1 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:11,178 Hey, buddy. 2 00:00:15,265 --> 00:00:18,310 You going to fly with me, pal? 3 00:00:18,352 --> 00:00:20,312 Yeah. 4 00:00:24,733 --> 00:00:27,569 Right now, I'm going down this path 5 00:00:27,611 --> 00:00:32,616 of learning and pushing myself more in the flying arts. 6 00:00:41,792 --> 00:00:46,213 The wingsuit is basically a flying squirrel suit. 7 00:00:48,674 --> 00:00:51,093 You got little wings between your arms and legs 8 00:00:51,134 --> 00:00:53,053 that allow you to glide. 9 00:00:55,556 --> 00:00:59,893 The shape of the suit changes downward speed 10 00:00:59,935 --> 00:01:02,646 to forward speed. 11 00:01:02,688 --> 00:01:05,774 So I can shoot through the air at 100 miles an hour. 12 00:01:09,236 --> 00:01:12,364 It's this amazing feeling, just spreading your wings 13 00:01:12,406 --> 00:01:17,452 and soaring unhindered by earthly bounds. 14 00:01:39,391 --> 00:01:44,187 It's the evolution of human flight. 15 00:01:44,229 --> 00:01:47,774 And I don't know where it's going to lead, 16 00:01:47,816 --> 00:01:52,904 but that's where I'm headed. 17 00:03:01,765 --> 00:03:03,058 - Wow. - Wow. 18 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:07,729 In China, Dean was at the end of the line. 19 00:03:07,771 --> 00:03:10,232 He's done. He's spent. 20 00:03:13,568 --> 00:03:16,488 I mean, yeah, I was fucking pissed. 21 00:03:16,530 --> 00:03:21,785 The way he treated me was so unacceptable. 22 00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:25,330 Right after the walk, Dean comes up to me, 23 00:03:25,372 --> 00:03:31,211 looks at me, and he goes, I'm sorry. 24 00:03:31,253 --> 00:03:33,797 And I was like, for what? 25 00:03:39,302 --> 00:03:40,887 I can understand his anger toward me 26 00:03:40,929 --> 00:03:44,307 was his anger toward himself 27 00:03:44,349 --> 00:03:46,685 because he kind of felt like he sold out. 28 00:03:46,727 --> 00:03:51,398 He had been driving off every person in his life. 29 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,817 When we got back to the States, 30 00:03:53,859 --> 00:03:58,280 he was pretty fucking vulnerable and very quiet, 31 00:03:58,321 --> 00:04:00,240 not being around anybody. 32 00:04:02,659 --> 00:04:07,748 It's late, around 10:16, 33 00:04:07,789 --> 00:04:10,208 got a good wood fire going. 34 00:04:10,250 --> 00:04:16,423 I don't wanna…I just wanna escape society, 35 00:04:16,465 --> 00:04:20,969 just go off into Never Never Land. 36 00:04:24,890 --> 00:04:28,101 Having these massive snowstorms here in Yosemite, 37 00:04:28,143 --> 00:04:29,728 the valley's closed. 38 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:32,647 The electricity's out. 39 00:04:32,689 --> 00:04:37,486 Part of me just wants to be some simple guy 40 00:04:37,527 --> 00:04:42,699 that just lives alone with a lover girl. 41 00:04:42,741 --> 00:04:47,579 Maybe somehow I'm supposed to be the spiritual master. 42 00:04:47,621 --> 00:04:49,664 I'm so far from that. 43 00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:53,585 Oh, yeah. 44 00:04:53,627 --> 00:04:59,132 Coffee's an amazing drug, feeling all sorts of energy, 45 00:04:59,174 --> 00:05:02,719 thinking that a big change is coming. 46 00:05:06,389 --> 00:05:11,978 I feel guilt about the way I treated people, 47 00:05:12,020 --> 00:05:14,815 things I've done. 48 00:05:16,733 --> 00:05:20,737 Need to start doing all the things I know are right. 49 00:05:22,697 --> 00:05:25,408 Maybe this is the beginning. 50 00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:37,879 Back in 2006, when I worked at Patagonia, 51 00:05:37,921 --> 00:05:39,840 Dean was one of their ambassadors. 52 00:05:39,881 --> 00:05:45,387 And he was fired for climbing the Delicate Arch. 53 00:05:45,428 --> 00:05:48,974 After Dean left Patagonia, I didn't hear much about him 54 00:05:49,015 --> 00:05:50,600 for a while. 55 00:05:50,642 --> 00:05:53,812 And then a few years later, I ran into Dean 56 00:05:53,854 --> 00:05:56,690 at the Outdoor Retailer show. 57 00:05:56,731 --> 00:05:57,941 He saw me. 58 00:05:57,983 --> 00:05:59,401 It was like, hey, you know, how are you? 59 00:05:59,442 --> 00:06:01,486 We gave each other a hug, like, catching up. 60 00:06:01,528 --> 00:06:05,532 And he said that he'd been through kind of hell and back. 61 00:06:05,574 --> 00:06:08,159 He had lost friends. 62 00:06:08,201 --> 00:06:11,538 He was just, like, very open about everything. 63 00:06:11,580 --> 00:06:15,375 It was really nice to reconnect with Dean. 64 00:06:15,417 --> 00:06:19,087 And then he's like, how's your marriage? 65 00:06:19,129 --> 00:06:21,089 I was like, it's great. 66 00:06:21,131 --> 00:06:22,340 It's…everything's great. 67 00:06:22,382 --> 00:06:23,967 All's good. 68 00:06:24,009 --> 00:06:25,886 Great to see you, Dean. 69 00:06:25,927 --> 00:06:28,471 And then later that night, I was mad at myself 70 00:06:28,513 --> 00:06:31,725 for not answering honestly. 71 00:06:31,766 --> 00:06:34,603 In reality, I wasn't happily married. 72 00:06:34,644 --> 00:06:37,397 We were struggling as a couple, 73 00:06:37,439 --> 00:06:39,566 but we have children. 74 00:06:39,608 --> 00:06:44,321 And I thought I would never leave that relationship. 75 00:06:44,362 --> 00:06:46,781 After that meeting, Dean and I, 76 00:06:46,823 --> 00:06:49,409 we ran into each other a couple times, and, like, 77 00:06:49,451 --> 00:06:51,286 we had so much fun. 78 00:06:51,328 --> 00:06:54,414 We had a similar interest in arrowheads. 79 00:06:54,456 --> 00:06:56,708 He would send me a picture when he found 80 00:06:56,750 --> 00:06:58,627 an arrowhead in Yosemite. 81 00:06:58,668 --> 00:07:02,589 I would send pieces that I would find in Santa Barbara. 82 00:07:02,631 --> 00:07:06,509 For a while, Dean and I were just friends. 83 00:07:06,551 --> 00:07:13,099 But once I realized we had feelings for one another, 84 00:07:13,141 --> 00:07:17,103 it was like, all right, it's time to end my marriage. 85 00:07:17,145 --> 00:07:22,359 But all signs pointed to, like, this is a really bad idea. 86 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:23,860 I happened to be the spokesperson 87 00:07:23,902 --> 00:07:27,530 and publicist for the company that famously fired Dean. 88 00:07:27,572 --> 00:07:31,534 All my friends, especially at Patagonia, were going, 89 00:07:31,576 --> 00:07:33,787 what the fuck are you doing? 90 00:07:33,828 --> 00:07:38,625 Have you gone crazy and left your husband for Dean Potter? 91 00:07:40,251 --> 00:07:41,670 You're ruining your family. 92 00:07:41,711 --> 00:07:44,130 You're ruining your career. 93 00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:48,843 Despite all of that, when I was with Dean, 94 00:07:48,885 --> 00:07:51,554 I just felt good about myself. 95 00:07:54,015 --> 00:07:58,812 I've never felt more, you know, alive. 96 00:08:00,772 --> 00:08:03,775 And so one minute, I'm being a mom 97 00:08:03,817 --> 00:08:06,236 and working in Santa Barbara. 98 00:08:06,277 --> 00:08:10,323 The next minute, I would find myself on a rock wall 99 00:08:10,365 --> 00:08:15,412 with Dean hip belaying me, afraid I was going to die. 100 00:08:15,453 --> 00:08:17,831 There you go. 101 00:08:17,872 --> 00:08:19,791 Yeah, perfect. 102 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:21,835 The excitement and risk… 103 00:08:21,876 --> 00:08:22,862 Good job. 104 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:25,714 I realized I needed that. 105 00:08:35,598 --> 00:08:39,144 We were genuinely in love. 106 00:08:39,185 --> 00:08:41,855 Like, at that time in my life, 107 00:08:41,896 --> 00:08:45,400 I had not experienced something like that. 108 00:08:45,442 --> 00:08:46,651 Hey, buddy. 109 00:08:46,693 --> 00:08:49,904 Good thing I'm not jealous. 110 00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:56,745 Dean, in his best moments, is better than anything. 111 00:09:06,171 --> 00:09:08,673 So suddenly Dean found himself 112 00:09:08,715 --> 00:09:10,759 in a relationship with somebody 113 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,637 with very young children. 114 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,433 And he totally surprised me. 115 00:09:18,475 --> 00:09:21,895 He placed such value on the kids. 116 00:09:21,936 --> 00:09:23,521 Show me how to jump. 117 00:09:23,563 --> 00:09:25,440 - Everyone jump! - Everybody. Whoo, yeah! 118 00:09:25,482 --> 00:09:28,693 He very much thought about his role in their life… 119 00:09:28,735 --> 00:09:29,903 Nice one, Ro-Ro. Yeah! 120 00:09:29,944 --> 00:09:31,112 and the impact on them. 121 00:09:31,154 --> 00:09:34,824 ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ 122 00:09:34,866 --> 00:09:36,201 - Nice. - Yay! 123 00:09:36,242 --> 00:09:37,660 Yay. 124 00:09:37,702 --> 00:09:40,371 I loved bringing the children to Yosemite. 125 00:09:40,413 --> 00:09:41,831 There you go. 126 00:09:41,873 --> 00:09:43,875 Just be playful with it and jump right up on it. 127 00:09:43,917 --> 00:09:47,170 Don't worry if you fall 20 times or 100 times. 128 00:09:47,212 --> 00:09:50,632 And see, now, this is the movement. 129 00:09:50,673 --> 00:09:53,176 Walk backwards if you want. 130 00:09:53,218 --> 00:09:57,514 These kids, they were fascinated by Dean. 131 00:09:57,555 --> 00:09:59,015 - Jump up on it. - I don't know. 132 00:09:59,057 --> 00:10:00,850 He seemed like a cool guy to me always. 133 00:10:00,892 --> 00:10:03,311 And we'd be real excited when he was going to come over. 134 00:10:03,353 --> 00:10:05,146 Good. Nice. 135 00:10:05,188 --> 00:10:06,481 We'd go climbing every once in a while. 136 00:10:06,523 --> 00:10:08,066 - Whoa! - Good job. 137 00:10:08,108 --> 00:10:10,151 We'd go out there, and he was always trying 138 00:10:10,193 --> 00:10:11,778 to teach us how to do stuff. 139 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:12,821 All the way. 140 00:10:12,862 --> 00:10:14,989 Dean's unique way of loving… 141 00:10:15,031 --> 00:10:16,366 To the next one, again, again. 142 00:10:16,407 --> 00:10:18,243 I look back at being like, Rowan, 143 00:10:18,284 --> 00:10:20,453 climb this, go up 25 feet. 144 00:10:20,495 --> 00:10:23,581 You're going to break both your legs if you fall. 145 00:10:23,623 --> 00:10:27,293 So be really careful, but do it. 146 00:10:27,335 --> 00:10:30,088 I was sitting up there trying. 147 00:10:30,130 --> 00:10:33,258 But looking back on it, I don't think risk is bad at all. 148 00:10:33,299 --> 00:10:34,884 I think risk's really important… 149 00:10:36,177 --> 00:10:37,929 to grow and try new things. 150 00:10:37,971 --> 00:10:39,848 - Yeah. - Nice, Ro. 151 00:10:39,889 --> 00:10:42,142 These kids, they loved him. 152 00:10:42,183 --> 00:10:43,393 He was Dee-Dee. 153 00:10:43,434 --> 00:10:45,436 We miss you. 154 00:10:45,478 --> 00:10:46,521 Hi, Dee-Dee. 155 00:10:46,563 --> 00:10:48,982 I love you so… 156 00:10:49,023 --> 00:10:52,944 I think my brother always had that longing 157 00:10:52,986 --> 00:10:56,698 for a stable, calm, loving home. 158 00:10:58,575 --> 00:11:03,621 And we didn't have that because of my parents' divorce 159 00:11:03,663 --> 00:11:06,040 and the stress in their marriage. 160 00:11:06,082 --> 00:11:08,126 That helmet's pretty cute. 161 00:11:08,168 --> 00:11:11,337 Dean had always been driven in a way 162 00:11:11,379 --> 00:11:15,216 that didn't have a lot of space for other people. 163 00:11:15,258 --> 00:11:16,301 Whoa. 164 00:11:16,342 --> 00:11:17,886 She'll still do OK. 165 00:11:17,927 --> 00:11:24,517 And it was quite a process of him learning how to love. 166 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:26,686 Jen and the kids, you know, 167 00:11:26,728 --> 00:11:28,479 they were just a beautiful gift. 168 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,572 But of course, Dean still had his struggles. 169 00:11:37,614 --> 00:11:39,532 It wasn't all smiles. 170 00:11:39,574 --> 00:11:41,576 That's for sure. 171 00:11:41,618 --> 00:11:47,040 His whole life, he had such severe depression. 172 00:11:47,081 --> 00:11:50,251 He didn't have an easy path. 173 00:11:50,293 --> 00:11:54,172 I remember he'd come over, and sometimes he'd bum out. 174 00:11:54,214 --> 00:11:55,548 He'd get real bummed, yeah. 175 00:11:55,590 --> 00:11:59,010 Blanket over him and sitting underneath that all day long 176 00:11:59,052 --> 00:12:02,889 for days, just sitting on the couch. 177 00:12:02,931 --> 00:12:06,309 Be a different person at times, that's for sure. 178 00:12:06,351 --> 00:12:09,562 Dean knew something was wrong with his brain. 179 00:12:09,604 --> 00:12:12,649 There was something chemically off with him 180 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:15,693 that made him struggle more than the average person. 181 00:12:15,735 --> 00:12:19,614 And he really wanted to fix it. 182 00:12:19,656 --> 00:12:26,621 We saw Western doctors, Eastern doctors, naturopath. 183 00:12:26,663 --> 00:12:30,166 He went on this fucking mung bean diet. 184 00:12:30,208 --> 00:12:31,668 Wheat gives me the walking farts. 185 00:12:33,836 --> 00:12:36,130 He wasn't willing to take antidepressants 186 00:12:36,172 --> 00:12:39,175 because, I think, he didn't want to lose whatever edge 187 00:12:39,217 --> 00:12:41,636 his mental illness gave him, 188 00:12:41,678 --> 00:12:43,888 like his drive, his ideas, 189 00:12:43,930 --> 00:12:47,809 his dark arts, as he called them. 190 00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:49,394 Like, you take the darkness away, 191 00:12:49,435 --> 00:12:53,231 and, you know, you're just a creepy wizard, 192 00:12:53,273 --> 00:12:54,732 not the dark wizard. 193 00:12:56,067 --> 00:12:58,027 Come on. 194 00:12:58,069 --> 00:12:59,404 Come on. 195 00:12:59,445 --> 00:13:02,782 But nothing helped him more than Whisper. 196 00:13:02,824 --> 00:13:04,492 Yeah. 197 00:13:04,534 --> 00:13:06,160 Good girl. 198 00:13:08,705 --> 00:13:11,708 She was his princess. 199 00:13:19,507 --> 00:13:20,717 Come on, Whisp. 200 00:13:20,758 --> 00:13:23,428 Dean became a total softie around Whisper. 201 00:13:23,469 --> 00:13:24,762 Good girl! 202 00:13:27,307 --> 00:13:30,476 We love the doggy. 203 00:13:36,316 --> 00:13:38,234 Whisper was very much her father's daughter. 204 00:13:38,276 --> 00:13:41,154 She's a complete asshole 90% of the time… 205 00:13:43,906 --> 00:13:46,451 and the sweetest thing 10%. 206 00:13:46,492 --> 00:13:48,661 Whisper bit the children. 207 00:13:48,703 --> 00:13:50,330 Whisper bit a lot of people. 208 00:13:50,371 --> 00:13:51,873 Ooh! 209 00:13:51,914 --> 00:13:54,167 Whisper, you don't bite. No biting. 210 00:13:54,208 --> 00:13:58,004 But to Dean, she was the most loyal dog on the planet, 211 00:13:58,046 --> 00:14:00,256 and Dean needed a lot of validation. 212 00:14:00,298 --> 00:14:02,508 And a good, good, good. 213 00:14:02,550 --> 00:14:05,053 She basically wouldn't let anyone near Dean. 214 00:14:06,763 --> 00:14:08,598 She was Dean's emotional support animal. 215 00:14:08,639 --> 00:14:10,099 We don't want to crash. 216 00:14:10,141 --> 00:14:12,769 So he brought that dog everywhere. 217 00:14:15,563 --> 00:14:16,564 Come on, girl. 218 00:14:20,401 --> 00:14:21,527 Good girl. 219 00:14:23,237 --> 00:14:27,283 We had to climb with Whisper all the time. 220 00:14:27,325 --> 00:14:29,619 She went on the side of El Cap with us. 221 00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:31,496 Good girl. 222 00:14:31,537 --> 00:14:34,332 Whisper, you like it? 223 00:14:34,374 --> 00:14:38,586 Whisper flew to Switzerland eight times, 224 00:14:38,628 --> 00:14:41,255 climbed the Jungfrau, roped between us, 225 00:14:41,297 --> 00:14:42,840 went over crevasses. 226 00:14:42,882 --> 00:14:45,635 When Dean was like, hey, we might fall in a crevasse, 227 00:14:45,676 --> 00:14:47,428 he wasn't like, here's how you save yourself. 228 00:14:47,470 --> 00:14:49,222 He was like, here's how you save Whisper. 229 00:14:56,604 --> 00:15:00,149 At that time, Dean was laser-focused 230 00:15:00,191 --> 00:15:03,611 on wingsuit BASE jumping. 231 00:15:17,792 --> 00:15:20,920 That was rad! 232 00:15:20,962 --> 00:15:22,839 We would walk up to an exit. 233 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,717 And when Dean would jump, Whisper would bark. 234 00:15:26,759 --> 00:15:29,137 She would try to run after him. 235 00:15:29,178 --> 00:15:31,889 And he thought that was sad. 236 00:15:31,931 --> 00:15:34,934 So Dean was like, hey, if I can climb with her, 237 00:15:34,976 --> 00:15:37,562 maybe I can BASE jump with her. 238 00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:40,148 I remember him saying, why am I not jumping with Whisper? 239 00:15:40,189 --> 00:15:43,734 And I was like, well, because people don't do that. 240 00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:46,362 But lo and behold, couple weeks later, 241 00:15:46,404 --> 00:15:49,574 we found ourselves working with a designer 242 00:15:49,615 --> 00:15:51,617 to develop the Whisper rig. 243 00:16:01,461 --> 00:16:03,212 Perfect. 244 00:16:03,254 --> 00:16:05,465 Very good. Very good. 245 00:16:05,506 --> 00:16:07,508 She'd get in. She'd kind of be calm. 246 00:16:07,550 --> 00:16:09,343 You like that. 247 00:16:09,385 --> 00:16:10,386 You like it. 248 00:16:10,428 --> 00:16:12,054 She'd kind of fall asleep. 249 00:16:12,096 --> 00:16:14,932 Dean thought it was like a dog putting their head out 250 00:16:14,974 --> 00:16:16,809 of the car on a freeway. 251 00:16:16,851 --> 00:16:19,687 They protect those eyes, huh? 252 00:16:29,363 --> 00:16:32,074 You ready, sweetie pie? 253 00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:34,702 3, 2, 1, see ya. 254 00:16:54,889 --> 00:16:57,058 Whoo, Whisper! 255 00:16:57,099 --> 00:16:58,851 Whoo-hoo! 256 00:16:58,893 --> 00:17:00,603 The video has gone viral. 257 00:17:00,645 --> 00:17:02,647 First BASE jumping dog. 258 00:17:02,688 --> 00:17:04,899 The whole thing was immediately divisive. 259 00:17:04,941 --> 00:17:05,927 Some think it's amazing. 260 00:17:05,942 --> 00:17:07,360 Others say it's cruel. 261 00:17:07,401 --> 00:17:10,279 Should a BASE jumping dog give us pause? 262 00:17:10,321 --> 00:17:11,822 Yeah. I said pause. 263 00:17:11,864 --> 00:17:13,491 What a douchebag. 264 00:17:13,533 --> 00:17:16,494 This fucking asshole Dean Potter taking his dog 265 00:17:16,536 --> 00:17:17,537 BASE jumping. 266 00:17:17,578 --> 00:17:19,372 That's fucking horrible. 267 00:17:19,413 --> 00:17:21,415 Someone's making that decision for the dog. 268 00:17:21,457 --> 00:17:23,751 See, how does he know the dog doesn't hate it? 269 00:17:23,793 --> 00:17:26,045 But like, Dean just thought it was the coolest thing ever. 270 00:17:26,087 --> 00:17:28,130 Dogs, whether they're sitting with us on the couch 271 00:17:28,172 --> 00:17:31,259 or, you know, flying through the air at 100 miles an hour, 272 00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:33,010 they've always been man's best friend. 273 00:17:33,052 --> 00:17:36,889 He looked at all of the shit online and was like, 274 00:17:36,931 --> 00:17:38,808 here's where you can put your opinions 275 00:17:38,849 --> 00:17:40,226 about me and my dog. 276 00:17:45,064 --> 00:17:50,736 By now, Dean and I had been together for a couple years. 277 00:17:50,778 --> 00:17:53,155 We bought a big parcel of land 278 00:17:53,197 --> 00:17:55,866 in Yosemite West in the national park. 279 00:17:55,908 --> 00:18:01,247 We were clearing the land to build our first house on it. 280 00:18:01,289 --> 00:18:05,042 I had never seen Dean happier. 281 00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:08,087 Something had fundamentally changed with him. 282 00:18:08,129 --> 00:18:12,133 He's got Jen, the kids, and Whisper. 283 00:18:12,174 --> 00:18:14,719 So there was this base there. 284 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,514 I think that was kind of the mood stabilizer 285 00:18:18,556 --> 00:18:21,726 he always needed in a lot of ways. 286 00:18:21,767 --> 00:18:23,936 It's like calling me ungrateful. 287 00:18:23,978 --> 00:18:25,104 Oh, come on. 288 00:18:25,146 --> 00:18:27,398 He told me…he goes, you know, I'm getting older, 289 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,650 and I kind of know some things now 290 00:18:29,692 --> 00:18:32,403 that I wish I had known, you know, back then. 291 00:18:32,445 --> 00:18:33,487 Come on. Go get some. 292 00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:35,906 I've gone through a whole life 293 00:18:35,948 --> 00:18:39,535 of emotions, wondering about my life 294 00:18:39,577 --> 00:18:41,162 and what life really means. 295 00:18:42,747 --> 00:18:44,915 And it certainly isn't just to rock climb. 296 00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:47,460 It's like, feeling happy, having love… 297 00:18:47,501 --> 00:18:48,487 Hi, Dean. 298 00:18:48,502 --> 00:18:49,837 being with Jen and Whisper… 299 00:18:49,879 --> 00:18:50,865 These are priceless. 300 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,632 friends and family. 301 00:18:52,673 --> 00:18:55,009 Yeah, this is good. 302 00:18:57,219 --> 00:18:58,971 That's really the thing 303 00:18:59,013 --> 00:19:01,641 is, try to figure out how to be up more. 304 00:19:01,682 --> 00:19:03,726 No way. 305 00:19:03,768 --> 00:19:07,688 Not all angst-ridden or depressed. 306 00:19:07,730 --> 00:19:08,939 Wow. 307 00:19:08,981 --> 00:19:10,483 I got that. 308 00:19:10,524 --> 00:19:11,734 I have such a good life. 309 00:19:11,776 --> 00:19:14,403 It's hard to realize how I could be down. 310 00:19:16,864 --> 00:19:17,990 It seemed like the Dark Wizard 311 00:19:18,032 --> 00:19:21,577 had found the light, in a way. 312 00:19:21,619 --> 00:19:22,605 Yeah. 313 00:19:22,620 --> 00:19:24,705 Oh, it's beautiful. 314 00:19:24,747 --> 00:19:27,917 Yeah, little Whispie. 315 00:19:27,958 --> 00:19:32,254 When I met Dean in 2014, for some park rangers, 316 00:19:32,296 --> 00:19:33,422 he was a devil. 317 00:19:33,464 --> 00:19:36,717 He was…he was a rascal. 318 00:19:36,759 --> 00:19:38,928 But I was a climber too. 319 00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:39,955 So good. 320 00:19:39,970 --> 00:19:42,390 And so we'd share time together bouldering. 321 00:19:42,431 --> 00:19:43,891 Yeah, buddy. 322 00:19:43,933 --> 00:19:45,976 Dean and I became friends. 323 00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:48,104 I mean, literally, Dean Potter climbing 324 00:19:48,145 --> 00:19:49,647 with the chief of staff at Yosemite 325 00:19:49,689 --> 00:19:51,649 helping him be a better rock climber… 326 00:19:51,691 --> 00:19:53,984 it shows that people's minds evolve and mature, 327 00:19:54,026 --> 00:19:56,487 and Dean's was definitely going there. 328 00:19:56,529 --> 00:19:59,281 I remember one time, I had a dinner party in my house 329 00:19:59,323 --> 00:20:01,575 in Yosemite Valley. 330 00:20:01,617 --> 00:20:05,538 Dean came to the party, and Alex Honnold was there. 331 00:20:05,579 --> 00:20:07,623 I went to this get-together of, you know, 332 00:20:07,665 --> 00:20:08,916 friends and climbers. 333 00:20:08,958 --> 00:20:11,210 Dean and Jen were there. 334 00:20:11,252 --> 00:20:13,796 And she was just so much more of an adult than either of us, 335 00:20:13,838 --> 00:20:15,631 in terms of being well-adjusted 336 00:20:15,673 --> 00:20:17,049 and emotionally available 337 00:20:17,091 --> 00:20:19,343 and sort of a healthy human. 338 00:20:19,385 --> 00:20:21,303 Maybe her being there with him sort of brought out 339 00:20:21,345 --> 00:20:22,972 the best in both of us, 340 00:20:23,013 --> 00:20:25,725 where we could just be normal adults and chat. 341 00:20:25,766 --> 00:20:26,976 Ate and hung out. 342 00:20:27,017 --> 00:20:29,603 And it was all kind of lovely, 343 00:20:29,645 --> 00:20:32,773 didn't feel overtly competitive in any way. 344 00:20:32,815 --> 00:20:35,276 And it was the first time where I could see myself 345 00:20:35,317 --> 00:20:37,153 maybe climbing with Dean as a partner, 346 00:20:37,194 --> 00:20:38,779 you know, like, oh, let's go do something together. 347 00:20:38,821 --> 00:20:39,905 Like, that'd be fun. 348 00:20:39,947 --> 00:20:42,658 We could hang out and climb. 349 00:20:42,700 --> 00:20:48,205 Dean put up this post paying credence to who Alex was. 350 00:20:50,499 --> 00:20:52,626 It seemed like, for the first time, 351 00:20:52,668 --> 00:20:55,504 maybe Dean was ready to pass the torch. 352 00:20:59,550 --> 00:21:02,553 I felt, you know, he was back to the love of things. 353 00:21:02,595 --> 00:21:04,180 He was back to why he originally 354 00:21:04,221 --> 00:21:05,389 started all this stuff. 355 00:21:08,559 --> 00:21:12,104 Dean spent a lot of time in the Yosemite backcountry 356 00:21:12,146 --> 00:21:16,233 at night, coming down after climbing 357 00:21:16,275 --> 00:21:18,486 or evening BASE jumps. 358 00:21:18,527 --> 00:21:20,571 Moon is fucking beautiful. 359 00:21:25,075 --> 00:21:30,331 He figured out the day, hour, moment 360 00:21:30,372 --> 00:21:34,084 that the moon would pass between these two features. 361 00:22:02,071 --> 00:22:05,324 It seemed like Dean was sort of backing away from, 362 00:22:05,366 --> 00:22:06,867 I'm going to be the best of the best 363 00:22:06,909 --> 00:22:10,412 and beat the other guys and do the next achievement. 364 00:22:10,454 --> 00:22:12,331 Now it was more like, this is just 365 00:22:12,373 --> 00:22:15,793 my creative self-expression, 366 00:22:15,835 --> 00:22:18,587 his way of getting closer to nature 367 00:22:18,629 --> 00:22:22,132 and his undeniably beautiful vision. 368 00:22:57,167 --> 00:23:00,713 I've always wanted to fly with the ravens. 369 00:23:00,754 --> 00:23:03,424 The best wingsuit fliers are pretty much the dorks 370 00:23:03,465 --> 00:23:06,552 compared to the ravens. 371 00:23:06,594 --> 00:23:10,848 Deep in his soul, Dean wanted to be a bird, 372 00:23:10,890 --> 00:23:13,142 and Dean wanted to fly. 373 00:23:15,853 --> 00:23:18,272 It all related directly to dreams that he 374 00:23:18,314 --> 00:23:20,983 used to have as a child. 375 00:23:21,025 --> 00:23:23,569 In my dream, I'm in free fall, 376 00:23:23,611 --> 00:23:26,655 and these creatures come up next to me, 377 00:23:26,697 --> 00:23:29,575 gesturing to do as they're doing, 378 00:23:29,617 --> 00:23:33,078 and I'll fly. 379 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,123 With wingsuit flying, you shape your body 380 00:23:36,165 --> 00:23:40,377 into a wing, kind of create this vacuum on your back 381 00:23:40,419 --> 00:23:43,964 that lifts you up. 382 00:23:44,006 --> 00:23:47,217 He was exploring new possibilities 383 00:23:47,259 --> 00:23:49,303 for how he could fly further. 384 00:23:54,767 --> 00:23:58,437 So it mostly would come down to minimizing pressure drag. 385 00:23:58,479 --> 00:24:01,440 Dean reached out to scientists studying 386 00:24:01,482 --> 00:24:03,067 the movements of birds. 387 00:24:03,108 --> 00:24:05,194 from the equivalent of the thumb digit, 388 00:24:05,235 --> 00:24:07,488 and a bird would elevate that and help control local flow. 389 00:24:07,529 --> 00:24:10,157 He would look at the wings and the structure. 390 00:24:10,199 --> 00:24:12,409 So it uses its body to produce a little bit of lift. 391 00:24:12,451 --> 00:24:14,328 It helped me visualize 392 00:24:14,370 --> 00:24:16,121 what's going on when I'm flying… 393 00:24:16,163 --> 00:24:17,998 wings out of the air flow… 394 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:19,541 and what needs to happen 395 00:24:19,583 --> 00:24:21,251 with the evolution of the wingsuit. 396 00:24:21,293 --> 00:24:22,920 Nice, so now the air is just going to flow 397 00:24:22,962 --> 00:24:25,255 over there and not be hitting angles and slowing me down. 398 00:24:25,297 --> 00:24:26,382 Exactly. 399 00:24:26,423 --> 00:24:29,259 I need to figure out how to move my body 400 00:24:29,301 --> 00:24:31,887 in tune with that wing shape. 401 00:24:34,848 --> 00:24:38,560 All these little idea changes and design changes 402 00:24:38,602 --> 00:24:41,480 allow you to push the limits of human flight. 403 00:24:41,522 --> 00:24:45,526 When I look at just how young wingsuit flying is, 404 00:24:45,567 --> 00:24:48,362 these next years, it's going to transform. 405 00:24:48,404 --> 00:24:53,158 I can't even imagine where it's going to be. 406 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,828 He went to Switzerland and opened up the higher… 407 00:24:55,869 --> 00:24:57,871 the highest point of the Eiger. 408 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,500 At the time, it was the biggest jump in the world. 409 00:25:01,542 --> 00:25:07,381 I mean, Dean, he's like a mythological creature, right? 410 00:25:07,423 --> 00:25:09,508 I mean, the guy just had to fly. 411 00:25:09,550 --> 00:25:11,885 Usually BASE jumps last seconds. 412 00:25:11,927 --> 00:25:15,264 And now I'm closing in on a three-minute flight. 413 00:25:15,305 --> 00:25:18,851 Potter set the record for the longest wingsuit flight 414 00:25:18,892 --> 00:25:20,853 by a human being. 415 00:25:20,894 --> 00:25:24,565 All my life, I've been rebelling against the dream. 416 00:25:24,606 --> 00:25:27,609 But I started realizing, maybe it wasn't 417 00:25:27,651 --> 00:25:31,864 me falling to my death that I was dreaming about. 418 00:25:31,905 --> 00:25:34,366 Maybe it was me flying. 419 00:25:41,206 --> 00:25:44,126 Back in Yosemite, Dean was seeing 420 00:25:44,168 --> 00:25:46,712 all kinds of possibilities for new exits. 421 00:25:46,754 --> 00:25:48,464 Yeah, this is one of the places I've been wanting 422 00:25:48,505 --> 00:25:50,007 to fly from for a long time. 423 00:25:50,049 --> 00:25:52,342 But have to escape this gully here, 424 00:25:52,384 --> 00:25:55,387 down there to the sandy landing zone. 425 00:25:55,429 --> 00:25:58,849 In Yosemite, Dean was flying with this small group 426 00:25:58,891 --> 00:26:00,476 of elite wingsuit BASE jumpers. 427 00:26:00,517 --> 00:26:02,603 Safe flying. Safe flying. 428 00:26:02,644 --> 00:26:05,272 It was like this magic moment in time 429 00:26:05,314 --> 00:26:07,399 where we were starting to figure out 430 00:26:07,441 --> 00:26:10,235 all the different flights we could do in the valley. 431 00:26:12,654 --> 00:26:15,908 The new wingsuits were allowing people to fly 432 00:26:15,949 --> 00:26:19,870 closer to terrain, fly lower. 433 00:26:19,912 --> 00:26:22,206 Also, the wingsuit made it easier 434 00:26:22,247 --> 00:26:25,793 to avoid getting caught because you can land 435 00:26:25,834 --> 00:26:27,836 somewhere much farther away 436 00:26:27,878 --> 00:26:30,214 that the rangers might not see. 437 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:37,262 It seemed like we could almost do anything we wanted. 438 00:26:37,304 --> 00:26:42,101 It was just a bunch of kids in the candy store. 439 00:26:42,142 --> 00:26:43,435 Whoo! 440 00:26:43,477 --> 00:26:44,728 There was a good little group of us. 441 00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:46,063 You guys are rad. 442 00:26:46,105 --> 00:26:49,817 And that's where Dean met Graham. 443 00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:54,321 Graham Hunt, this sweet young climber 444 00:26:54,363 --> 00:26:55,781 that showed up in the valley. 445 00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:57,991 My name's Graham Hunt. 446 00:26:58,033 --> 00:27:01,453 I like flying wingsuits, rock climbing, 447 00:27:01,495 --> 00:27:03,664 going on adventures. 448 00:27:03,705 --> 00:27:05,833 Graham's one of the nicest dudes ever. 449 00:27:05,874 --> 00:27:08,710 He was the youngest on the scene. 450 00:27:08,752 --> 00:27:10,921 We immediately clicked with Graham. 451 00:27:10,963 --> 00:27:13,632 He had this little French bulldog. 452 00:27:13,674 --> 00:27:17,302 Whisper and his little Frenchie played together. 453 00:27:17,344 --> 00:27:20,639 Whisper, who was totally skeptical of everyone, 454 00:27:20,681 --> 00:27:22,224 loved Graham. 455 00:27:22,266 --> 00:27:24,309 It takes a lot for Dean to, like, 456 00:27:24,351 --> 00:27:26,728 welcome someone into the fold. 457 00:27:26,770 --> 00:27:28,438 Watch it. 458 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,608 Graham had immediate entrance. 459 00:27:31,650 --> 00:27:36,113 Dean respected his quiet ways. 460 00:27:36,155 --> 00:27:39,074 Like, Graham was trying to figure out life still. 461 00:27:39,116 --> 00:27:42,411 He literally had, like, 10 bucks in the bank. 462 00:27:42,452 --> 00:27:43,662 What do you do? 463 00:27:43,704 --> 00:27:46,623 Right now, I'm just doing labor. 464 00:27:46,665 --> 00:27:50,252 He was working for us on the land. 465 00:27:50,294 --> 00:27:54,673 He spent a ton of time at our home in Yosemite. 466 00:27:54,715 --> 00:27:58,260 Dean really did think of him as a protégé. 467 00:27:58,302 --> 00:27:59,344 Fight it, Graham. 468 00:27:59,386 --> 00:28:01,346 Fight it. Fight it. 469 00:28:01,388 --> 00:28:02,848 Whoo! 470 00:28:02,890 --> 00:28:04,391 Awesome, Graham. 471 00:28:04,433 --> 00:28:06,768 It's so hard to do this. 472 00:28:06,810 --> 00:28:08,020 You good? 473 00:28:08,061 --> 00:28:10,772 Dean and Graham began, you know, partnering up 474 00:28:10,814 --> 00:28:12,608 on a lot of these jumps… 475 00:28:12,649 --> 00:28:14,568 OK. Let's do it, bro. 476 00:28:14,610 --> 00:28:17,029 pulling off all kinds of high jinks, 477 00:28:17,070 --> 00:28:21,700 like the first-ever flight off of the Lost Arrow Spire. 478 00:28:21,742 --> 00:28:22,910 Look like studs. 479 00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:32,669 Flying over Tool Town, where all the rangers lived. 480 00:28:36,715 --> 00:28:39,092 They really loved flying with each other. 481 00:28:39,134 --> 00:28:41,303 They had such camaraderie. 482 00:28:41,345 --> 00:28:43,472 Following you. 483 00:28:43,513 --> 00:28:45,766 They would do these trips to Europe together… 484 00:28:48,769 --> 00:28:51,813 where they would jump these big mountain exits. 485 00:28:56,652 --> 00:29:00,572 They were feeding off of each other's stoke. 486 00:29:00,614 --> 00:29:01,698 Whoo-hoo-hoo! 487 00:29:03,450 --> 00:29:05,786 ♪ This is fucking awesome ♪ 488 00:29:07,204 --> 00:29:10,832 But at a certain point, Graham began 489 00:29:10,874 --> 00:29:11,875 really kind of pushing it. 490 00:29:11,917 --> 00:29:13,919 Graham got really comfortable, 491 00:29:13,961 --> 00:29:16,463 really good quickly. 492 00:29:16,505 --> 00:29:18,465 Ready. 493 00:29:23,011 --> 00:29:26,974 He definitely flew, like, aggressively 494 00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:29,017 in proximity flying. 495 00:29:29,059 --> 00:29:32,729 Proximity flying, you're just skimming the terrain… 496 00:29:36,233 --> 00:29:40,904 flying as close as you can above slabs and between trees. 497 00:29:45,575 --> 00:29:48,161 At first, most of us were like, 498 00:29:48,203 --> 00:29:52,082 we're never going to proximity fly. 499 00:29:52,124 --> 00:29:55,335 It's just too crazy. 500 00:29:55,377 --> 00:30:00,215 But Graham started going to the extreme. 501 00:30:05,262 --> 00:30:07,055 When you're flying close to something, 502 00:30:07,097 --> 00:30:08,515 it's like riding in a car. 503 00:30:08,557 --> 00:30:10,225 You know, the yellow lines right next to you 504 00:30:10,267 --> 00:30:12,978 are just moving real fast. 505 00:30:13,020 --> 00:30:14,855 That relativity makes it feel 506 00:30:14,896 --> 00:30:18,567 even more so like you're flying. 507 00:30:18,608 --> 00:30:22,321 And now that's kind of become the new psych. 508 00:30:22,362 --> 00:30:24,072 Up next, a look at wingsuiting, 509 00:30:24,114 --> 00:30:25,532 the deadliest sport in the world. 510 00:30:25,574 --> 00:30:28,327 With proximity flying, the body count 511 00:30:28,368 --> 00:30:30,329 was just breathtaking. 512 00:30:30,370 --> 00:30:32,706 1 of every 20 have now died. 513 00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:33,957 Guys were smacking 514 00:30:33,999 --> 00:30:37,294 into stuff all over the world. 515 00:30:37,336 --> 00:30:39,755 And they were people Dean knew. 516 00:30:41,590 --> 00:30:44,509 I'd interviewed Dean for a magazine 517 00:30:44,551 --> 00:30:45,969 about his wingsuit flying. 518 00:30:46,011 --> 00:30:48,930 You know, he said to me that he had rules that he followed 519 00:30:48,972 --> 00:30:49,958 that would protect him. 520 00:30:49,973 --> 00:30:51,641 Dean was the most opposed 521 00:30:51,683 --> 00:30:54,478 to any sort of proximity flying. 522 00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:55,979 It seemed like Dean was always, like, 523 00:30:56,021 --> 00:30:58,732 being really conservative, flying away from the wall, 524 00:30:58,774 --> 00:31:01,401 not flying next to terrain, 525 00:31:01,443 --> 00:31:05,739 long glides that would mitigate the risks. 526 00:31:05,781 --> 00:31:09,785 But as Graham got better and he 527 00:31:09,826 --> 00:31:15,665 was able to do more and more technical fights 528 00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:18,001 and exceeded Dean… 529 00:31:18,043 --> 00:31:19,503 Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! 530 00:31:19,544 --> 00:31:24,674 this pure mentorship that Dean had with Graham shifted. 531 00:31:24,716 --> 00:31:26,718 A little sketchy. 532 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:31,223 I think Dean felt like he had to maybe keep up with Graham. 533 00:31:35,477 --> 00:31:36,770 Yeah, buddy! 534 00:31:36,812 --> 00:31:39,064 That's when Dean's competitive nature 535 00:31:39,106 --> 00:31:40,732 started bubbling up again. 536 00:31:43,151 --> 00:31:46,071 Like, oh, you're doing all these badass things. 537 00:31:46,113 --> 00:31:47,406 I could do them too. 538 00:31:47,447 --> 00:31:48,740 Whoo! 539 00:31:48,782 --> 00:31:52,244 I think, in Dean's head, it starts to escalate. 540 00:31:52,285 --> 00:31:54,496 And then Dean, at some point, 541 00:31:54,538 --> 00:31:59,584 he crossed that line, started proximity flying, like, 542 00:31:59,626 --> 00:32:01,753 getting as close to stuff as he could. 543 00:32:23,567 --> 00:32:26,361 Yeah, buddy. Nice. 544 00:32:26,403 --> 00:32:27,404 I don't know. 545 00:32:27,446 --> 00:32:29,531 There's a certain point in people's careers 546 00:32:29,573 --> 00:32:31,825 where you're like, he's made it. 547 00:32:31,867 --> 00:32:33,160 He's good. 548 00:32:33,201 --> 00:32:35,287 I thought Dean was past all that, 549 00:32:35,328 --> 00:32:37,706 where they're still a danger to themselves. 550 00:32:37,747 --> 00:32:38,790 I was like, he's covered. 551 00:32:38,832 --> 00:32:40,083 He's smothered and covered. 552 00:32:40,125 --> 00:32:42,752 He's not going to be somebody who burns in. 553 00:32:45,172 --> 00:32:48,425 But the minute you throw in competition, 554 00:32:48,467 --> 00:32:50,677 it becomes ego-driven. 555 00:32:50,719 --> 00:32:54,347 Fly these lines and getting lower and lower, 556 00:32:54,389 --> 00:32:58,518 and you're like, oh, my God, more is possible. 557 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,353 Everything's possible. 558 00:33:05,650 --> 00:33:09,029 And that's where you get in trouble. 559 00:33:09,070 --> 00:33:10,056 It's such a weird sport. 560 00:33:10,071 --> 00:33:11,323 You have to believe. 561 00:33:11,364 --> 00:33:12,407 Whoo! 562 00:33:12,449 --> 00:33:14,159 You got to believe in yourself so much. 563 00:33:14,201 --> 00:33:17,037 Now, that's some fucking human flight for you. 564 00:33:17,078 --> 00:33:22,042 But, you know, your ego's not your amigo, right? 565 00:33:23,376 --> 00:33:24,753 Fucking intense. 566 00:33:26,963 --> 00:33:28,465 I don't think I'd get too close. 567 00:33:28,507 --> 00:33:33,512 I'm a fucking… might rip your head off. 568 00:33:33,553 --> 00:33:36,097 I'm wild. 569 00:33:36,139 --> 00:33:39,351 Oh, it was fucking ledges in my face. 570 00:33:47,317 --> 00:33:52,030 That spring, Graham took a trip to Moab. 571 00:33:52,072 --> 00:33:55,408 Dean had told Graham about all these towers 572 00:33:55,450 --> 00:33:59,454 and features that had never been jumped with a wingsuit. 573 00:33:59,496 --> 00:34:03,375 Like, right in the middle of the horizon line. 574 00:34:03,416 --> 00:34:06,878 The jumps in Moab are from off of all these 575 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,046 smaller cliffs. 576 00:34:08,088 --> 00:34:11,091 So you need to start flying forward fast. 577 00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:12,884 You know, you've got to jump off, 578 00:34:12,926 --> 00:34:15,804 get started, and have enough glide to clear 579 00:34:15,845 --> 00:34:17,264 the terrain at the bottom. 580 00:34:17,305 --> 00:34:18,765 OK, here we go. 581 00:34:21,643 --> 00:34:23,061 Come on. 582 00:34:25,272 --> 00:34:28,191 Come on. 583 00:34:28,233 --> 00:34:29,442 Fuck yeah. 584 00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:31,444 If you can nail that start, 585 00:34:31,486 --> 00:34:34,573 you get this insane proximity flight, 586 00:34:34,614 --> 00:34:38,159 skimming these huge talus slopes. 587 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,670 Holy crap. 588 00:34:48,712 --> 00:34:50,213 Oh, my God. 589 00:34:50,255 --> 00:34:52,299 Graham didn't know this at the time, 590 00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:55,677 but Dean had really hoped to be the first wingsuiter 591 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:57,345 to open these exits. 592 00:34:59,889 --> 00:35:04,436 Opening new exit points, first jumps… 593 00:35:04,477 --> 00:35:06,271 who is going to get to lay claim 594 00:35:06,313 --> 00:35:10,150 to these pioneering moments and experiences? 595 00:35:10,191 --> 00:35:11,943 Oh, my God. That was sick. 596 00:35:11,985 --> 00:35:13,612 Sick, dude. 597 00:35:13,653 --> 00:35:16,698 One after another, Graham jumped off every tower. 598 00:35:20,702 --> 00:35:23,246 Holy shit. 599 00:35:28,126 --> 00:35:29,252 Whoo! 600 00:35:35,467 --> 00:35:38,970 Graham came back to Yosemite on fire. 601 00:35:39,012 --> 00:35:43,016 He was so proud, so excited to share this with his mentor. 602 00:35:45,518 --> 00:35:48,897 But Dean didn't take it that way. 603 00:35:48,938 --> 00:35:50,940 Dean said he was pissed that Graham had, like, 604 00:35:50,982 --> 00:35:53,652 done all these tower exits that someday Dean thought 605 00:35:53,693 --> 00:35:57,072 he was going to open first. 606 00:35:57,113 --> 00:35:59,491 He never let on to Graham that he 607 00:35:59,532 --> 00:36:03,119 might be feeling jealous or competitive with him. 608 00:36:03,161 --> 00:36:07,666 He was also mad at himself for feeling that way. 609 00:36:07,707 --> 00:36:13,088 Having problems with my ego, 610 00:36:13,129 --> 00:36:16,216 a lot of competition still in me. 611 00:36:16,257 --> 00:36:21,721 Unfortunately, I feel, like, jealous or envious, 612 00:36:21,763 --> 00:36:25,016 wanting to be the best and stand alone. 613 00:36:25,058 --> 00:36:28,144 But that's hard on me and makes me 614 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:32,774 want to push super hard. 615 00:36:32,816 --> 00:36:34,693 The ironic part of this whole thing is, 616 00:36:34,734 --> 00:36:39,072 here's a guy that, inside, was living in darkness 617 00:36:39,114 --> 00:36:42,117 for so fucking long. 618 00:36:42,158 --> 00:36:44,786 He even gave in to that darkness. 619 00:36:44,828 --> 00:36:46,538 And then he pulls himself out. 620 00:36:46,579 --> 00:36:47,872 He struggles. 621 00:36:47,914 --> 00:36:49,165 He claws. 622 00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:50,834 He climbs. 623 00:36:52,919 --> 00:36:55,672 He gets to a place where finally 624 00:36:55,714 --> 00:36:58,049 he's going to get the peace that he needs. 625 00:37:01,970 --> 00:37:03,596 And you think the demons are gone. 626 00:37:03,638 --> 00:37:06,599 They're just waiting. 627 00:37:06,641 --> 00:37:09,269 And he gets pulled right back into it. 628 00:37:11,479 --> 00:37:15,817 Taft Point is this majestic overlook. 629 00:37:15,859 --> 00:37:18,695 Graham and Dean would go there all the time 630 00:37:18,737 --> 00:37:20,905 for evening BASE jumps. 631 00:37:20,947 --> 00:37:23,533 There's two ways you could jump. 632 00:37:23,575 --> 00:37:26,035 If you go left, it's the safe route. 633 00:37:26,077 --> 00:37:30,957 You have this long, beautiful flight down to the valley. 634 00:37:30,999 --> 00:37:36,171 But to the right is the notch. 635 00:37:36,212 --> 00:37:40,133 The notch is this obvious feature 636 00:37:40,175 --> 00:37:43,094 where the ridge from the rim comes down. 637 00:37:43,136 --> 00:37:46,556 For years, all the guys would joke around, 638 00:37:46,598 --> 00:37:49,017 you know, we'll know when suits are getting really good 639 00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:51,102 when we can fly through the notch. 640 00:37:51,144 --> 00:37:53,563 Let's do this. 641 00:37:53,605 --> 00:37:56,983 But the skills and technology advanced, 642 00:37:57,025 --> 00:38:00,236 and people started trying to do it. 643 00:38:00,278 --> 00:38:02,655 It's a dangerous proximity flight. 644 00:38:07,660 --> 00:38:11,331 The notch was, like, the gnarliest line ever. 645 00:38:11,372 --> 00:38:14,083 It was perfect or dead. 646 00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:16,336 If you barely made it, 647 00:38:16,377 --> 00:38:19,464 you would go skimming between boulders, 648 00:38:19,506 --> 00:38:23,843 tree branches going by. 649 00:38:23,885 --> 00:38:27,806 It was one of the riskiest flights done at that time. 650 00:38:27,847 --> 00:38:30,058 See ya. 651 00:38:30,099 --> 00:38:33,853 You've got to get your suit flying as fast as possible 652 00:38:33,895 --> 00:38:37,106 and decide if you're high enough to clear it. 653 00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:39,484 If you're too low, you have to do this 654 00:38:39,526 --> 00:38:41,945 turn maneuver to get out of there. 655 00:38:48,952 --> 00:38:52,247 Otherwise, you're going to splatter. 656 00:38:52,288 --> 00:38:55,375 I noticed that the really experienced wingsuit fliers 657 00:38:55,416 --> 00:38:56,835 just decided that it's not worth it. 658 00:38:56,876 --> 00:38:58,878 Like, the margins are too slim. 659 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:01,756 One of the first people to fly through the notch 660 00:39:01,798 --> 00:39:03,424 was Graham. 661 00:39:03,466 --> 00:39:08,304 And that became Dean's next big objective. 662 00:39:08,346 --> 00:39:10,974 I think his mindset was like, 663 00:39:11,015 --> 00:39:12,100 I'm just going to show you I can fly 664 00:39:12,141 --> 00:39:13,810 the same line you can fly. 665 00:39:16,646 --> 00:39:18,022 Dean always jumped first… 666 00:39:18,064 --> 00:39:19,732 - I'm on red too. - Yep. 667 00:39:19,774 --> 00:39:20,984 and Graham would film Dean. 668 00:39:33,621 --> 00:39:34,747 Yep. 669 00:39:34,789 --> 00:39:38,001 When Dean exits… he's a big guy… 670 00:39:38,042 --> 00:39:39,586 he sinks for a while. 671 00:39:39,627 --> 00:39:42,380 You know, it takes a few seconds to get going. 672 00:39:42,422 --> 00:39:45,341 So he would be too low for the notch 673 00:39:45,383 --> 00:39:47,886 and have to bail out. 674 00:39:47,927 --> 00:39:51,222 But Graham would just go scraping through. 675 00:39:57,228 --> 00:40:02,025 And then he would actually do the second notch. 676 00:40:08,156 --> 00:40:09,991 Graham had the talent. 677 00:40:10,033 --> 00:40:14,120 He had the technical skill that Dean did not have. 678 00:40:23,630 --> 00:40:27,216 Dean just couldn't keep up. 679 00:40:31,638 --> 00:40:36,684 And ultimately, I think that competitive side that he was 680 00:40:36,726 --> 00:40:38,853 trying to control for so many years, 681 00:40:38,895 --> 00:40:40,980 like, got the best of him. 682 00:40:47,278 --> 00:40:49,906 It was a beautiful spring day. 683 00:40:52,992 --> 00:40:56,746 Graham came over to work on the land with us, 684 00:40:56,788 --> 00:40:58,873 and the boys decided they wanted 685 00:40:58,915 --> 00:41:02,043 to go do an evening BASE jump. 686 00:41:02,085 --> 00:41:05,088 So we drove up to Taft. 687 00:41:05,129 --> 00:41:09,550 The vibes seemed extremely chill. 688 00:41:09,592 --> 00:41:11,970 Both of them were like, this is such a beautiful night. 689 00:41:12,011 --> 00:41:15,056 Like, neither of us even care if we jump. 690 00:41:15,098 --> 00:41:17,850 They weren't hell-bent on going through the notch. 691 00:41:17,892 --> 00:41:20,269 They were just like, let's see what happens. 692 00:41:23,272 --> 00:41:24,941 Dean and Graham are getting ready. 693 00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:26,526 They're suiting up. 694 00:41:26,567 --> 00:41:29,278 And they didn't even bring a camera. 695 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:34,158 So Dean had just his iPhone facing backwards 696 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:38,246 to film Graham following behind him. 697 00:41:38,287 --> 00:41:40,456 I, being the photographer, am, like, 698 00:41:40,498 --> 00:41:42,417 trying to figure out the frame. 699 00:41:49,549 --> 00:41:54,220 They're at the exit point, and unceremoniously, they jump. 700 00:41:58,182 --> 00:42:00,184 And I realize, oh. 701 00:42:00,226 --> 00:42:01,978 Oh, they're going for the notch. 702 00:42:04,689 --> 00:42:07,442 Graham had a faster start 703 00:42:07,483 --> 00:42:09,235 and immediately gets above Dean. 704 00:42:10,778 --> 00:42:14,574 It didn't seem that Dean was high enough. 705 00:42:14,615 --> 00:42:17,285 He had a few seconds to decide, 706 00:42:17,326 --> 00:42:18,411 do I have the altitude? 707 00:42:18,453 --> 00:42:20,246 Do I, like, feel good about this? 708 00:42:20,288 --> 00:42:23,041 Meanwhile, Graham is on track, 709 00:42:23,082 --> 00:42:25,918 but maybe he sees that Dean is too low. 710 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:30,089 All of a sudden, Graham makes an aggressive left turn. 711 00:42:30,131 --> 00:42:31,924 Like, maybe he's going to go around the notch. 712 00:42:31,966 --> 00:42:34,552 Maybe he doesn't think they can make it. 713 00:42:34,594 --> 00:42:37,138 But Dean just keeps fucking going. 714 00:42:41,768 --> 00:42:46,856 Just before the notch, Graham veers back right. 715 00:42:46,898 --> 00:42:49,275 And I lost track of Graham. 716 00:42:49,317 --> 00:42:52,070 But I saw Dean go through the notch in my photos. 717 00:42:52,111 --> 00:42:54,072 Like, that's who I was following. 718 00:42:54,113 --> 00:42:55,531 Like, fuck yes. 719 00:42:55,573 --> 00:42:57,492 They made it. 720 00:42:57,533 --> 00:43:01,329 Then I heard, like, a thwack, like… 721 00:43:01,370 --> 00:43:02,622 and I was like, holy shit. 722 00:43:02,663 --> 00:43:04,290 Someone panic pitched. 723 00:43:04,332 --> 00:43:06,959 A panic pitch is like, something's going wrong. 724 00:43:07,001 --> 00:43:08,544 I need to pitch my parachute. 725 00:43:08,586 --> 00:43:12,381 And I'm standing there on the edge looking for a parachute, 726 00:43:12,423 --> 00:43:14,217 and I didn't see anything. 727 00:43:14,258 --> 00:43:15,927 There was no parachute. 728 00:43:15,968 --> 00:43:18,137 And I'm going like, fuck, what do I…what do I do? 729 00:43:18,179 --> 00:43:21,307 I just turned and started running back to the car. 730 00:43:23,935 --> 00:43:26,395 I'm texting Dean, calling Dean, being like, 731 00:43:26,437 --> 00:43:27,438 something feels really off. 732 00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:29,690 Like, where the fuck are you guys? 733 00:43:29,732 --> 00:43:33,236 And I go down to the valley floor to our meeting spot. 734 00:43:33,277 --> 00:43:35,113 Neither of them are there. 735 00:43:37,490 --> 00:43:42,203 And I was like, fuck, something happened. 736 00:43:42,245 --> 00:43:46,999 I just, like, started running and ran to, like, the base 737 00:43:47,041 --> 00:43:53,464 of the climb, and I was just like, I'll go find him. 738 00:43:53,506 --> 00:43:57,260 And I just remember, like, yelling for him 739 00:43:57,301 --> 00:44:00,513 and just thinking, like, he probably could hear me, like, 740 00:44:00,555 --> 00:44:02,348 which is just so ludicrous. 741 00:44:02,390 --> 00:44:05,977 Like, he couldn't have. 742 00:44:06,018 --> 00:44:10,022 And I still didn't, like… 743 00:44:10,064 --> 00:44:11,566 I just knew something was really wrong, 744 00:44:11,607 --> 00:44:14,402 but I just didn't think he was dead. 745 00:44:14,443 --> 00:44:17,530 That night around 10:30, I heard a knock. 746 00:44:17,572 --> 00:44:19,407 It sounded urgent. 747 00:44:19,448 --> 00:44:23,494 Opened the door, and I saw Jen. 748 00:44:23,536 --> 00:44:27,707 And immediately, I saw the terror on her face. 749 00:44:27,748 --> 00:44:29,500 I knew what had happened, or I felt I knew 750 00:44:29,542 --> 00:44:31,002 what probably had happened. 751 00:44:31,043 --> 00:44:35,965 So we reported Dean and Graham missing. 752 00:44:36,007 --> 00:44:39,969 It was a really long night. 753 00:44:42,221 --> 00:44:43,723 They had to bring in a heli. 754 00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:49,312 I still don't like the sound of a helicopter. 755 00:44:53,691 --> 00:44:56,527 Search and rescue spotted two bodies 756 00:44:56,569 --> 00:44:59,071 in the wingsuit equipment. 757 00:44:59,113 --> 00:45:03,618 They were able to confirm the fatalities. 758 00:45:07,288 --> 00:45:10,082 I don't even remember who told me that they… 759 00:45:10,124 --> 00:45:14,754 I just remember being told they're both in the notch, 760 00:45:14,795 --> 00:45:17,006 and they're both dead. 761 00:45:21,052 --> 00:45:26,182 I remember really wanting to watch Dean come down. 762 00:45:26,224 --> 00:45:28,726 And when he's down, I want to go see him. 763 00:45:28,768 --> 00:45:31,187 Like, I want to go and, like, be with him. 764 00:45:31,229 --> 00:45:34,315 And they were like, no, no, no, no, no, it's not good, Jen. 765 00:45:34,357 --> 00:45:37,026 Like, he impacted with his head. 766 00:45:37,068 --> 00:45:39,195 And I was like, I don't give a shit. 767 00:45:39,237 --> 00:45:42,281 I want to go see Dean. 768 00:45:42,323 --> 00:45:43,699 I walk in the room, 769 00:45:43,741 --> 00:45:46,744 and they're both in these black nylon bags. 770 00:45:46,786 --> 00:45:49,872 I immediately, like, took off all of the shit 771 00:45:49,914 --> 00:45:51,707 they had put on him. 772 00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:55,086 His body was perfect. 773 00:45:55,127 --> 00:45:58,673 His head had been impacted, but, like, there's no scrapes. 774 00:45:58,714 --> 00:46:00,549 There's no fucking limbs sticking out. 775 00:46:00,591 --> 00:46:03,552 Like, there's… 776 00:46:03,594 --> 00:46:06,305 when someone dies, the only thing you have 777 00:46:06,347 --> 00:46:09,100 is them, like, their body. 778 00:46:12,478 --> 00:46:13,980 As weird as that sounds, like, I didn't want 779 00:46:14,021 --> 00:46:15,439 to let go of his body. 780 00:46:15,481 --> 00:46:19,193 I felt very, very, very protective of it. 781 00:46:19,235 --> 00:46:21,362 I didn't want to let it go. 782 00:46:27,702 --> 00:46:31,372 I was driving to the Grand Canyon. 783 00:46:31,414 --> 00:46:35,251 A friend called, and he said, did you hear? 784 00:46:35,293 --> 00:46:37,795 Dean died. 785 00:46:37,837 --> 00:46:40,298 I was like, whew, 786 00:46:40,339 --> 00:46:43,926 and I took a bunch of really deep breaths 787 00:46:43,968 --> 00:46:48,723 and turned around and drove to Yosemite. 788 00:46:52,351 --> 00:46:56,981 There were a lot of questions about what had happened. 789 00:46:58,816 --> 00:47:02,695 A friend and I descended from the top into the notch. 790 00:47:05,031 --> 00:47:07,408 I was really afraid, going down there, 791 00:47:07,450 --> 00:47:09,285 that I wouldn't be able to handle it emotionally. 792 00:47:11,829 --> 00:47:15,791 Top of tree laying right there. 793 00:47:15,833 --> 00:47:18,919 Top of tree missing. 794 00:47:18,961 --> 00:47:22,006 There was, like, a single tree sticking up 795 00:47:22,048 --> 00:47:25,051 that Graham probably wouldn't have been able to see 796 00:47:25,092 --> 00:47:27,553 because of the way he was facing. 797 00:47:27,595 --> 00:47:33,100 He had done this big turn back over the top of where Dean was. 798 00:47:33,142 --> 00:47:35,311 And that's when he clipped the tree 799 00:47:35,353 --> 00:47:37,104 and then hit the wall. 800 00:47:39,398 --> 00:47:41,567 Then we went down further, and we could see, 801 00:47:41,609 --> 00:47:44,779 like, little pieces of fabric. 802 00:47:44,820 --> 00:47:47,573 And then we found the spot where Dean impacted 803 00:47:47,615 --> 00:47:51,160 headfirst into the rock. 804 00:47:51,202 --> 00:47:53,204 He made it through the notch. 805 00:47:53,245 --> 00:47:55,873 But on the other side of the notch, 806 00:47:55,915 --> 00:47:58,459 it's very low angle. 807 00:47:58,501 --> 00:48:01,212 He was losing altitude so fast that he… 808 00:48:01,253 --> 00:48:02,713 he went into the slab. 809 00:48:06,217 --> 00:48:07,718 I felt a presence there. 810 00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,554 It felt really weird, like… 811 00:48:10,596 --> 00:48:12,431 not like anything I'd ever experienced. 812 00:48:16,227 --> 00:48:20,272 Dean was there, you know, talking to me. 813 00:48:20,314 --> 00:48:23,776 And the first thing that… 814 00:48:23,818 --> 00:48:29,365 that came through was, like, dude, I fucked up so bad. 815 00:48:29,407 --> 00:48:32,493 Tell Jen I'm so sorry. 816 00:48:32,535 --> 00:48:36,831 Like…and it was… 817 00:48:36,872 --> 00:48:39,458 it was, like, a super present thing, 818 00:48:39,500 --> 00:48:43,003 like his voice clear as day, talking to me. 819 00:48:46,424 --> 00:48:49,760 I was in Santa Cruz, 820 00:48:49,802 --> 00:48:53,931 and I got the fucking phone call. 821 00:48:53,973 --> 00:48:55,391 I didn't know what to do. 822 00:48:55,433 --> 00:48:58,394 And so I just put my clothes on, 823 00:48:58,436 --> 00:49:02,481 got in my car, aimed it toward Yosemite. 824 00:49:05,192 --> 00:49:08,112 And I just cried. 825 00:49:08,154 --> 00:49:09,572 And I got to the valley. 826 00:49:09,613 --> 00:49:11,157 And as soon as I got into the valley, 827 00:49:11,198 --> 00:49:12,741 as soon as I got there, 828 00:49:12,783 --> 00:49:14,201 it started to rain. 829 00:49:14,243 --> 00:49:17,079 It just started to pour, and it just fit. 830 00:49:20,166 --> 00:49:22,001 I walked over to the cafeteria. 831 00:49:22,042 --> 00:49:23,544 I wanted to see Dean. 832 00:49:29,425 --> 00:49:31,260 And he wasn't there. 833 00:49:35,055 --> 00:49:36,891 I really loved him. 834 00:49:43,147 --> 00:49:47,693 Somebody texted me, did you hear? 835 00:49:47,735 --> 00:49:51,113 That's like shorthand for "someone's dead." 836 00:49:51,155 --> 00:49:53,491 And so I… 837 00:49:53,532 --> 00:49:55,367 I was like, no, who is it? 838 00:49:55,409 --> 00:49:56,952 And it was Dean. 839 00:49:56,994 --> 00:50:01,790 And I remember talking with Jim and being like, 840 00:50:01,832 --> 00:50:03,709 man, this…this one really hurts. 841 00:50:03,751 --> 00:50:08,130 Like, this one's unusually painful 842 00:50:08,172 --> 00:50:12,551 because all the other deaths, you died resolved, 843 00:50:12,593 --> 00:50:14,094 or they died as your friend. 844 00:50:14,136 --> 00:50:15,304 Oh, look. Here it is. 845 00:50:15,346 --> 00:50:17,806 Oh, know what we should get? A big-ass box of Cheez-Its. 846 00:50:17,848 --> 00:50:19,266 That's really healthy. 847 00:50:19,308 --> 00:50:23,062 With Dean, I'm so disappointed 848 00:50:23,103 --> 00:50:26,357 that we couldn't come back together. 849 00:50:26,398 --> 00:50:29,818 His death made it then final 850 00:50:29,860 --> 00:50:33,906 that there wouldn't be, like, a reintegration. 851 00:50:36,575 --> 00:50:38,744 Swallow, dude. 852 00:50:38,786 --> 00:50:39,828 When he died… 853 00:50:41,121 --> 00:50:42,498 I'm going to put that in the film. 854 00:50:44,083 --> 00:50:47,378 we hadn't spoken in years. 855 00:50:47,419 --> 00:50:51,549 People do things in their life 856 00:50:51,590 --> 00:50:53,050 that aren't always right. 857 00:50:53,092 --> 00:50:55,219 And sometimes you wreck relationships. 858 00:50:55,261 --> 00:50:57,638 Sometimes you don't make the right call. 859 00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:02,518 But when you get older, 860 00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:05,312 like, that's the time for you to make amends. 861 00:51:05,354 --> 00:51:10,025 And I really thought, as much as I knew he could die, 862 00:51:10,067 --> 00:51:15,072 I really hoped that he would get to that place 863 00:51:15,114 --> 00:51:17,241 and he would make it right. 864 00:51:17,283 --> 00:51:20,160 All he would have had to say was, I forgive you. 865 00:51:20,202 --> 00:51:21,745 Can you forgive me? 866 00:51:21,787 --> 00:51:25,791 Just something like that. 867 00:51:25,833 --> 00:51:29,878 But I really, really… 868 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:31,755 I just miss him. 869 00:51:35,593 --> 00:51:37,386 Jim, let me hear your voice. 870 00:51:37,428 --> 00:51:38,721 Say anything. 871 00:51:43,100 --> 00:51:44,310 That's pretty good. 872 00:51:50,566 --> 00:51:52,401 What is that moment that you're looking for? 873 00:51:52,443 --> 00:51:54,278 Like, how will you know you have it? 874 00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:56,280 Like, how do you know you have it? 875 00:51:56,322 --> 00:52:01,035 You know, transcending human limitations 876 00:52:01,076 --> 00:52:05,080 is kind of what I'm obsessed with in life. 877 00:52:05,122 --> 00:52:08,667 And I'm obsessed on it on kind of this flashy way, 878 00:52:08,709 --> 00:52:10,377 where I fly. 879 00:52:10,419 --> 00:52:14,923 But I see that if I could take that 880 00:52:14,965 --> 00:52:19,261 and transcend the really… the main things that matter… 881 00:52:19,303 --> 00:52:24,808 hate, jealousy, insecurities, 882 00:52:24,850 --> 00:52:28,646 all the negative things that pull you down in life… 883 00:52:28,687 --> 00:52:31,815 maybe right now, I'm thinking about flying, 884 00:52:31,857 --> 00:52:37,446 but it's just a metaphor to bring me somewhere else. 885 00:52:37,488 --> 00:52:43,494 ♪ With the power of soul, anything is possible ♪ 886 00:52:45,746 --> 00:52:47,164 The bodies of two BASE jumpers 887 00:52:47,206 --> 00:52:48,707 were found in Yosemite National Park 888 00:52:48,749 --> 00:52:51,585 yesterday after an illegal jump that went horribly wrong. 889 00:52:51,627 --> 00:52:54,463 World-renowned climber Dean Potter and his friend 890 00:52:54,505 --> 00:52:58,008 Graham Hunt died during a wingsuit flight in Yosemite. 891 00:52:58,050 --> 00:53:01,345 It's a very big loss in the world of extreme sports. 892 00:53:01,387 --> 00:53:03,722 He lived life on the edge, 893 00:53:03,764 --> 00:53:05,808 pushing the limits of human experience. 894 00:53:05,849 --> 00:53:08,435 You know when Dean would finish a big project 895 00:53:08,477 --> 00:53:11,188 and get up there and just do that, like, rah, roar? 896 00:53:11,230 --> 00:53:13,273 Whoo! Whoo! 897 00:53:13,315 --> 00:53:15,818 Now on the count of three. 1, 2, 3! 898 00:53:34,670 --> 00:53:39,258 I don't think Dean realized how much people admired him… 899 00:53:41,927 --> 00:53:44,930 how much people loved him. 900 00:53:44,972 --> 00:53:47,850 That outpouring of love from the community, 901 00:53:47,891 --> 00:53:50,102 I wish he had seen that. 902 00:54:04,241 --> 00:54:10,330 Dean was a dancer on the edge of life and death. 903 00:54:10,372 --> 00:54:13,667 They say that mortality is what gives life 904 00:54:13,709 --> 00:54:17,337 its most exquisite line. 905 00:54:17,379 --> 00:54:19,923 Dean took it there. 906 00:54:19,965 --> 00:54:23,844 Dean's death was an end of an era. 907 00:54:23,886 --> 00:54:25,929 Who's going to be the artistic, creative mind 908 00:54:25,971 --> 00:54:29,683 that's going to give us the next wild thing? 909 00:54:29,725 --> 00:54:32,603 His ideas were so far out. 910 00:54:32,644 --> 00:54:34,188 It's like a sunrise. 911 00:54:38,567 --> 00:54:40,861 It illuminates your way forward. 912 00:54:40,903 --> 00:54:45,616 Something about Dean was fucking cosmic. 913 00:54:45,657 --> 00:54:48,076 He was a fucking flawed genius. 914 00:54:50,621 --> 00:54:53,290 That's how I want people to remember him, 915 00:54:53,332 --> 00:54:57,461 as someone who gave everything he had to his art. 916 00:54:57,503 --> 00:55:00,881 He painted something gorgeous 917 00:55:00,923 --> 00:55:03,425 across the fucking sky. 918 00:55:05,844 --> 00:55:09,389 He would not have wanted to just fade away, would he? 919 00:55:09,431 --> 00:55:13,685 It was kind of fitting that Dean Potter, you know, 920 00:55:13,727 --> 00:55:16,563 went out in a blaze of glory. 921 00:55:19,149 --> 00:55:21,985 My brother would say the key to happiness 922 00:55:22,027 --> 00:55:28,283 is following beauty and not the urge to be the best. 923 00:55:28,325 --> 00:55:31,370 Was he able to always do that? 924 00:55:31,411 --> 00:55:32,913 No. 925 00:55:32,955 --> 00:55:36,667 Right up to the end, that was something he really battled. 926 00:55:36,708 --> 00:55:40,087 But in his most centered moments, 927 00:55:40,128 --> 00:55:44,550 he knew it was all about listening to your heart 928 00:55:44,591 --> 00:55:45,926 and following that. 929 00:55:49,638 --> 00:55:53,058 You know, we're all dealt our own weird hand of cards. 930 00:55:53,100 --> 00:55:55,269 But through all of his struggles… 931 00:55:55,310 --> 00:55:56,353 Whoo. 932 00:55:56,395 --> 00:56:00,399 Dean made a magnificent and beautiful ride. 933 00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:02,568 Thinking about stories I have 934 00:56:02,609 --> 00:56:05,279 that could make people laugh, cry, 935 00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:08,532 and make others not feel so freakish, 936 00:56:08,574 --> 00:56:11,535 knowing that some whack job like myself 937 00:56:11,577 --> 00:56:14,329 is out there going for it, 938 00:56:14,371 --> 00:56:17,124 fighting with emotions the whole time, 939 00:56:17,165 --> 00:56:19,209 but just being me. 940 00:56:23,463 --> 00:56:25,674 When I eventually free soloed El Cap, 941 00:56:25,716 --> 00:56:30,470 it was almost exactly two years after Dean died. 942 00:56:30,512 --> 00:56:32,848 I think it would have been amazing to talk to Dean 943 00:56:32,890 --> 00:56:34,641 about free soloing El Cap. 944 00:56:34,683 --> 00:56:36,476 More than almost anybody else on Earth, 945 00:56:36,518 --> 00:56:38,520 he can appreciate what went into it. 946 00:56:38,562 --> 00:56:40,105 I mean, Dean was the first person 947 00:56:40,147 --> 00:56:41,690 to think about it seriously, 948 00:56:41,732 --> 00:56:45,652 and he showed the rest of us what's possible. 949 00:56:45,694 --> 00:56:47,779 The climbing world is just not the same 950 00:56:47,821 --> 00:56:49,698 without the Dark Wizard. 951 00:56:49,740 --> 00:56:53,118 But every time I see a raven flying by, I think of Dean. 952 00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:54,620 Wah! 953 00:57:00,208 --> 00:57:01,251 Do you want to come out, Whisper? 954 00:57:01,293 --> 00:57:02,711 Come on. 955 00:57:02,753 --> 00:57:04,922 Whisper, come. 956 00:57:04,963 --> 00:57:07,007 Come on, Whisper pig. 957 00:57:11,428 --> 00:57:17,100 After Dean's death, I did a lot of, like, 958 00:57:17,142 --> 00:57:19,728 therapy, trauma therapy. 959 00:57:19,770 --> 00:57:21,813 And I think it genuinely helped. 960 00:57:42,542 --> 00:57:45,837 A few months after the accident, 961 00:57:45,879 --> 00:57:48,090 I remember the park investigator called me 962 00:57:48,131 --> 00:57:51,802 and was like, OK, so we got the footage back, Jen. 963 00:57:51,843 --> 00:57:54,179 I go into his office, and we're going to watch 964 00:57:54,221 --> 00:57:57,599 this footage from Dean's phone. 965 00:57:57,641 --> 00:58:02,104 Obviously, this is going to be really hard. 966 00:58:02,145 --> 00:58:04,106 Ready? 967 00:58:04,147 --> 00:58:05,691 You see them exit. 968 00:58:08,944 --> 00:58:12,823 Graham flies out of the frame. 969 00:58:12,864 --> 00:58:14,658 Dean holds his course. 970 00:58:22,541 --> 00:58:26,586 As he goes into the notch, 971 00:58:26,628 --> 00:58:31,466 walls on both side come into view. 972 00:58:31,508 --> 00:58:35,470 This raven comes in behind him 973 00:58:35,512 --> 00:58:37,848 right before he impacts. 974 00:58:53,363 --> 00:58:58,994 Like, of course a raven followed him into his death. 975 00:59:19,806 --> 00:59:20,974 Hi. 976 00:59:23,727 --> 00:59:25,312 Come on, love. 977 00:59:30,067 --> 00:59:31,985 I knew you would come. 978 00:59:36,364 --> 00:59:40,494 Everybody misses you.