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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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Feb 13, 2012 - 09:52pm PT
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I dug it. The ramp idea is not new at all. There are lots of them in place at base sites in Europe. They didn't leave this one.
I gotta meet Dean in person some day. I have emailed back and forth with him and he seems like a pretty down to earth guy.
He fer sure isn't cashing in. He is living the life, and if he can get National Geo to pay for a helicopter, great.
The mountain will be no worse for wear. As for the base jump itself, the jumper comes and goes in a few minutes. Even El Cap is like that, but for some odd reason, the United States has made it a mission to put a rule on everything. The biggest rule is that you do not have permission to risk your own life.
If climbing had started ten years ago in the valley, it would have been banned in 1 year.
Still the BASE jumpers come and go, talking of Michaelangelo..
Climbers have pounded and drilled nigh every damn flake on El Cap by now.
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enzolino
climber
Galgenen, Switzerland
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Feb 14, 2012 - 02:37pm PT
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Dean Potter is incredible ... I have no words about what he does ...
I don't understand from the last video ... did he jump without parachute?
I got it ... the goal was to break his own record ...
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Feb 14, 2012 - 02:47pm PT
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I don't understand from the last video ... did he jump without parachute?
Yes. His hands are that big.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Feb 14, 2012 - 02:53pm PT
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I've never been a big fan of Dean's but I certainly have to give him props for soloing those last pitches of Freerider. I haven't been on those pitches but I can't imagine that they are all safe, secure and cozy!
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Feb 14, 2012 - 03:53pm PT
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Okay, I fell asleep with my little one in bed before Nightline aired...did it show again, anyone? Someone please tell me if Potter broke the 2:50 mark, and what his time was either way.
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Kurt Ettinger
Trad climber
Martinez, CA
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Feb 14, 2012 - 04:03pm PT
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My TV programing search says its on National Geo Channel early Sunday morning 6/7am. I set the DVR to record. Looking forward to seeing it!
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Feb 14, 2012 - 04:04pm PT
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Kurt, are you PST, CST, or EST?
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Kurt Ettinger
Trad climber
Martinez, CA
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Feb 14, 2012 - 04:05pm PT
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Pacific
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eagle
Trad climber
new paltz, ny
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Feb 14, 2012 - 07:10pm PT
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it's only a matter of time before this clown bites it. go get a job dean and better society
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go-B
climber
Habakkuk 3:19 Sozo
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Feb 14, 2012 - 10:06pm PT
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Nothing like a bridge to nowhere (sighs), you can see Alaska from up there!
What a great climb you guy's did on Mt. Bute, how many pitches was it?
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Feb 14, 2012 - 10:17pm PT
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Phenomenal! Fidelman really pegs it in his comment about a person not trying to prove anything, but to self-introduce (Fidelman's always been quite a philosopher). There's no way Potter could do what he does if he were seeking anything extrinsic. And that's the amazing thing, how Potter has been at the vanguard and pushed the limits for so long with the core experience as the sole motivator and without being influenced by the outer perception. Only a few, in any field of life, have truly been able to do this.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Feb 14, 2012 - 11:04pm PT
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cragman quit workin so hard
and then you can stay upwright and alert for life's fireworks...
say,
i was just parked at the local hole-in-the-wall
and next to me seated a good man
we got to chattin and it turns out
this guy was
heidi wirtz's brother.
no shite he couldn't believe that i'd heard of her,
and i guess she got some air time with dean
on this documentary,
anyway he filled my cup when it was empty of it's beer
and i told him his sister is a hot doll,
but geez she's a badass woman.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Feb 15, 2012 - 12:50am PT
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Saw it tonight and thought it was great. The climbing footage on Butte is worth it right there. I would love to climb that. You gotta say that the tricked out van, to sail boat, to helicopter, to many thousand foot rock climb approach to your base jump is stylin it out.
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Synchronicity
Trad climber
British Columbia, Canada
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Feb 15, 2012 - 12:51am PT
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He has had more than his share of resistance from small minded people that have none of the talent, vision or balls that he does.
This quote bears repeating, I'm not sure why so many people hate on Dean, jealousy perhaps? Maybe we all wish we could be a little more open minded about our limitations and get to live life as he does on his own terms. Its easy to whine and criticize from safe at home behind your computers but who if any of you has the balls to do the things he does? regardless of what his motivations are.
Its not new for people to questions the motivations for soloists, Bachar, Reardon, honnold, they all have their detractors but to think that they are doing this for money or publicity alone is preposterous, there are far safer ways of making more money. Like many before him, Dean is simply taking advantage of the fact that people are willing to pay to assist him in what are otherwise expensive pursuits. I for one hopes he makes millions off his exploits so that finances will never be what limits a visionary like Dean, the way it limits so many dirtbag climbers.
I think this thread needs a good Potter quote...
"What I get from pushing my limits is that I turn impossible to possible, I turn something I haven't done into something I'm doing. The possibilities of what we are capable of if we truly believe is... the most compelling thing I can think of."-Dean Potter
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melski
Trad climber
bytheriver
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Feb 24, 2012 - 08:21pm PT
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and you may find yourself ,,living in a shotgun shack,,and you may ask yourself ,,well how did i get here???when you get confused take a littel walk about,,maybe it:ll come to you ,,
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Feb 24, 2012 - 10:58pm PT
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It is very easy to sit back and hurl insults about people who you have never met and don't understand.
The internet has turned the world into the equivalent to the deli crowd. Times one billion.
I admire Dean a lot. Not so much for being rad or anything. He is just out there exploring where things go.
Most of the wingsuit flyers are into proxy flying..buzzing the wall or the ground.
Dean is into doing the longest flights possible, and he has the perfect build for it. He is literally into flying.
I admire him very much. He doesn't post endless vimeo or youtube videos of himself. He just does his thing and every now and then we get a peek.
Should I have been so lucky as to chose that life.
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lubbockclimber
Trad climber
lubbock,tx
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Feb 25, 2012 - 01:21am PT
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Dean knows what its all about man.
That's it.
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Porkchop_express
Trad climber
Southwest for the winter
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Feb 25, 2012 - 01:46am PT
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I enjoyed watching the program and seeing Dean doing some rad stuff. I don't really buy into the "spiritual" stuff that he talks about--not saying that he is insincere or putting anything on, it just doesn't resonate with me personally. That fact doesn't diminish the stuff he is doing in my view though.
I really enjoyed seeing Matt M. involved in the rigging stuff--I have read about his "anti-cams" and a few other articles/blog by him and that is one incredible mind at work.
Jumping is not on my radar, but it's interesting to see what they can do and I am happy for Dean's success in sharing his skills and passion with the public. Climbing accidents/tragedies are misrepresented frequently in the media--I feel like these types of positive portrayals are good in a bigger sense, albeit atypical of what most climbers actually do.
Steve Richert
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Feb 25, 2012 - 04:57am PT
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I thought that the whole show was amazing & the cinematography was extraordinary. The high line footage over the north gulley gave me anxiety, the el cap footage shows the positions & exposure so well & the flight off Mt Butte might as well be on another planet the way it is filmed! Dean is the perfect subject for all three. So focused. I had the pleasure of meeting him this summer when my dog tried to chase his dog down in the bluffs & he turned out to be a very genuine, peaceful, friendly dude. He had a really positive energy. I can see why he probably has haters- he is doing what he wants on his terms despite other opinions, if any of them haters ever met Dean they would probably change their opinions a bit.
OT: Someone mentioned Matt M before & the anticam. Some of the guys who made the NatGeo special also did an online series prior called "the season" that profiles the anticam as well as some other climbers & athletes from other individual sports which has some pretty good episodes & athletes
http://theseasontv.com
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