly overweight, mediocre climbers like me!)
"Great visionaries have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" - Einstein
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orangesporanges
Social climber
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Jan 17, 2013 - 12:30pm PT
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^Amazballs adventurer.
And then, I heard of how one of the most super nice guys I have met (a relatively pint-sized Alpinist and collegiate boxing champion from Estes) was provoked enough to near-go the knuckle with him once.
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Jan 27, 2013 - 12:46am PT
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Can't believe I missed this one. I've been waiting to see this since summer of '11 when the crew was in Squamish filming it. I was most excited to see my buddy Jim Martinello climbing Mt. Butte and Damien Kelly too. Way to go boys!
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/videos/the-man-who-can-fly/
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Jan 27, 2013 - 01:04pm PT
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Ya me too! Ryan's link is gone. Too cool tho, saw a clip at reel rock awhile ago for it but have not yet seen the full production.
As to when we will see someone die, answer is you don't. You just hear about it after and cry.
RIP Shayne.
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