1 00:00:00,417 --> 00:00:02,169 [TV static drones] 2 00:00:02,252 --> 00:00:05,923 [bright tone] 3 00:00:05,964 --> 00:00:08,926 [ominous music] 4 00:00:08,967 --> 00:00:16,015 ♪ ♪ 5 00:00:19,937 --> 00:00:25,442 - My whole life, I've been obsessed with the dream 6 00:00:25,526 --> 00:00:27,569 of falling to my death. 7 00:00:27,653 --> 00:00:34,660 ♪ ♪ 8 00:00:35,536 --> 00:00:38,288 First, I'm in the air. 9 00:00:38,330 --> 00:00:41,583 It's just massive wind speed. 10 00:00:41,667 --> 00:00:45,963 And somehow there's these strange, faceless beings 11 00:00:46,046 --> 00:00:47,965 beside me. 12 00:00:48,006 --> 00:00:49,841 They're making weird squeaks. 13 00:00:49,925 --> 00:00:51,635 [squawking] 14 00:00:51,677 --> 00:00:55,013 For some reason, I know to do what they'll do, and I'll fly. 15 00:00:57,391 --> 00:01:01,311 All of a sudden I'm flying, 16 00:01:01,353 --> 00:01:04,815 but I become panicked and filled with anxiety, 17 00:01:04,897 --> 00:01:08,402 start dive-bombing back towards the ground. 18 00:01:08,485 --> 00:01:11,488 Right when I'm about to hit it and impact, 19 00:01:11,530 --> 00:01:16,994 I wake up, sweating, heart beating, 20 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:20,956 you know, wondering if I'm dead. 21 00:01:21,039 --> 00:01:23,959 [tense music] 22 00:01:24,042 --> 00:01:25,919 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:42,436 --> 00:01:46,023 - When Dean picked up BASE jumping, 24 00:01:46,106 --> 00:01:51,485 jumping off cliffs with a parachute, 25 00:01:51,570 --> 00:01:53,864 you could tell that he was nervous. 26 00:01:53,905 --> 00:01:58,869 ♪ ♪ 27 00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:01,747 He was so edgy. 28 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:05,167 - [exhaling] 29 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:08,044 - Ten seconds! - Nine. 30 00:02:08,086 --> 00:02:09,463 - Ten seconds! 31 00:02:10,922 --> 00:02:13,425 - What? - I said ten seconds. 32 00:02:16,303 --> 00:02:18,347 - OK. 33 00:02:18,430 --> 00:02:20,223 Just telling Brad. 34 00:02:20,265 --> 00:02:24,061 He was drawn like the moth to the flame, 35 00:02:24,144 --> 00:02:29,775 to the most dangerous thing that he had found in his life. 36 00:02:29,858 --> 00:02:32,319 - Three, two, one. 37 00:02:32,402 --> 00:02:34,237 See ya. 38 00:02:34,321 --> 00:02:37,406 [intense music] 39 00:02:37,449 --> 00:02:39,409 ♪ ♪ 40 00:02:39,493 --> 00:02:42,412 [Dan Deacon's "When I Was Done Dying"] 41 00:02:42,496 --> 00:02:47,209 ♪ ♪ 42 00:02:47,292 --> 00:02:49,086 - ♪ When I was done dying ♪ 43 00:02:49,127 --> 00:02:50,754 ♪ My conscience regained ♪ 44 00:02:50,796 --> 00:02:52,756 ♪ So I began my struggle ♪ 45 00:02:52,839 --> 00:02:54,466 ♪ A nothingness strained ♪ 46 00:02:54,549 --> 00:02:56,593 ♪ And I dreamt about climbing ♪ 47 00:02:56,677 --> 00:02:58,261 ♪ Into the night sky ♪ 48 00:02:58,303 --> 00:02:59,930 ♪ And I said all my prayers ♪ 49 00:02:59,971 --> 00:03:01,765 ♪ Because surely I'll die ♪ 50 00:03:01,807 --> 00:03:03,684 ♪ As I crashed down and smashed ♪ 51 00:03:03,767 --> 00:03:05,394 ♪ Into Earth, into dirt ♪ 52 00:03:05,477 --> 00:03:07,604 ♪ How my skin did explode ♪ 53 00:03:07,646 --> 00:03:09,106 ♪ Leaving only my shirt ♪ 54 00:03:09,147 --> 00:03:10,941 ♪ And the Earth looked at me ♪ 55 00:03:11,024 --> 00:03:12,901 ♪ And said, wasn't that fun? ♪ 56 00:03:12,984 --> 00:03:14,111 ♪ And I replied, ♪ 57 00:03:14,152 --> 00:03:16,613 ♪ I'm sorry if I hurt anyone ♪ 58 00:03:16,655 --> 00:03:18,782 ♪ She said better luck next time ♪ 59 00:03:18,865 --> 00:03:20,450 ♪ Don't worry so much ♪ 60 00:03:20,534 --> 00:03:22,119 ♪ Without ears I couldn't hear ♪ 61 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,121 ♪ I could just feel the touch ♪ 62 00:03:24,162 --> 00:03:26,123 ♪ As I fell asleep softly ♪ 63 00:03:26,164 --> 00:03:27,624 ♪ At the edge of a cave ♪ 64 00:03:27,666 --> 00:03:30,085 ♪ But I should have gone deeper ♪ 65 00:03:30,168 --> 00:03:32,796 ♪ But I'm not so brave ♪ 66 00:03:32,879 --> 00:03:35,924 [cawing] 67 00:03:45,976 --> 00:03:47,644 - I'm Jay Epstein-Ramirez. 68 00:03:47,728 --> 00:03:50,147 You know, BASE jumping, it's one of those sports 69 00:03:50,188 --> 00:03:51,481 that runs right into you 70 00:03:51,565 --> 00:03:52,983 and socks you in the side of the head 71 00:03:53,024 --> 00:03:54,817 and just changes your life forever. 72 00:03:54,860 --> 00:03:56,111 [light music] 73 00:03:56,194 --> 00:03:57,279 Way back in the day, 74 00:03:57,362 --> 00:04:00,615 I met Dean at this outdoor film festival. 75 00:04:00,699 --> 00:04:02,534 Dean's climbing movie plays. 76 00:04:02,617 --> 00:04:05,162 - [screaming] 77 00:04:05,245 --> 00:04:08,165 - And then my movie plays of me of my friends 78 00:04:08,206 --> 00:04:10,584 BASE jumping in Mexico. 79 00:04:10,667 --> 00:04:13,503 And Dean's standing behind me as big as a tree. 80 00:04:13,587 --> 00:04:15,088 And he's like, oh, my God, oh, my God. 81 00:04:15,172 --> 00:04:17,132 I got to learn how to do this. 82 00:04:17,214 --> 00:04:19,176 ♪ ♪ 83 00:04:19,216 --> 00:04:21,970 Dean, you know, I knew the minute I met that guy 84 00:04:22,053 --> 00:04:24,347 he was destined for madness. 85 00:04:24,389 --> 00:04:26,641 [laughing] 86 00:04:28,059 --> 00:04:29,519 Before you make your first BASE jump, 87 00:04:29,603 --> 00:04:31,980 you need to learn how to skydive. 88 00:04:32,063 --> 00:04:33,815 Practice and learn how to fly your body... 89 00:04:35,609 --> 00:04:36,735 Where there's nothing to hit. 90 00:04:41,573 --> 00:04:42,824 - Nice job, Dean. 91 00:04:42,908 --> 00:04:43,950 - Ya! 92 00:04:44,034 --> 00:04:46,286 - I was like, pack up the car. We're driving to Moab. 93 00:04:46,369 --> 00:04:48,538 It's time for your first cliff jump. 94 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:51,500 Unlike skydiving, when you BASE jump, 95 00:04:51,582 --> 00:04:53,710 there's no wind to work with, 96 00:04:53,752 --> 00:04:56,922 so it's really easy to tumble out of control. 97 00:04:57,005 --> 00:04:58,048 It's a lot like free soloing. 98 00:04:58,131 --> 00:05:00,550 You have to really believe in yourself, 99 00:05:00,634 --> 00:05:03,386 that you can launch in a perfect position. 100 00:05:03,470 --> 00:05:05,430 - Five seconds. 101 00:05:05,514 --> 00:05:08,475 - In your first jumps, goddamn, is it scary. 102 00:05:08,558 --> 00:05:09,518 - OK. 103 00:05:09,601 --> 00:05:11,353 - It's next-level scary, man. 104 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:18,819 - Whoo-hoo! 105 00:05:18,902 --> 00:05:21,154 - Boy, you know, Dean's one of those guys, 106 00:05:21,238 --> 00:05:23,865 when he likes something, he likes something. 107 00:05:23,949 --> 00:05:26,076 - Oh, yeah! Ha! 108 00:05:26,159 --> 00:05:27,744 - And he liked it. 109 00:05:27,828 --> 00:05:29,746 - All of a sudden, he was getting 110 00:05:29,830 --> 00:05:31,623 the dopamine that he needed. 111 00:05:31,706 --> 00:05:32,874 [laughing] 112 00:05:32,957 --> 00:05:35,585 This whole death consequence thing, 113 00:05:35,669 --> 00:05:39,214 BASE jumping, the heaviest drug there was 114 00:05:39,297 --> 00:05:40,757 in the heaviest dose, 115 00:05:40,799 --> 00:05:42,050 and it was like, he lit up. 116 00:05:42,133 --> 00:05:44,094 - Ba-boom. 117 00:05:44,135 --> 00:05:45,262 All right, brother. 118 00:05:45,345 --> 00:05:46,388 See ya. 119 00:05:49,266 --> 00:05:51,768 - But it just made everybody fucking nervous. 120 00:05:51,810 --> 00:05:52,894 I can tell you that. 121 00:05:52,978 --> 00:05:57,649 - I had filmed BASE jumping before Dean got into it 122 00:05:57,732 --> 00:06:03,488 and had a BASE jumper nearly die in front of my camera. 123 00:06:03,572 --> 00:06:04,614 - [groans] 124 00:06:04,656 --> 00:06:05,824 - Is he OK? 125 00:06:07,951 --> 00:06:11,454 I began to mistrust the nature of the sport, 126 00:06:11,496 --> 00:06:14,916 the addictive power of raw adrenaline 127 00:06:14,958 --> 00:06:18,545 in these concentrations and these frequencies. 128 00:06:18,628 --> 00:06:19,796 I warned him. 129 00:06:19,838 --> 00:06:22,465 You're hitting the stuff too hard. 130 00:06:22,507 --> 00:06:25,802 [tense music] 131 00:06:25,886 --> 00:06:27,178 - Whoo! 132 00:06:27,262 --> 00:06:30,599 - Let's go back to climbing, free soloing. 133 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:31,808 - Whoo! 134 00:06:31,850 --> 00:06:32,808 So beautiful. 135 00:06:32,851 --> 00:06:34,102 Yow! 136 00:06:34,185 --> 00:06:37,147 - But Dean took it as the advice of a friend 137 00:06:37,188 --> 00:06:38,815 that could be easily ignored. 138 00:06:38,899 --> 00:06:41,026 [ominous music] 139 00:06:41,109 --> 00:06:43,737 - I had been running trips to Mexico. 140 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:45,155 Wait till you guys get into this place. 141 00:06:45,238 --> 00:06:46,489 It's like going to Mars. 142 00:06:46,531 --> 00:06:48,909 Dean, I mean, he'd only been active 143 00:06:48,992 --> 00:06:51,453 six months when I invited him to go jump 144 00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:53,288 the Cave of the Swallows. 145 00:06:53,371 --> 00:06:55,582 It's just this giant hole in the ground 146 00:06:55,665 --> 00:06:57,459 that's perfect for BASE. 147 00:06:57,500 --> 00:07:01,129 So you're jumping 1,200 feet into the Earth. 148 00:07:01,212 --> 00:07:03,506 There's no wind. 149 00:07:03,548 --> 00:07:05,884 It's almost impossible to hit anything. 150 00:07:05,967 --> 00:07:09,387 It's really--even though Dean hit something. 151 00:07:10,597 --> 00:07:11,973 The weather had been weird. 152 00:07:12,057 --> 00:07:13,099 We'd gotten some rain. 153 00:07:13,183 --> 00:07:15,602 [thunder rumbling] 154 00:07:15,685 --> 00:07:20,899 And I think Dean's parachute got wet, and that's not good. 155 00:07:21,566 --> 00:07:25,111 - Ten seconds. 156 00:07:25,195 --> 00:07:27,447 Two, one, see ya. 157 00:07:32,661 --> 00:07:36,164 - Dean jumps into the cave, and his parachute opened 158 00:07:36,247 --> 00:07:38,541 twisted up. 159 00:07:38,625 --> 00:07:40,835 - My parachute opened in a spin, 160 00:07:40,919 --> 00:07:46,049 and I lost the perception of where I was flying. 161 00:07:46,132 --> 00:07:48,843 - We had a rope hanging in there. 162 00:07:48,927 --> 00:07:50,512 He hit the rope. 163 00:07:50,595 --> 00:07:53,306 - The parachute collapsed and wrapped around the rope, 164 00:07:53,390 --> 00:07:56,226 and I swung in and grabbed the rope. 165 00:07:56,267 --> 00:08:00,063 - And he's 250, 300 feet off the ground with nothing. 166 00:08:00,105 --> 00:08:01,523 And he's sliding down the rope-- 167 00:08:01,606 --> 00:08:03,441 - Burning off my skin on my hands. 168 00:08:03,525 --> 00:08:05,235 - And I'm like, fucking don't let go, dude. 169 00:08:05,276 --> 00:08:06,444 Don't let go. 170 00:08:06,528 --> 00:08:08,238 - I thought is this, like, the dream, you know, 171 00:08:08,279 --> 00:08:10,240 where I'm falling to my death? 172 00:08:10,323 --> 00:08:13,410 And that feeling charged my body with this amazing power 173 00:08:13,493 --> 00:08:16,496 and I held on with everything I had. 174 00:08:16,579 --> 00:08:18,915 - Literally brakes himself, completely stops, 175 00:08:18,957 --> 00:08:21,501 like, 2 feet off the ground. 176 00:08:21,584 --> 00:08:22,919 And his hands are smoked. 177 00:08:22,961 --> 00:08:25,338 You know, you can see tendons. You can see bone. 178 00:08:25,422 --> 00:08:29,259 - When I hit the ground, part of me was ashamed, 179 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:33,596 but mostly I was just happy that I was alive. 180 00:08:35,724 --> 00:08:39,977 As I laid there, there was this dying bird beside me. 181 00:08:40,061 --> 00:08:45,316 Similar to what I had done, the swallow had hit the rope. 182 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,028 My friends came down and rescued me. 183 00:08:51,531 --> 00:08:55,577 And I questioned, why did I live and that bird die? 184 00:08:59,330 --> 00:09:03,209 - "I am drawn to the Pit of Swallows. 185 00:09:03,293 --> 00:09:07,422 "I have a near-death accident. 186 00:09:07,505 --> 00:09:12,469 And the dying swallow," which Dean has told me, 187 00:09:12,510 --> 00:09:15,305 he felt came into his body and inhabited his body-- 188 00:09:15,388 --> 00:09:17,974 he just has, "and the dying swallow," period. 189 00:09:18,016 --> 00:09:21,144 "I enter deep depression. 190 00:09:21,186 --> 00:09:24,147 "My hands are injured badly. 191 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:28,443 "When you feel you are unstoppable, 192 00:09:28,526 --> 00:09:31,738 you have to say, enough." 193 00:09:31,821 --> 00:09:35,200 [soft guitar music] 194 00:09:35,283 --> 00:09:39,996 I'm Elizabeth Potter, Dean's older sister, 195 00:09:40,038 --> 00:09:43,875 and I'm a teacher and a writer. 196 00:09:43,958 --> 00:09:47,128 Dean was eight years younger than me, 197 00:09:47,212 --> 00:09:50,131 so he's the baby. 198 00:09:50,215 --> 00:09:52,467 We grew up in a military family, 199 00:09:52,550 --> 00:09:55,678 lived for a chunk of time overseas in the Middle East. 200 00:09:55,762 --> 00:09:57,847 [eerie music] 201 00:09:57,889 --> 00:10:00,225 When he was almost five, Dean decided 202 00:10:00,308 --> 00:10:02,977 he was going to climb up this huge stone wall 203 00:10:03,061 --> 00:10:04,687 around our house. 204 00:10:04,771 --> 00:10:07,941 He fell off the very top 205 00:10:08,024 --> 00:10:10,693 and knocked himself unconscious. 206 00:10:10,777 --> 00:10:12,529 I probably should have been watching him 207 00:10:12,570 --> 00:10:14,864 more carefully, but-- 208 00:10:14,906 --> 00:10:17,325 the story of my life. 209 00:10:17,367 --> 00:10:21,788 After that, he was really plagued by nightmares 210 00:10:21,871 --> 00:10:24,374 and night terrors. 211 00:10:24,415 --> 00:10:26,543 Even when we were kids, you know, 212 00:10:26,584 --> 00:10:28,878 Dean always talked about the dream of-- 213 00:10:28,962 --> 00:10:32,215 of falling. 214 00:10:32,257 --> 00:10:35,593 In the journals, he says that again and again, 215 00:10:35,677 --> 00:10:39,556 "The dream is back." 216 00:10:39,597 --> 00:10:42,559 You know, he would say to me, do you have falling dreams? 217 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:43,601 And I did. 218 00:10:43,685 --> 00:10:46,020 I mean, it's a common thing. 219 00:10:46,104 --> 00:10:49,232 But for him, the dream was very real, 220 00:10:49,315 --> 00:10:51,276 and it stayed with him. 221 00:10:51,359 --> 00:10:54,571 ♪ ♪ 222 00:10:54,612 --> 00:10:59,367 When we moved to New Hampshire, 223 00:10:59,409 --> 00:11:04,080 for Dean, school could be difficult, 224 00:11:04,122 --> 00:11:07,083 being, you know, that family that's not from here. 225 00:11:07,125 --> 00:11:08,835 - When I was growing up, 226 00:11:08,918 --> 00:11:10,879 I'd arrive at different schools 227 00:11:10,962 --> 00:11:13,923 and never quite fit in. 228 00:11:13,965 --> 00:11:17,677 In high school, I didn't make the basketball team. 229 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,262 It was a lot political. 230 00:11:19,345 --> 00:11:21,681 I didn't hang out so much with all the other kids. 231 00:11:21,764 --> 00:11:23,600 I was like an outsider. 232 00:11:23,641 --> 00:11:26,227 And I started working out in the weight room, 233 00:11:26,311 --> 00:11:28,188 getting stronger. 234 00:11:28,271 --> 00:11:30,273 Went from being one of the weakest kids to now, 235 00:11:30,315 --> 00:11:32,567 like, the strongest, toughest kid. 236 00:11:32,650 --> 00:11:35,236 - I think that brought up that competitive thing 237 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,447 that Dean, throughout his life, 238 00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:40,283 was trying to manage. 239 00:11:40,325 --> 00:11:42,410 He wanted to be the best, you know? 240 00:11:42,493 --> 00:11:44,120 He wanted to win. 241 00:11:46,873 --> 00:11:51,586 It's been said that Dean was a combination 242 00:11:51,669 --> 00:11:56,466 of his Army colonel father and his yoga-teaching mother. 243 00:11:56,549 --> 00:11:58,468 There was some truth to that, 244 00:11:58,509 --> 00:12:02,513 but my parents were not a stereotype. 245 00:12:02,597 --> 00:12:05,642 Dad was not a disciplinarian at all 246 00:12:05,725 --> 00:12:10,480 and wanted everybody to just have a good time. 247 00:12:10,563 --> 00:12:14,317 And my mother, a lot of Dean's spirituality, 248 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,820 his meditation, comes from my mom. 249 00:12:17,862 --> 00:12:21,115 But mom was a disciplinarian. 250 00:12:21,199 --> 00:12:23,826 The strictness-- this is what you will do. 251 00:12:23,868 --> 00:12:25,787 This is how you will behave. 252 00:12:25,870 --> 00:12:27,497 [soft dramatic music] 253 00:12:27,538 --> 00:12:29,123 She would say, you know, 254 00:12:29,207 --> 00:12:31,251 you're not going to do anything dangerous. 255 00:12:31,334 --> 00:12:33,503 If you look at pretty much any picture of Dean and Mom, 256 00:12:33,586 --> 00:12:38,633 she's got one hand on him, this grip. 257 00:12:38,675 --> 00:12:41,844 You combine that with a spirit like Dean's, 258 00:12:41,928 --> 00:12:45,139 he felt controlled, held down. 259 00:12:45,223 --> 00:12:47,850 [tense music] 260 00:12:47,892 --> 00:12:50,353 If you look at his writing during that time, 261 00:12:50,395 --> 00:12:55,525 it's very rageful, angry 262 00:12:55,608 --> 00:12:59,362 like a trapped animal. 263 00:12:59,404 --> 00:13:03,574 Dean talks in the journals about the sad gene 264 00:13:03,658 --> 00:13:06,494 or crazy gene, 265 00:13:06,536 --> 00:13:10,206 his code for the depression in our family. 266 00:13:12,917 --> 00:13:16,337 You know, especially kind of in the--the years 267 00:13:16,421 --> 00:13:19,048 leading up to my parents' divorce, 268 00:13:19,090 --> 00:13:21,342 you could feel that energy, that darkness 269 00:13:21,426 --> 00:13:24,512 of a relationship that was coming apart. 270 00:13:25,763 --> 00:13:27,181 It got ugly. 271 00:13:29,767 --> 00:13:34,689 Dean was seeing that his father did not have 272 00:13:34,772 --> 00:13:37,692 freedom of voice and choice. 273 00:13:37,775 --> 00:13:42,322 Yeah, that really affected Dean in his own relationships. 274 00:13:44,782 --> 00:13:47,869 He was always, "No one's going to tell me what to do. 275 00:13:47,952 --> 00:13:49,787 "No one's going to control my life. 276 00:13:49,871 --> 00:13:52,582 I'm going to do things my way." 277 00:13:52,623 --> 00:13:56,377 That was when he started escaping to Joe English. 278 00:13:56,461 --> 00:13:59,213 - There was this cliff on this army base near where I lived, 279 00:13:59,255 --> 00:14:00,923 and it was just me and this friend of mine 280 00:14:01,007 --> 00:14:02,300 scrambling around, 281 00:14:02,383 --> 00:14:04,927 coming across these little crags, 282 00:14:04,969 --> 00:14:07,221 going into these off-limits zones. 283 00:14:07,305 --> 00:14:09,390 It was against the rules. 284 00:14:09,474 --> 00:14:12,101 And that's kind of what attracted us to it, 285 00:14:12,185 --> 00:14:14,937 was just being free, doing what we wanted. 286 00:14:15,021 --> 00:14:18,232 - He would climb without the right equipment, 287 00:14:18,316 --> 00:14:21,903 using whatever he could find. 288 00:14:21,986 --> 00:14:25,281 And then he would climb without any equipment at all. 289 00:14:25,323 --> 00:14:28,201 - In my teens, I started free soloing 290 00:14:28,284 --> 00:14:30,078 on this cliff near my house. 291 00:14:30,119 --> 00:14:34,040 Being out there alone with no protection, 292 00:14:34,123 --> 00:14:35,792 it scared me so much, 293 00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:39,462 but that kind of magnetized me to it. 294 00:14:39,504 --> 00:14:43,466 I always thought my early childhood dream 295 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:45,968 was the premonition of my death. 296 00:14:46,010 --> 00:14:49,680 And I wanted to prove to myself 297 00:14:49,764 --> 00:14:51,516 that I could overpower it, 298 00:14:51,599 --> 00:14:54,685 trying to push harder and harder into that fear. 299 00:14:56,187 --> 00:15:00,817 - So much of his life has been to prove the dream wrong, 300 00:15:00,858 --> 00:15:03,820 plunging forward towards his fear 301 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:06,656 and trying to conquer it, 302 00:15:06,739 --> 00:15:09,951 saying to himself, I'm not going to-- 303 00:15:10,034 --> 00:15:11,828 I'm not going to die. 304 00:15:11,869 --> 00:15:14,831 [dramatic music] 305 00:15:14,872 --> 00:15:18,334 ♪ ♪ 306 00:15:18,418 --> 00:15:23,840 - That near-death experience in the cave, 307 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:26,467 it humbled him a little bit. 308 00:15:26,551 --> 00:15:28,636 - So I don't know if any of you guys 309 00:15:28,719 --> 00:15:31,347 heard about my little mishap down in the Caves of-- 310 00:15:31,431 --> 00:15:35,768 Cave of the Swallows, but it wasn't a whole lot of fun. 311 00:15:35,852 --> 00:15:39,439 And I'm still kind of sorting things out in my head. 312 00:15:39,522 --> 00:15:42,692 - But then I think less than three months later, 313 00:15:42,733 --> 00:15:45,653 he actually, like, comes back and is fully functional 314 00:15:45,736 --> 00:15:47,196 and jumping again. 315 00:15:47,238 --> 00:15:49,699 And, yeah, crazy, right? 316 00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:50,825 - Look at that. 317 00:15:50,908 --> 00:15:52,702 - I got the call from Dean. 318 00:15:52,785 --> 00:15:55,371 He said, can you come out to Yosemite? 319 00:15:55,413 --> 00:15:56,914 I want to jump El Cap. 320 00:15:56,998 --> 00:15:58,374 I want to jump everything. 321 00:15:58,415 --> 00:16:01,043 For a BASE jumper here in the United States, 322 00:16:01,127 --> 00:16:03,713 Yosemite, it's the pinnacle-- 323 00:16:03,754 --> 00:16:06,340 huge cliffs, perfect for BASE. 324 00:16:06,424 --> 00:16:08,176 Biggie, biggie, biggie. 325 00:16:08,259 --> 00:16:10,887 - I've always put all my energy into, 326 00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:12,972 you know, holding on to the rock face. 327 00:16:16,017 --> 00:16:17,351 Looking great, buddy. 328 00:16:17,435 --> 00:16:18,811 - Now, to have the skill 329 00:16:18,895 --> 00:16:21,063 to fly your body off the walls, 330 00:16:21,105 --> 00:16:24,358 this whole new world has opened up. 331 00:16:24,442 --> 00:16:26,027 - You've always wanted to jump off El Cap. 332 00:16:26,110 --> 00:16:27,361 - Yes, you're right. Here it is. 333 00:16:27,445 --> 00:16:29,071 - Here it is. 334 00:16:29,155 --> 00:16:32,492 See ya, Dean. You're the man. 335 00:16:32,575 --> 00:16:34,243 Yeah! 336 00:16:34,327 --> 00:16:37,747 He was horny as horny gets, man. 337 00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:40,208 I mean, the kid was on fire. 338 00:16:45,671 --> 00:16:47,340 - OK. No touching. 339 00:16:47,423 --> 00:16:48,758 No problem, Dean. 340 00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:49,759 See ya. 341 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,095 [rock music] 342 00:16:53,137 --> 00:16:55,473 He owned the Valley. I mean, he really did. 343 00:16:55,556 --> 00:16:57,475 He had just been there for so many years. 344 00:16:57,558 --> 00:17:00,436 He knew all the cliff exits and landings. 345 00:17:02,730 --> 00:17:04,565 The only problem is, 346 00:17:04,648 --> 00:17:07,443 Yosemite has a steadfast policy 347 00:17:07,527 --> 00:17:09,444 against BASE jumping. 348 00:17:09,487 --> 00:17:12,615 - The National Park Service says they ban jumping 349 00:17:12,656 --> 00:17:13,991 for a lot of reasons. 350 00:17:14,075 --> 00:17:15,409 - Gathering spectators 351 00:17:15,492 --> 00:17:17,662 and disrupting the serenity of the Valley. 352 00:17:17,744 --> 00:17:21,290 National parks weren't set up so that everybody could 353 00:17:21,332 --> 00:17:23,251 recreate in every way they wanted. 354 00:17:23,334 --> 00:17:25,044 - See ya! [cheering] 355 00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:28,047 - In the '90s, pretty famous BASE jumper, Frank Gambalie... 356 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,926 - All right, kids, this is the real deal. 357 00:17:32,009 --> 00:17:33,636 - He was jumping off El Cap. 358 00:17:33,719 --> 00:17:36,472 Somebody ratted him out, just told the rangers, 359 00:17:36,514 --> 00:17:37,765 and they were waiting for him. 360 00:17:37,848 --> 00:17:39,392 He tried to outrun them 361 00:17:39,475 --> 00:17:41,769 and swim across the Merced River, 362 00:17:41,852 --> 00:17:42,979 and he drowned. 363 00:17:43,062 --> 00:17:45,064 The guy survives all these BASE jumps, 364 00:17:45,147 --> 00:17:46,315 and then he's killed by just trying 365 00:17:46,399 --> 00:17:49,110 to get away from the rangers. 366 00:17:49,193 --> 00:17:51,070 - After the death of Frank Gambalie, 367 00:17:51,153 --> 00:17:55,616 there was quite an uproar and threats of a mass jump. 368 00:17:55,658 --> 00:17:58,452 - A few months later, BASE jumpers organized 369 00:17:58,536 --> 00:18:00,329 a protest jump on El Cap. 370 00:18:00,413 --> 00:18:03,207 - Whoo! [cheering] 371 00:18:03,291 --> 00:18:04,792 - I was there in the meadow. 372 00:18:04,834 --> 00:18:08,170 BASE jumpers land and shake hands with the rangers. 373 00:18:08,212 --> 00:18:09,839 Let's try and find some common ground here. 374 00:18:09,922 --> 00:18:11,173 - I am not a criminal. 375 00:18:11,257 --> 00:18:12,508 I am simply an American. 376 00:18:12,550 --> 00:18:14,844 - The agreement was, the park service would 377 00:18:14,885 --> 00:18:16,846 confiscate their parachutes and their gear. 378 00:18:16,887 --> 00:18:18,639 - Nine, eight... 379 00:18:18,723 --> 00:18:22,226 - And then, this woman, Jan Davis, jumped off, 380 00:18:22,310 --> 00:18:24,020 and I could see it. 381 00:18:24,103 --> 00:18:25,438 - See ya! 382 00:18:25,521 --> 00:18:27,690 - Jan didn't want to lose her stuff, 383 00:18:27,773 --> 00:18:31,152 so she used gear that somebody loaned her. 384 00:18:31,235 --> 00:18:33,446 The problem was, she was used to having a pilot chute 385 00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:34,864 mounted on her leg straps. 386 00:18:34,905 --> 00:18:37,116 - And she came down and she came down, 387 00:18:37,199 --> 00:18:38,451 and then she started flailing. 388 00:18:38,534 --> 00:18:39,869 - She's got problems, man. 389 00:18:39,952 --> 00:18:41,203 - She's just reaching on her leg 390 00:18:41,245 --> 00:18:43,080 looking for this pilot chute. 391 00:18:44,582 --> 00:18:45,708 - And from where I was, which was 392 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:47,668 at the top of a tree in a meadow, 393 00:18:47,752 --> 00:18:49,003 I saw her hit the ground. 394 00:18:50,421 --> 00:18:52,632 - Dude, she's got--she went in. Oh, my God. 395 00:18:52,715 --> 00:18:53,966 - What? 396 00:18:54,050 --> 00:18:57,345 - Boom. It just--boom. 397 00:18:59,138 --> 00:19:00,931 - She went in? 398 00:19:01,015 --> 00:19:02,183 What the fuck? 399 00:19:02,266 --> 00:19:04,101 [tense music] 400 00:19:04,185 --> 00:19:05,561 - After that, 401 00:19:05,603 --> 00:19:07,897 the park services were, like, see? 402 00:19:07,938 --> 00:19:10,024 - BASE jumpers basically became 403 00:19:10,107 --> 00:19:12,360 public enemy number one. 404 00:19:12,443 --> 00:19:15,529 For the next few years, BASE jumping in Yosemite 405 00:19:15,613 --> 00:19:17,698 was pretty quiet. 406 00:19:17,782 --> 00:19:19,909 But Dean changed that. 407 00:19:19,992 --> 00:19:23,245 - Here in Yosemite, we're in one of the most wild places 408 00:19:23,329 --> 00:19:25,081 left in our country. 409 00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:26,540 But BASE jumping, 410 00:19:26,624 --> 00:19:28,751 this ultimate expression of freedom, 411 00:19:28,793 --> 00:19:30,753 for some reason, that threatens them. 412 00:19:30,795 --> 00:19:37,218 And unfortunately it means that I need to evade the law. 413 00:19:37,259 --> 00:19:41,222 - You know, when Dean embraced BASE jumping, 414 00:19:41,305 --> 00:19:44,100 he really introduced this new era to Yosemite. 415 00:19:44,141 --> 00:19:46,769 Check him out. Check him out. Sick. 416 00:19:46,852 --> 00:19:48,354 How cool is that? 417 00:19:48,437 --> 00:19:51,107 - Dean definitely inspired a lot of the Monkeys. 418 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:53,609 If you were a climber and wanted to start-- 419 00:19:53,693 --> 00:19:56,070 start jumping, you had his example. 420 00:19:56,112 --> 00:19:59,073 - This game of BASE jumping in Yosemite, 421 00:19:59,156 --> 00:20:01,450 it was sort of secretive society. 422 00:20:01,492 --> 00:20:03,160 It was like a ninja society. 423 00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:09,083 - Dean mentored and coached all of us. 424 00:20:09,166 --> 00:20:10,251 - Good. 425 00:20:14,547 --> 00:20:17,550 - Dean was like a father in this way. 426 00:20:19,051 --> 00:20:20,010 - Yeah, check me out. 427 00:20:20,094 --> 00:20:21,470 He was very meticulous. 428 00:20:23,347 --> 00:20:25,182 - Dean was doing crazy stuff. 429 00:20:25,266 --> 00:20:26,600 - That looks good. That looks good. 430 00:20:26,684 --> 00:20:29,478 - But he was really good at minimalizing the risk. 431 00:20:29,562 --> 00:20:32,148 - Make it to a nice safe spot on the far side. 432 00:20:32,189 --> 00:20:34,275 - OK, amigo. 433 00:20:34,358 --> 00:20:37,403 - The fact that it's illegal adds a whole other, like, 434 00:20:37,486 --> 00:20:39,155 level of tension. 435 00:20:39,196 --> 00:20:41,115 But Dean had figured out these rules. 436 00:20:41,198 --> 00:20:42,491 Don't jump in the middle of the day. 437 00:20:42,575 --> 00:20:44,160 - We should hold off another 15 minutes at least. 438 00:20:44,201 --> 00:20:45,786 - 15 minutes, Dean say. 439 00:20:45,828 --> 00:20:47,580 - Early morning, evening, 440 00:20:47,663 --> 00:20:49,665 that minimizes your chances of getting caught. 441 00:20:49,749 --> 00:20:52,168 - Let's wait, though. - We got a guy down there. 442 00:20:52,209 --> 00:20:54,462 - You always have ground crew. It would often be Bullwinkle. 443 00:20:54,545 --> 00:20:55,671 - Someone talked with Winky? 444 00:20:55,713 --> 00:20:59,508 - My job was to ensure that my jumper does not get 445 00:20:59,550 --> 00:21:01,260 apprehended by law enforcement. 446 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,346 - It's looking almost ready for us. 447 00:21:04,388 --> 00:21:06,182 - The first time we ever jumped in Yosemite... 448 00:21:06,223 --> 00:21:07,516 - He got a BASE rig, 449 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,518 and then I had to get a BASE rig, you know. 450 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,854 - Dean gave us advice. 451 00:21:11,937 --> 00:21:13,355 Scary. 452 00:21:13,439 --> 00:21:15,232 He down climbed to a ledge they call the electric chair. 453 00:21:15,316 --> 00:21:16,233 Holy shit. 454 00:21:16,317 --> 00:21:17,735 Pretty focused, pretty gripped. 455 00:21:17,818 --> 00:21:19,028 - Yeah, whenever you're ready. 456 00:21:19,111 --> 00:21:20,362 - Fucking hell. 457 00:21:20,404 --> 00:21:21,989 My glasses are steamed up, man. 458 00:21:22,072 --> 00:21:24,533 Dean was just calm, relaxed. 459 00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:25,868 - Take them off. Calm down. 460 00:21:25,910 --> 00:21:27,203 You ready, brother? - Yeah. 461 00:21:27,286 --> 00:21:28,871 - Let's do it. - OK. 462 00:21:28,913 --> 00:21:30,706 Three, two, one. 463 00:21:30,790 --> 00:21:32,541 - Three, two, one. 464 00:21:32,625 --> 00:21:34,126 - People will be like, you know, three, two, one, 465 00:21:34,210 --> 00:21:36,378 see ya, or, like, ready, set, go or something like that. 466 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:38,047 And then maybe just sometimes you-- 467 00:21:38,088 --> 00:21:39,340 you're not ready. 468 00:21:39,423 --> 00:21:41,008 - I usually don't count, though, that's the thing. 469 00:21:41,091 --> 00:21:42,218 - What do you mean you don't count? 470 00:21:42,301 --> 00:21:43,302 - I just don't count. 471 00:21:43,385 --> 00:21:45,638 I just kind of go when it feels good, you know. 472 00:21:45,721 --> 00:21:47,556 - OK. Want me to count then? 473 00:21:47,598 --> 00:21:50,059 Want me to count? 474 00:21:50,142 --> 00:21:51,977 All right, Corb, you ready? - One-- 475 00:21:52,061 --> 00:21:55,022 - Wait, wait, wait, three, two, one or one, two, three? 476 00:21:55,105 --> 00:21:58,234 - Three, two, one. - Wait, wait. 477 00:21:58,275 --> 00:21:59,485 What about three, two, one, see ya? 478 00:21:59,568 --> 00:22:00,903 - I don't like three, two, one, see ya. 479 00:22:00,986 --> 00:22:03,405 Let's just do on one, two, three, go. 480 00:22:03,489 --> 00:22:04,573 - All right. - OK. That's the count. 481 00:22:04,615 --> 00:22:05,783 - All right. 482 00:22:05,866 --> 00:22:07,034 - Holy fuck. 483 00:22:07,117 --> 00:22:10,120 One, two, three. 484 00:22:10,204 --> 00:22:11,580 - See ya. 485 00:22:11,664 --> 00:22:14,291 - Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. 486 00:22:14,375 --> 00:22:17,294 [intense music] 487 00:22:17,378 --> 00:22:18,712 ♪ ♪ 488 00:22:18,754 --> 00:22:20,256 - Go. - See ya. 489 00:22:20,339 --> 00:22:22,383 - Dean just told me, man, I love you. 490 00:22:22,466 --> 00:22:24,093 You will see another world now. 491 00:22:24,134 --> 00:22:26,095 - See ya! - Right on down. 492 00:22:26,136 --> 00:22:29,390 ♪ ♪ 493 00:22:29,473 --> 00:22:32,852 [whooshing] 494 00:22:32,935 --> 00:22:34,353 - I can remember making that comment. 495 00:22:34,436 --> 00:22:36,522 I was, like, damn, like, all the climbers are jumping. 496 00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:39,567 He just looked at me with a stern Dean voice. 497 00:22:39,650 --> 00:22:40,901 He goes, I know. 498 00:22:40,985 --> 00:22:42,278 It's happening. 499 00:22:42,361 --> 00:22:44,780 [laughing] He was just, like, prophesizing. 500 00:22:44,822 --> 00:22:46,782 - Here I come! 501 00:22:46,824 --> 00:22:48,409 - Right on, bros. 502 00:22:48,492 --> 00:22:49,451 Let's get it on. 503 00:22:49,535 --> 00:22:50,452 - Another one. 504 00:22:50,536 --> 00:22:52,413 - Yeah! 505 00:22:52,454 --> 00:22:55,624 - For the park service and the federal government, 506 00:22:55,708 --> 00:22:59,211 this was blatantly illegal behavior in a national park. 507 00:22:59,295 --> 00:23:01,422 Dean was the face of BASE jumping 508 00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:04,800 in Yosemite Valley, period. 509 00:23:04,842 --> 00:23:07,136 - As soon as that parachute opens, 510 00:23:07,219 --> 00:23:10,180 I'm just scanning for rangers and looking 511 00:23:10,264 --> 00:23:11,348 for my escape route. 512 00:23:11,432 --> 00:23:13,100 - These guys better haul ass. 513 00:23:13,183 --> 00:23:14,476 - Run. There's a car. 514 00:23:14,518 --> 00:23:19,481 - Dean was high profile, naturally drew attention. 515 00:23:19,523 --> 00:23:21,275 The law enforcement officers and park rangers 516 00:23:21,358 --> 00:23:23,694 would have known Dean, if caught BASE jumping, 517 00:23:23,777 --> 00:23:25,529 would represent a big catch. 518 00:23:30,618 --> 00:23:33,704 They are spending years now of manpower, 519 00:23:33,787 --> 00:23:35,164 but I do what I do well, 520 00:23:35,205 --> 00:23:37,291 and they're not going to catch me. 521 00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:39,335 - I mean, I think Dean had to have something 522 00:23:39,418 --> 00:23:40,461 to rebel against. 523 00:23:40,544 --> 00:23:41,503 - Yeah. 524 00:23:41,545 --> 00:23:43,005 - He saw that ranger as a sort of oppressive, 525 00:23:43,047 --> 00:23:45,424 authoritarian, tool-like figure. 526 00:23:45,507 --> 00:23:46,926 That was his word, the tool. 527 00:23:47,009 --> 00:23:50,512 - If you're looking at this, tool, I'm not very happy. 528 00:23:50,596 --> 00:23:51,639 Yeah. 529 00:23:51,722 --> 00:23:53,182 - Which I think means, like, tools 530 00:23:53,265 --> 00:23:55,017 of fascist oppression or something. 531 00:23:55,059 --> 00:23:56,685 - Yeah, we're going to jump this ding, ding, 532 00:23:56,727 --> 00:24:00,105 ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, diggity dog spire. 533 00:24:00,189 --> 00:24:03,192 And this was one way to sock it to the tool. 534 00:24:03,233 --> 00:24:04,610 Here it is in your face, 535 00:24:04,693 --> 00:24:06,487 and there's nothing you can do about it. 536 00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:08,155 - Jumping the spire. 537 00:24:08,238 --> 00:24:10,574 [yelping] Jumping the spire. 538 00:24:13,077 --> 00:24:15,871 - That was fucking awesome. 539 00:24:15,913 --> 00:24:18,415 BASE jumped with Dean today. 540 00:24:18,499 --> 00:24:20,000 - Yeah. - He's the man. 541 00:24:20,084 --> 00:24:21,377 - Yeah. 542 00:24:21,418 --> 00:24:23,212 - Flying with the fucking ravens. 543 00:24:23,295 --> 00:24:26,215 [ethereal music] 544 00:24:26,298 --> 00:24:27,841 ♪ ♪ 545 00:24:27,925 --> 00:24:29,426 - It had been a couple of years 546 00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:31,929 since the whole Delicate Arch scandal 547 00:24:32,012 --> 00:24:35,599 where Dean had lost his hero status. 548 00:24:35,683 --> 00:24:39,561 But now he was something even better. 549 00:24:39,603 --> 00:24:42,398 He was a fucking antihero. 550 00:24:42,439 --> 00:24:44,900 - He was even more like that revolutionary, 551 00:24:44,984 --> 00:24:47,695 that outsider, that outcast. 552 00:24:47,778 --> 00:24:49,989 - He became somewhat paranoid, 553 00:24:50,072 --> 00:24:54,326 and he stayed within this very tight-knit, 554 00:24:54,410 --> 00:24:57,162 secretive group of people. 555 00:24:57,246 --> 00:25:01,667 - People worshipped Dean, and they followed Dean. 556 00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:03,419 I mean, we all did. - Yeah. 557 00:25:03,502 --> 00:25:06,922 - His energy was so fucking intense. 558 00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:10,884 - The dark parts of Dean, the mystical part of Dean, 559 00:25:10,968 --> 00:25:13,971 was coming to the fore. 560 00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:17,099 - And he was convinced that he had some connection 561 00:25:17,182 --> 00:25:18,308 with fucking ravens. 562 00:25:18,392 --> 00:25:21,437 [ravens cawing] 563 00:25:23,647 --> 00:25:26,775 - You looked at him, he looked kind of like a raven. 564 00:25:26,817 --> 00:25:31,071 They both kind of had this gothic, doomsday vibe to them. 565 00:25:31,155 --> 00:25:33,657 - There was something magical about Dean, 566 00:25:33,741 --> 00:25:37,327 but there was also this darkness that lurked inside. 567 00:25:37,411 --> 00:25:41,540 - That's why we started calling him the Dark Wizard. 568 00:25:41,623 --> 00:25:42,958 - The Dark Wizard. 569 00:25:43,042 --> 00:25:46,712 - He drew his strength from this dark energy. 570 00:25:46,795 --> 00:25:52,551 - The whole Dark Wizard thing and the magnetism around Dean 571 00:25:52,634 --> 00:25:55,220 was very cultlike. 572 00:25:55,304 --> 00:25:56,972 - Dean had been dominating the scene 573 00:25:57,056 --> 00:25:59,641 in Yosemite for almost a decade, 574 00:25:59,725 --> 00:26:02,603 soloing harder than anyone, 575 00:26:02,686 --> 00:26:05,439 BASE jumping harder than anyone. 576 00:26:05,522 --> 00:26:07,107 - He was still the most badass motherfucker 577 00:26:07,191 --> 00:26:08,400 in the Valley, right? 578 00:26:08,484 --> 00:26:09,735 - Nice. 579 00:26:09,818 --> 00:26:11,361 - And we thought we would never see anyone 580 00:26:11,445 --> 00:26:14,490 challenge Potter's dominance. 581 00:26:15,699 --> 00:26:18,786 But, you know, nothing is forever. 582 00:26:18,869 --> 00:26:19,828 The next generation comes, 583 00:26:19,912 --> 00:26:21,830 and they push the limits further. 584 00:26:21,872 --> 00:26:23,332 - Common slate, take one mark. 585 00:26:25,084 --> 00:26:26,335 - My name is Alex Honnold. 586 00:26:26,376 --> 00:26:28,962 I'm a professional rock climber. 587 00:26:29,046 --> 00:26:30,714 Growing up in suburban California, 588 00:26:30,798 --> 00:26:35,344 my climbing gym showed VHS climbing films on loop. 589 00:26:35,427 --> 00:26:39,848 So I would have been 14 when "Masters of Stone V" came out. 590 00:26:39,890 --> 00:26:44,353 Watching Dean Potter going up a huge wall by himself, 591 00:26:44,394 --> 00:26:46,522 looking like a total stud-- 592 00:26:46,563 --> 00:26:49,942 yeah, this had a big impression on 14-year-old me. 593 00:26:50,025 --> 00:26:52,361 I just remember thinking that is what 594 00:26:52,402 --> 00:26:53,654 badass climbing looks like. 595 00:26:53,737 --> 00:26:55,531 I want to be able to do that. 596 00:26:55,572 --> 00:26:59,118 When I was 19, I dropped out of college, went to Yosemite, 597 00:26:59,201 --> 00:27:01,954 following directly in Dean's footprints. 598 00:27:02,037 --> 00:27:03,330 Basically, I wanted to climb everything 599 00:27:03,413 --> 00:27:04,540 that Dean had ever climbed. 600 00:27:04,581 --> 00:27:07,709 - Alex shows up in the Valley, hungry to repeat 601 00:27:07,793 --> 00:27:10,212 the achievements of his idol, 602 00:27:10,254 --> 00:27:12,881 and he starts ticking them off pretty fast. 603 00:27:12,923 --> 00:27:15,843 We're, like, who the fuck is this kid, you know? 604 00:27:15,926 --> 00:27:19,221 - When I got to Yosemite, all the cool kids, 605 00:27:19,304 --> 00:27:21,557 the Stone Monkeys were spending a lot of time 606 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,059 enjoying themselves, BASE jumping, 607 00:27:24,101 --> 00:27:25,561 dropping acid and doing rope jumps. 608 00:27:25,602 --> 00:27:28,730 - Life's pretty good here in Yosemite Valley, baby. 609 00:27:28,814 --> 00:27:31,525 Whoo! Yeah! 610 00:27:31,608 --> 00:27:35,195 - Yeah! - Whoo! 611 00:27:35,279 --> 00:27:36,238 - I came to climbing 612 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,116 with a slightly more focused approach. 613 00:27:39,199 --> 00:27:41,410 I would show up in Yosemite with, you know, 614 00:27:41,493 --> 00:27:42,744 goals and, like, spreadsheets. 615 00:27:42,828 --> 00:27:45,038 I was really into fitness and training, 616 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,499 doing 150 pullups before bed every night. 617 00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:49,376 Highlining and BASE jumping, 618 00:27:49,459 --> 00:27:50,669 I didn't do any of those things. 619 00:27:50,752 --> 00:27:52,921 - There was a bit of a generational change. 620 00:27:53,005 --> 00:27:55,507 We were kind of countercultural 621 00:27:55,591 --> 00:27:56,675 and fuck the rules. 622 00:27:57,968 --> 00:28:00,262 - Hey. How are you doing? 623 00:28:00,304 --> 00:28:02,264 - Alex was this dork. 624 00:28:02,347 --> 00:28:04,016 - Do you have girls in here a lot? 625 00:28:04,099 --> 00:28:06,560 - Do I look like I have girls in here a lot? 626 00:28:06,643 --> 00:28:08,770 - But we all saw this talent. 627 00:28:08,854 --> 00:28:11,773 - I filmed with Eric Perlman from "Masters of Stone VI." 628 00:28:11,857 --> 00:28:13,275 It was a big deal for me to make it 629 00:28:13,358 --> 00:28:15,402 into one of the "Masters of Stone" movies. 630 00:28:15,444 --> 00:28:17,446 - Oh, there's this new kid, Alex Honnold. 631 00:28:17,529 --> 00:28:19,156 Dean was actually jealous. 632 00:28:19,239 --> 00:28:21,783 He said, well, I free solo those. 633 00:28:21,825 --> 00:28:24,077 I said, yeah, but I kind of want to open the doors 634 00:28:24,161 --> 00:28:25,287 to some other people. 635 00:28:25,329 --> 00:28:28,749 And I don't think he really took it that well. 636 00:28:28,832 --> 00:28:31,793 - So this is--this is my original climbing journal. 637 00:28:31,835 --> 00:28:35,923 It is a log of everything I've ever climbed. 638 00:28:36,006 --> 00:28:37,841 Has no emotional component to it. 639 00:28:37,925 --> 00:28:39,676 It's just a list of routes. 640 00:28:41,261 --> 00:28:42,429 Oh, here we go. 641 00:28:42,512 --> 00:28:43,805 Hong Kong Phooey. 642 00:28:43,889 --> 00:28:46,642 - Hong Kong Phooey is a climb of legend, 643 00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:49,269 Dean Potter's visionary first ascent, 644 00:28:49,353 --> 00:28:50,646 the hardest crack in the desert. 645 00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:51,772 - Fuck! 646 00:28:51,855 --> 00:28:53,482 - This was a climb that took Dean 647 00:28:53,523 --> 00:28:56,109 months of brutal effort. 648 00:28:56,193 --> 00:28:57,819 - [straining] 649 00:28:57,903 --> 00:29:00,113 - The crack was so narrow that he had 650 00:29:00,197 --> 00:29:02,616 to jam his bare toes into it... 651 00:29:02,699 --> 00:29:05,452 - Fuck! 652 00:29:05,494 --> 00:29:08,580 - Pop Vicodin just to deal with the pain. 653 00:29:08,664 --> 00:29:10,582 - [spitting] 654 00:29:10,666 --> 00:29:14,002 - I made my way to Utah seeking out Hong Kong Phooey. 655 00:29:14,086 --> 00:29:15,462 I climbed it. 656 00:29:15,545 --> 00:29:17,172 I don't know, I think I did it second go. 657 00:29:17,214 --> 00:29:18,173 I think. 658 00:29:18,257 --> 00:29:19,675 Like, why do you take off one shoe? 659 00:29:19,716 --> 00:29:20,676 Why do you take Vicodin? 660 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:21,718 Why do you do all these things? 661 00:29:21,802 --> 00:29:23,637 I was just kind of like, yeah, I wore my shoes. 662 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:24,888 It was great. It's fun, you know. 663 00:29:24,972 --> 00:29:26,515 I'll go climbing again tomorrow. 664 00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:28,892 With Dean, I built him up on this pedestal, 665 00:29:28,976 --> 00:29:31,144 this incredible mythical figure. 666 00:29:31,186 --> 00:29:33,021 And then, when I started to repeat some of his routes, 667 00:29:33,105 --> 00:29:34,356 I was, like, oh, you know. 668 00:29:34,398 --> 00:29:36,066 It turns out that he's still just a climber, 669 00:29:36,149 --> 00:29:39,695 and anybody can go climb his routes if they try. 670 00:29:39,778 --> 00:29:42,572 - Honnold was quoted in this "Climbing" magazine article, 671 00:29:42,656 --> 00:29:44,533 basically called Dean's climb easy. 672 00:29:44,616 --> 00:29:46,326 - Your quote was, 673 00:29:46,410 --> 00:29:48,495 "I wouldn't even call them accomplishments, 674 00:29:48,578 --> 00:29:50,038 "just another day of climbing. 675 00:29:50,122 --> 00:29:52,124 "If you don't put any work into something, 676 00:29:52,207 --> 00:29:53,709 it's not nearly as meaningful." 677 00:29:53,792 --> 00:29:55,335 - [chuckles] 678 00:29:55,419 --> 00:29:57,045 Yeah, I can see how the quote would 679 00:29:57,087 --> 00:29:58,213 rub somebody the wrong way. 680 00:29:58,297 --> 00:30:00,716 I think now in retrospect, I would phrase it 681 00:30:00,757 --> 00:30:02,509 a little bit differently, just so that it pays 682 00:30:02,592 --> 00:30:03,885 proper respect to the effort that Dean put 683 00:30:03,969 --> 00:30:05,887 into establishing the route. 684 00:30:05,929 --> 00:30:08,015 - Dean definitely read that. 685 00:30:08,098 --> 00:30:10,392 Ooh. 686 00:30:10,434 --> 00:30:14,062 Here's a new kid on the block denigrating his achievement. 687 00:30:14,146 --> 00:30:17,691 - Nobody had challenged Dean like that. 688 00:30:17,774 --> 00:30:21,403 This is no longer somebody paying homage to their hero. 689 00:30:21,486 --> 00:30:24,197 This is someone coming for their spot. 690 00:30:24,281 --> 00:30:25,574 [tense music] 691 00:30:25,615 --> 00:30:27,075 - At that point, I was young. 692 00:30:27,159 --> 00:30:30,078 I was hungry, thinking, what can I do that's new, 693 00:30:30,162 --> 00:30:31,288 that's a step further? 694 00:30:31,371 --> 00:30:33,582 How can I make a splash? 695 00:30:33,665 --> 00:30:36,585 [adventurous music] 696 00:30:36,668 --> 00:30:40,630 ♪ ♪ 697 00:30:40,714 --> 00:30:43,133 - Moonlight Buttress is a big wall 698 00:30:43,216 --> 00:30:46,219 in Zion National Park. 699 00:30:46,303 --> 00:30:50,265 When Honnold went up there, it was the proudest solo 700 00:30:50,307 --> 00:30:53,727 that had ever been done. 701 00:30:53,769 --> 00:30:56,605 - There was something else about this guy 702 00:30:56,646 --> 00:30:58,523 unlike anything you'd ever seen. 703 00:30:58,607 --> 00:30:59,941 - [straining] 704 00:30:59,983 --> 00:31:03,779 - Dean is all about confronting the fear. 705 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:07,699 With Honnold, it was like this weird ability 706 00:31:07,783 --> 00:31:11,411 to not be afraid. 707 00:31:11,495 --> 00:31:13,705 - Oh, check out the no-hand knee bar, baby. 708 00:31:13,789 --> 00:31:15,082 Yeah. 709 00:31:15,123 --> 00:31:18,293 I just don't feel fear as viscerally as other people. 710 00:31:18,335 --> 00:31:20,295 It's all just constructs in your head, 711 00:31:20,337 --> 00:31:21,463 shit that you make up. 712 00:31:21,546 --> 00:31:22,798 - People were stunned. 713 00:31:22,881 --> 00:31:25,425 ♪ ♪ 714 00:31:25,467 --> 00:31:29,471 This kid, who is kind of a one in a billion climbing freak, 715 00:31:29,513 --> 00:31:34,101 dropped right into Dean's wheelhouse, 716 00:31:34,184 --> 00:31:36,645 playing precisely his game. 717 00:31:36,686 --> 00:31:39,356 For someone who had a monstrous, colossal, 718 00:31:39,439 --> 00:31:42,109 psychotic ego, that has to have been 719 00:31:42,192 --> 00:31:44,778 massively destabilizing. 720 00:31:44,861 --> 00:31:46,822 - He always said he hated the fact 721 00:31:46,863 --> 00:31:48,198 that he was competitive. 722 00:31:48,281 --> 00:31:50,659 - That competitiveness, oh, it was there, 723 00:31:50,742 --> 00:31:52,452 deep down inside of him. 724 00:31:52,536 --> 00:31:54,329 - [exhaling] 725 00:31:54,413 --> 00:31:57,165 - Honnold lit a fire under Dean's ass. 726 00:31:57,249 --> 00:31:58,417 - [exhaling] 727 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:00,085 Yeah, yeah. 728 00:32:00,168 --> 00:32:03,130 ♪ ♪ 729 00:32:03,171 --> 00:32:06,925 - He was trying to figure out, where is my limit? 730 00:32:07,008 --> 00:32:08,176 - [screams] 731 00:32:08,218 --> 00:32:12,097 - How far can I push it and stay alive? 732 00:32:14,015 --> 00:32:16,476 - [exhaling] 733 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:17,686 Fuck. 734 00:32:17,727 --> 00:32:18,687 [groans] 735 00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:20,021 - But I remember thinking-- 736 00:32:20,105 --> 00:32:22,149 - Fuck! 737 00:32:22,232 --> 00:32:25,026 - I'm not sure if he has a plan. 738 00:32:25,068 --> 00:32:27,028 - ♪ Hong Kong Phooey ♪ 739 00:32:27,070 --> 00:32:29,156 - ♪ Quicker than the human eye ♪ 740 00:32:29,239 --> 00:32:32,534 [vocalizing] 741 00:32:32,617 --> 00:32:33,743 ♪ Bow, wow, wow ♪ 742 00:32:33,827 --> 00:32:35,912 - Nobody should try tightrope walking 743 00:32:35,996 --> 00:32:37,539 unless he works for a circus. 744 00:32:37,581 --> 00:32:39,833 See what I mean? 745 00:32:39,916 --> 00:32:41,668 - Whoa! 746 00:32:41,751 --> 00:32:44,421 - But, of course, there was something cooking 747 00:32:44,504 --> 00:32:46,882 in that manic brain of his. 748 00:32:46,965 --> 00:32:49,718 - He knew that, if he was going to try to one-up Alex 749 00:32:49,759 --> 00:32:53,388 through soloing harder things, he was going to die. 750 00:32:53,430 --> 00:32:56,057 He knew what his limit was soloing. 751 00:32:56,141 --> 00:32:59,394 Alex is a younger, stronger, better climber than he was 752 00:32:59,436 --> 00:33:02,230 and a better soloist than anyone's ever been. 753 00:33:02,272 --> 00:33:04,065 [tense music] 754 00:33:04,149 --> 00:33:08,236 But Dean has all these other skills. 755 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:09,988 He's got really good vision. 756 00:33:10,071 --> 00:33:11,823 If you want to get into that competition with Alex, 757 00:33:11,907 --> 00:33:13,492 you're just going to have to focus everything 758 00:33:13,575 --> 00:33:16,495 that you've got, every resource you have. 759 00:33:16,578 --> 00:33:20,207 The Dark Wizard was going to use his alchemy to create 760 00:33:20,290 --> 00:33:23,585 something new, some dark arts. 761 00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:25,921 - As humans, we are so limited by the fear 762 00:33:26,004 --> 00:33:28,089 we have of falling to our death, 763 00:33:28,131 --> 00:33:31,885 and, like, my mind's spinning on how to change that. 764 00:33:31,927 --> 00:33:34,095 - If you free solo and you're climbing without a rope, 765 00:33:34,179 --> 00:33:35,764 you fall, you die. 766 00:33:35,805 --> 00:33:40,227 So generally you climb a good notch below your limit. 767 00:33:40,310 --> 00:33:42,062 But imagine if you could find a way 768 00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:43,605 to really push your limits. 769 00:33:43,688 --> 00:33:45,941 Instead of certain death, you've got a chance. 770 00:33:45,982 --> 00:33:49,319 - How can I turn my biggest fear into, you know, 771 00:33:49,402 --> 00:33:51,780 something I'm comfortable with? 772 00:33:51,863 --> 00:33:53,782 - Dean came up with the concept 773 00:33:53,823 --> 00:33:55,575 of climbing without a rope 774 00:33:55,659 --> 00:33:57,118 but with a parachute instead. 775 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,037 - If I fall off the rock, I think I have 776 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:00,622 a fair chance to survive 777 00:34:00,664 --> 00:34:03,625 through this BASE free solo, you know? 778 00:34:03,667 --> 00:34:06,920 I call it freeBASE. 779 00:34:07,003 --> 00:34:09,630 - BASE jumping is already dangerous enough, 780 00:34:09,714 --> 00:34:14,636 but the freeBASE thing just seemed so out there. 781 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,054 [suspenseful music] 782 00:34:17,138 --> 00:34:18,723 - Dean had been looking for a place 783 00:34:18,806 --> 00:34:22,310 to do some test runs of this idea. 784 00:34:22,351 --> 00:34:23,937 He decided to go to Europe, 785 00:34:24,020 --> 00:34:26,606 where it was legal to BASE jump-- 786 00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:28,483 the first proof of concept. 787 00:34:28,525 --> 00:34:32,195 [wind whistling] 788 00:34:36,866 --> 00:34:38,493 - [straining] 789 00:34:38,577 --> 00:34:41,329 When I'm on the wall climbing, 790 00:34:41,413 --> 00:34:43,998 knowing I'm going to take a fall, 791 00:34:44,081 --> 00:34:48,335 I'm just feeling real scared and real exposed out there. 792 00:34:50,422 --> 00:34:52,966 Sure, I have the BASE rig, 793 00:34:53,049 --> 00:34:56,469 but that's still super uncertain. 794 00:34:56,553 --> 00:34:58,722 [breathing heavily] 795 00:34:58,805 --> 00:35:02,350 I'm fighting to control the adrenaline 796 00:35:02,434 --> 00:35:05,353 pumping through me. 797 00:35:05,437 --> 00:35:08,440 [breathing heavily] 798 00:35:08,523 --> 00:35:12,694 ♪ ♪ 799 00:35:12,777 --> 00:35:16,364 I'm kind of way over-amping. 800 00:35:16,448 --> 00:35:17,949 Whoo! 801 00:35:23,788 --> 00:35:25,999 [shouting] 802 00:35:26,082 --> 00:35:29,002 [tense music] 803 00:35:29,085 --> 00:35:31,046 ♪ ♪ 804 00:35:31,087 --> 00:35:33,048 - Fucking intense, man. - [laughs] 805 00:35:33,131 --> 00:35:35,925 With freeBASE, I love the idea 806 00:35:36,009 --> 00:35:39,721 that I can change the worst possible thing 807 00:35:39,804 --> 00:35:43,350 to the best possible thing, dying to flying. 808 00:35:44,934 --> 00:35:48,563 The biggest danger is hitting the wall. 809 00:35:48,647 --> 00:35:51,232 [grunts] 810 00:35:51,274 --> 00:35:53,860 I need to spin my body 811 00:35:53,902 --> 00:35:56,071 and enter into the tracking position 812 00:35:56,154 --> 00:35:58,031 with my hands at my side 813 00:35:58,114 --> 00:36:00,533 to rocket away from the wall. 814 00:36:04,788 --> 00:36:07,749 It's all really difficult to do, 815 00:36:07,791 --> 00:36:12,462 but I want to get to a point where I feel a comfort level. 816 00:36:14,798 --> 00:36:19,052 At least in my mind, this allows me to try things 817 00:36:19,135 --> 00:36:21,596 that I would never try to free solo. 818 00:36:21,638 --> 00:36:24,432 I think it has good potential to be 819 00:36:24,474 --> 00:36:26,935 taken further and further. 820 00:36:27,018 --> 00:36:29,270 - Once he knew it was possible, 821 00:36:29,312 --> 00:36:32,607 he wanted to take this somewhere iconic. 822 00:36:32,649 --> 00:36:35,985 - He chooses this route in Switzerland on the Eiger, 823 00:36:36,069 --> 00:36:38,780 this mythical place in climbing lore. 824 00:36:38,822 --> 00:36:39,906 - The Eiger. 825 00:36:39,989 --> 00:36:41,783 On its north buttress, 826 00:36:41,866 --> 00:36:46,121 there's a shield of blue limestone. 827 00:36:46,204 --> 00:36:48,957 It's the perfect route for the first freeBASE. 828 00:36:51,418 --> 00:36:52,794 - Up through here. 829 00:36:54,921 --> 00:36:57,090 - When I heard about the freeBASE concept 830 00:36:57,173 --> 00:36:58,299 on the Eiger, 831 00:36:58,383 --> 00:36:59,968 it's an incredible idea. 832 00:37:00,051 --> 00:37:02,011 And I thought, from the beginning, 833 00:37:02,095 --> 00:37:03,263 it was possible. 834 00:37:03,346 --> 00:37:05,473 I got a call from Dean, and he said, 835 00:37:05,557 --> 00:37:08,643 I have some money for working on a documentary. 836 00:37:08,685 --> 00:37:11,312 He has this whole production company involved, 837 00:37:11,354 --> 00:37:13,440 but he wanted to keep things small, 838 00:37:13,523 --> 00:37:16,067 just a one-man camera crew. 839 00:37:16,151 --> 00:37:18,319 We had been friends for a lot of years. 840 00:37:18,361 --> 00:37:22,240 And I had been there for most of Dean's big ascents. 841 00:37:22,323 --> 00:37:24,659 People would call me the Dean Whisperer 842 00:37:24,743 --> 00:37:28,580 'cause I could navigate the mood swings. 843 00:37:28,663 --> 00:37:31,166 When he asked whether or not I'd want to come along 844 00:37:31,249 --> 00:37:34,002 and film it, I instantly said yes. 845 00:37:34,085 --> 00:37:37,672 [bells ringing]] 846 00:37:37,756 --> 00:37:40,175 When I joined him in Switzerland, 847 00:37:40,258 --> 00:37:43,178 he had shaved his head. 848 00:37:43,219 --> 00:37:45,847 Gave him kind of a aggro look. 849 00:37:45,930 --> 00:37:50,477 Instead of hippie Dean, it was like Dean here to do business. 850 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,480 [adventurous music] 851 00:37:53,521 --> 00:37:54,689 ♪ ♪ 852 00:37:54,773 --> 00:37:57,692 Dean wanted to BASE jump as much as possible 853 00:37:57,734 --> 00:37:59,694 to prepare himself. 854 00:37:59,778 --> 00:38:01,821 [indistinct chatter] 855 00:38:01,863 --> 00:38:05,325 We stayed down beneath the Eiger in Lauterbrunnen. 856 00:38:05,408 --> 00:38:06,576 - See ya. 857 00:38:06,659 --> 00:38:08,036 - That whole area is like 858 00:38:08,077 --> 00:38:11,372 the BASE jumping capital of Europe. 859 00:38:11,414 --> 00:38:14,292 Dean was enamored with the BASE scene there. 860 00:38:14,375 --> 00:38:15,960 [laughter] 861 00:38:16,044 --> 00:38:20,381 But in my opinion, the whole scene was pretty disturbing. 862 00:38:20,423 --> 00:38:22,634 It was like hanging out with drug addicts. 863 00:38:24,969 --> 00:38:27,555 - No, and I've never smoked crack either. 864 00:38:27,597 --> 00:38:28,848 Yeah. 865 00:38:28,932 --> 00:38:30,350 You'd be hanging out with people, 866 00:38:30,433 --> 00:38:32,811 and they'd go out BASE jumping. 867 00:38:32,894 --> 00:38:34,854 Somebody would die. 868 00:38:34,938 --> 00:38:38,566 And like, people just didn't really talk about it. 869 00:38:38,650 --> 00:38:41,444 They just kept jumping, kind of joking. 870 00:38:43,947 --> 00:38:46,115 Hopefully not splattered. 871 00:38:46,199 --> 00:38:47,242 - [laughs] 872 00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:49,702 - Set. Go. 873 00:38:49,786 --> 00:38:53,748 - One morning, things didn't go as planned. 874 00:38:53,790 --> 00:38:56,584 He kind of got this side-to-side wobble. 875 00:38:56,668 --> 00:38:59,712 [wind rushing] 876 00:39:02,465 --> 00:39:04,300 - Oh, damn it! 877 00:39:21,526 --> 00:39:23,027 - [groans] 878 00:39:26,447 --> 00:39:28,825 - A bunch of BASE jumpers showed up. 879 00:39:30,159 --> 00:39:31,202 - 25 meters, yeah. 880 00:39:31,286 --> 00:39:33,371 - They all thought it was kind of a funny thing. 881 00:39:33,454 --> 00:39:35,665 [laughter] 882 00:39:36,708 --> 00:39:37,959 - Hey! 883 00:39:38,001 --> 00:39:39,627 - It's quite amusing to see the best climber in the world 884 00:39:39,669 --> 00:39:41,045 get stuck in a tree. 885 00:39:44,674 --> 00:39:46,342 - Yeah, it was lucky. 886 00:39:46,426 --> 00:39:50,847 - Dean had this really out-there emotional energy. 887 00:39:50,930 --> 00:39:55,018 It worried me, his behavior, his decision-making. 888 00:39:55,101 --> 00:39:58,021 [ominous music] 889 00:39:58,104 --> 00:40:00,648 ♪ ♪ 890 00:40:00,732 --> 00:40:05,028 Eventually we headed up to the Eiger for the freeBASE. 891 00:40:05,111 --> 00:40:12,160 ♪ ♪ 892 00:40:16,831 --> 00:40:21,085 He wanted to climb this route, Deep Blue Sea. 893 00:40:21,169 --> 00:40:22,754 You do this traverse. 894 00:40:22,837 --> 00:40:26,299 All of a sudden, it drops off a couple thousand feet. 895 00:40:26,382 --> 00:40:30,178 Then you climb up this headwall to the top. 896 00:40:30,219 --> 00:40:33,932 Wild to think about free soloing this route 897 00:40:34,015 --> 00:40:36,601 with nothing but a parachute to save himself. 898 00:40:40,229 --> 00:40:44,901 Dean rappelled in to practice the climb. 899 00:40:46,611 --> 00:40:50,031 - [breathing heavily] 900 00:40:50,114 --> 00:40:51,741 - The climbing was more difficult 901 00:40:51,824 --> 00:40:53,493 than he was expecting. 902 00:40:55,161 --> 00:40:58,665 - [breathing heavily] 903 00:41:00,792 --> 00:41:03,711 - He was having a hard time doing the moves. 904 00:41:03,753 --> 00:41:08,257 ♪ ♪ 905 00:41:08,341 --> 00:41:10,843 He needed to practice a lot more. 906 00:41:10,927 --> 00:41:14,889 ♪ ♪ 907 00:41:14,931 --> 00:41:17,058 But, you know, the weather would come in, 908 00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:19,686 and then the rock would stay wet for days. 909 00:41:22,647 --> 00:41:25,400 - Don't have to go very far for the water. 910 00:41:25,483 --> 00:41:29,028 Drinking from the belly of the Eiger. 911 00:41:29,112 --> 00:41:33,366 - We built a camp right on the side of the Eiger. 912 00:41:33,449 --> 00:41:34,909 Anything you want to say? 913 00:41:34,993 --> 00:41:36,494 - It feels pretty claustrophobic 914 00:41:36,577 --> 00:41:37,996 inside this fog. 915 00:41:38,079 --> 00:41:40,915 [thunder rumbling] 916 00:41:40,999 --> 00:41:43,751 [laughing] Ooh, lightning. 917 00:41:43,793 --> 00:41:45,086 Could be setting in for another 918 00:41:45,128 --> 00:41:47,505 14 or 16 hours of sleep. 919 00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:52,427 - After days festering up there, 920 00:41:52,510 --> 00:41:56,597 Dean would kind of go to a dark place, 921 00:41:56,681 --> 00:42:00,226 just stare off into space for hours. 922 00:42:02,353 --> 00:42:06,816 I think he felt pressure to do this climb, 923 00:42:06,899 --> 00:42:11,612 to make this film, and stay in the limelight. 924 00:42:11,654 --> 00:42:15,366 Why not--why not just solo stuff you can control? 925 00:42:32,008 --> 00:42:34,260 [ominous music] 926 00:42:34,343 --> 00:42:36,971 - It all came to a head one day. 927 00:42:37,013 --> 00:42:38,556 He was, like, getting really impatient. 928 00:42:38,639 --> 00:42:41,476 The weather had been bad for a long time, 929 00:42:41,517 --> 00:42:44,479 and he's like, I'm going to go for it. 930 00:42:44,562 --> 00:42:46,981 ♪ ♪ 931 00:42:47,065 --> 00:42:49,650 It didn't seem good to me. 932 00:42:49,692 --> 00:42:53,654 It didn't seem like he was in the right headspace. 933 00:42:53,738 --> 00:42:58,159 ♪ ♪ 934 00:42:58,242 --> 00:43:02,371 He starts out on the traverse. 935 00:43:02,455 --> 00:43:05,333 I'm up above on this fixed line, 936 00:43:05,374 --> 00:43:07,335 and there's clouds moving in. 937 00:43:07,376 --> 00:43:11,631 ♪ ♪ 938 00:43:11,714 --> 00:43:15,343 The problem was, if he does fall, 939 00:43:15,384 --> 00:43:19,013 he needs to be able to see his landing zone 940 00:43:19,097 --> 00:43:22,100 and any obstacles that could be in the way. 941 00:43:22,183 --> 00:43:25,103 - [breathing heavily] 942 00:43:25,186 --> 00:43:31,818 ♪ ♪ 943 00:43:31,901 --> 00:43:34,821 - I was hoping he would climb back across 944 00:43:34,904 --> 00:43:39,659 and bail on the attempt, but he kept going. 945 00:43:39,742 --> 00:43:46,749 ♪ ♪ 946 00:43:50,837 --> 00:43:53,381 He was forcing it. 947 00:43:53,422 --> 00:43:55,550 It just felt like really forcing it. 948 00:43:55,591 --> 00:44:01,973 ♪ ♪ 949 00:44:03,182 --> 00:44:06,227 And he gets up to, like, the hardest section. 950 00:44:06,269 --> 00:44:12,066 ♪ ♪ 951 00:44:12,108 --> 00:44:14,735 And he has this sequence he has to nail. 952 00:44:14,777 --> 00:44:21,826 ♪ ♪ 953 00:44:34,172 --> 00:44:36,757 - [grunts] 954 00:44:36,841 --> 00:44:38,384 - He blows his sequence. 955 00:44:41,929 --> 00:44:43,514 - Fuck. 956 00:44:43,598 --> 00:44:46,350 - And he looks at me like deer in the headlights like, fuck. 957 00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:47,602 I'm fucked. I can't-- 958 00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:50,104 he couldn't reverse the move he was doing. 959 00:44:50,146 --> 00:44:54,567 But with the clouds, he couldn't jump off. 960 00:44:54,650 --> 00:44:57,445 He's like, you got to come get me. 961 00:44:57,486 --> 00:45:00,656 - Jim, drop the end. 962 00:45:00,740 --> 00:45:01,949 - OK. 963 00:45:02,033 --> 00:45:03,910 I've got all the rope coiled underneath me, 964 00:45:03,993 --> 00:45:06,329 and he's like, dude, hurry, I'm barely in here. 965 00:45:06,412 --> 00:45:10,291 - If you don't drop the end, I die. 966 00:45:10,374 --> 00:45:12,251 - OK, I will. 967 00:45:12,335 --> 00:45:16,505 - Please, Jim, will you drop the frickin' end? 968 00:45:16,589 --> 00:45:18,424 - It's twisted. - Well, I--I-- 969 00:45:18,507 --> 00:45:19,800 I need it dropped. 970 00:45:19,842 --> 00:45:21,636 - Got a little slack to it, a whole bunch. 971 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:23,763 - More. More. 972 00:45:23,846 --> 00:45:25,431 More. 973 00:45:25,514 --> 00:45:27,391 Ahh, fucker. 974 00:45:27,475 --> 00:45:29,769 - Get the anchor. 975 00:45:29,810 --> 00:45:31,938 And then get down to him and I get near him, 976 00:45:32,021 --> 00:45:35,024 and he grabs onto my leg, like, onto my foot. 977 00:45:37,860 --> 00:45:40,821 And from my leg, he grabs my harness like that 978 00:45:40,905 --> 00:45:43,157 and clipped into the line 979 00:45:43,199 --> 00:45:45,326 and then rapped down to the ledge. 980 00:45:45,409 --> 00:45:48,829 - I'm going to dangle now, Jim. 981 00:45:48,871 --> 00:45:50,831 - I was really angry. 982 00:45:50,915 --> 00:45:52,833 I was like, tell me if I'm wrong, 983 00:45:52,917 --> 00:45:55,461 but everything about this today felt wrong, 984 00:45:55,544 --> 00:45:57,505 and you went anyway. 985 00:45:57,546 --> 00:46:01,217 And that was, like, the first time that-- 986 00:46:03,761 --> 00:46:05,179 I don't know. 987 00:46:05,221 --> 00:46:07,348 It was like the first time that had happened. 988 00:46:07,390 --> 00:46:11,227 [ominous music] 989 00:46:11,310 --> 00:46:14,355 And then it got worse 'cause I called him on it. 990 00:46:14,397 --> 00:46:17,900 And I said, if you're doing this for any other reason 991 00:46:17,984 --> 00:46:19,860 than you wanting to do this climb, 992 00:46:19,944 --> 00:46:22,571 you're an absolute fucking idiot. 993 00:46:22,655 --> 00:46:24,991 And he tweaked, of course. 994 00:46:25,074 --> 00:46:27,034 [laughing] 995 00:46:27,118 --> 00:46:30,955 Alpha male, being talked to like that. 996 00:46:31,038 --> 00:46:33,165 He said, well, at least we got the footage, 997 00:46:33,249 --> 00:46:35,710 and I'm like, dude, like, you know, 998 00:46:35,751 --> 00:46:38,212 there's a bigger picture here. 999 00:46:38,254 --> 00:46:40,214 I thought of the one thing I could do 1000 00:46:40,256 --> 00:46:42,717 that could really get his attention. 1001 00:46:42,758 --> 00:46:44,552 And I was like, I'm going to delete the footage. 1002 00:46:44,635 --> 00:46:47,346 He's like, you're not going to destroy my art! 1003 00:46:47,430 --> 00:46:51,225 He took a rock, and he, like, threw the rock at me. 1004 00:46:51,267 --> 00:46:52,727 And I'm like, you motherfucker, 1005 00:46:52,810 --> 00:46:54,228 and I put the camera down. 1006 00:46:54,270 --> 00:46:56,897 And I took a rock, and I threw it at him. 1007 00:46:56,939 --> 00:46:59,233 This whole time, this weather has been moving in, 1008 00:46:59,275 --> 00:47:03,070 and he's literally chasing me across the Eiger. 1009 00:47:03,112 --> 00:47:06,073 I ran off and hid. 1010 00:47:06,157 --> 00:47:08,784 Kind of, what the fuck am I doing up here? 1011 00:47:11,454 --> 00:47:15,082 Eventually the testosterone subsided. 1012 00:47:15,166 --> 00:47:17,793 I hear this voice, "I'm so angry! 1013 00:47:17,877 --> 00:47:19,920 I can't find my way down!" 1014 00:47:20,004 --> 00:47:22,423 [laughs] 1015 00:47:22,506 --> 00:47:23,799 And I think I yelled-- 1016 00:47:23,883 --> 00:47:25,968 I was like, dude, I love you. 1017 00:47:28,971 --> 00:47:32,224 We got back to camp. 1018 00:47:32,308 --> 00:47:36,228 He was embarrassed, really unhappy. 1019 00:47:39,148 --> 00:47:42,860 - I'm Dean Potter. 1020 00:47:42,943 --> 00:47:44,528 And I'm a great guy. 1021 00:47:44,612 --> 00:47:49,116 I don't have much value for my life. 1022 00:47:49,158 --> 00:47:53,371 Just going out on the solo end where I'm probably going 1023 00:47:53,454 --> 00:47:56,290 to eat it just for the camera. 1024 00:47:56,374 --> 00:47:58,501 That's pretty much what I come down to. 1025 00:48:09,512 --> 00:48:12,640 I don't think I'm a very good role model for children. 1026 00:48:14,850 --> 00:48:17,812 [somber music] 1027 00:48:17,853 --> 00:48:20,481 ♪ ♪ 1028 00:48:20,523 --> 00:48:22,983 - I think he cried all night. 1029 00:48:23,025 --> 00:48:30,032 ♪ ♪ 1030 00:48:30,032 --> 00:48:35,121 The next day, we wandered down 1031 00:48:35,204 --> 00:48:38,374 and took the train back to Lauterbrunnen. 1032 00:48:41,001 --> 00:48:43,838 I was, like, fully intending to leave. 1033 00:48:43,879 --> 00:48:45,714 I had had enough Dean. 1034 00:48:48,217 --> 00:48:52,138 But he wanted me to stay. 1035 00:48:52,221 --> 00:48:54,849 I felt like I was there partially 1036 00:48:54,890 --> 00:48:57,560 to try to help keep him alive. 1037 00:49:01,230 --> 00:49:03,149 - The weather had been bad for weeks and weeks, 1038 00:49:03,232 --> 00:49:07,736 and I was kind of freaking out that I couldn't do my thing. 1039 00:49:07,820 --> 00:49:11,699 Instead of being the zen master 1040 00:49:11,740 --> 00:49:12,867 I want to be or whatever, 1041 00:49:12,950 --> 00:49:16,787 I gave in to some thoughts that I should have said no to. 1042 00:49:18,372 --> 00:49:23,544 That's the whole underlying theme in my life is-- 1043 00:49:23,627 --> 00:49:26,172 is, no going over the line. 1044 00:49:26,255 --> 00:49:27,965 And then I did. 1045 00:49:30,134 --> 00:49:32,386 You know, the clouds were there. 1046 00:49:32,428 --> 00:49:35,347 You're going to die if you fall into clouds. 1047 00:49:35,431 --> 00:49:38,684 ♪ ♪ 1048 00:49:38,767 --> 00:49:40,728 Had to call for Jim to-- 1049 00:49:40,811 --> 00:49:44,815 to rescue me all because I was feeling the ego pulling 1050 00:49:44,899 --> 00:49:48,152 and couldn't control myself. 1051 00:49:48,235 --> 00:49:50,863 I was trying to push a little bit more than-- 1052 00:49:50,946 --> 00:49:52,364 than was there. 1053 00:49:52,448 --> 00:49:59,455 ♪ ♪ 1054 00:50:01,457 --> 00:50:06,629 - Dean, he was often asking himself, 1055 00:50:06,712 --> 00:50:11,759 what is my primary motivator here? 1056 00:50:11,842 --> 00:50:15,596 Why am I doing what I'm doing? 1057 00:50:15,638 --> 00:50:17,556 He had the devil on the shoulder 1058 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:22,269 of--of wanting to be better than somebody 1059 00:50:22,311 --> 00:50:26,774 or just wanting to be recognized. 1060 00:50:26,815 --> 00:50:29,902 And I think, in his most centered moments, 1061 00:50:29,985 --> 00:50:32,780 he knew it's getting in the way 1062 00:50:32,821 --> 00:50:34,740 of that pure expression 1063 00:50:34,782 --> 00:50:36,534 of what you're really capable of. 1064 00:50:36,617 --> 00:50:41,872 ♪ ♪ 1065 00:50:41,956 --> 00:50:45,000 [water splashing] 1066 00:50:49,964 --> 00:50:53,634 - A couple weeks later, the weather cleared. 1067 00:50:53,676 --> 00:50:58,138 Somehow he convinced me to go back up with him. 1068 00:50:58,180 --> 00:51:00,432 It's like drinking hard, you know. 1069 00:51:00,516 --> 00:51:02,810 Once you forget how bad it really was, 1070 00:51:02,893 --> 00:51:04,645 you're like, oh, yeah, why not? 1071 00:51:04,728 --> 00:51:07,690 [eerie music] 1072 00:51:07,773 --> 00:51:14,655 ♪ ♪ 1073 00:51:14,697 --> 00:51:17,741 [scratching] 1074 00:51:23,872 --> 00:51:26,000 - My whole body's tingling. 1075 00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:33,132 ♪ ♪ 1076 00:51:46,729 --> 00:51:49,732 [breathing heavily] 1077 00:51:53,193 --> 00:51:57,948 - And he gets up to the spot where I had to rescue him. 1078 00:51:58,032 --> 00:52:00,784 - [exhaling] 1079 00:52:00,868 --> 00:52:03,662 - He gets everything perfect. 1080 00:52:03,746 --> 00:52:10,753 ♪ ♪ 1081 00:53:12,064 --> 00:53:14,983 [exciting music] 1082 00:53:15,067 --> 00:53:22,116 ♪ ♪ 1083 00:53:28,747 --> 00:53:31,291 - Up there on the Eiger, kind of had 1084 00:53:31,375 --> 00:53:35,003 this crazy feeling where I knew I was doing 1085 00:53:35,087 --> 00:53:39,007 this totally out-there thing that I would never do 1086 00:53:39,091 --> 00:53:41,051 without the parachute on. 1087 00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:48,100 But with the spark of the idea and the intention 1088 00:53:48,183 --> 00:53:50,728 and the willpower, 1089 00:53:50,811 --> 00:53:54,565 the impossible can become reality. 1090 00:53:54,648 --> 00:54:01,697 ♪ ♪ 1091 00:54:02,698 --> 00:54:05,492 Whoo! 1092 00:54:05,576 --> 00:54:07,745 - It was kind of classic Dean. 1093 00:54:07,828 --> 00:54:12,583 The entire thing was a fiasco, and then he pulls it off. 1094 00:54:12,666 --> 00:54:14,877 - Three, two, one, see ya. 1095 00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:17,004 - It was mad genius. 1096 00:54:17,045 --> 00:54:20,007 [adventurous music] 1097 00:54:20,048 --> 00:54:27,097 ♪ ♪ 1098 00:54:37,232 --> 00:54:38,484 Whoo! 1099 00:54:38,567 --> 00:54:40,903 [electronic music] 1100 00:54:40,986 --> 00:54:44,198 - People thought this crazy freeBASEing shit 1101 00:54:44,281 --> 00:54:46,033 was so compelling. 1102 00:54:46,074 --> 00:54:48,535 - And it went to newspapers and television. 1103 00:54:48,619 --> 00:54:50,704 - Standing at the base of the world-famous Eiger 1104 00:54:50,788 --> 00:54:52,873 for Dean Potter's free solo BASE climb. 1105 00:54:52,956 --> 00:54:55,209 - And then Dean wanted to take the concept 1106 00:54:55,292 --> 00:54:57,002 to different disciplines. 1107 00:54:57,044 --> 00:55:00,172 - Combining BASE jumping with highlines, 1108 00:55:00,255 --> 00:55:03,217 losing the idea I once had 1109 00:55:03,258 --> 00:55:05,552 that falling off the line was death, 1110 00:55:05,636 --> 00:55:08,222 it's like a huge perception change. 1111 00:55:08,305 --> 00:55:11,058 - Pretty quickly, you know, Dean was everywhere. 1112 00:55:11,141 --> 00:55:13,560 - It wasn't just inventing new sports. 1113 00:55:13,602 --> 00:55:16,188 It was this Dark Wizard mystique. 1114 00:55:16,271 --> 00:55:18,857 - This man performs to no one. 1115 00:55:18,941 --> 00:55:20,943 - Some of that media attention, 1116 00:55:21,026 --> 00:55:22,528 it was pretty over the top. 1117 00:55:22,611 --> 00:55:26,073 - This is a man obsessed and willing to risk it all. 1118 00:55:26,156 --> 00:55:27,533 - But he didn't care. 1119 00:55:27,616 --> 00:55:29,409 He created this incredible spectacle 1120 00:55:29,493 --> 00:55:32,037 that took his shit to a new level. 1121 00:55:32,079 --> 00:55:33,914 - "Dean Potter: Adventurer of the Year." 1122 00:55:33,956 --> 00:55:36,708 - Dean Potter is a paradigm shift in athletic achievement. 1123 00:55:36,792 --> 00:55:38,085 - And now he's got some brand-new 1124 00:55:38,168 --> 00:55:39,586 sponsorship contracts. 1125 00:55:39,670 --> 00:55:42,422 He's, like, becoming more and more famous, 1126 00:55:42,506 --> 00:55:43,715 getting more and more money. 1127 00:55:43,799 --> 00:55:44,967 Like, bling. 1128 00:55:48,971 --> 00:55:53,475 [screaming] 1129 00:55:56,186 --> 00:55:57,688 - And everybody was impressed 1130 00:55:57,771 --> 00:56:01,191 except, of course, for one guy. 1131 00:56:01,275 --> 00:56:02,734 - I mean, it's easy to be the best 1132 00:56:02,818 --> 00:56:03,944 if you're the only one doing it. 1133 00:56:04,027 --> 00:56:06,905 And I feel like Dean really took that to darker pastures. 1134 00:56:06,989 --> 00:56:08,448 When I saw Dean freeBASEing, I was like, 1135 00:56:08,490 --> 00:56:09,867 that's a fun trick. 1136 00:56:09,950 --> 00:56:11,285 Like, that's a weird gimmick. 1137 00:56:11,326 --> 00:56:13,704 You know, it's, like, really beautiful to watch. 1138 00:56:13,787 --> 00:56:15,455 Like, it's really good on film. 1139 00:56:15,497 --> 00:56:18,458 But why don't you just solo the route without a parachute? 1140 00:56:18,542 --> 00:56:20,836 That's way cooler of an achievement. 1141 00:56:20,919 --> 00:56:22,921 FreeBASEing, highlining-- 1142 00:56:23,005 --> 00:56:24,673 like, leave it to circus performers 1143 00:56:24,756 --> 00:56:26,967 who probably do it better anyway.