- 14 hours ago
- #darkwizard
- #fantasyseries
- #magic
Embark on an epic journey into the shadows with the first episode of The Dark Wizard, Season 1. Witness the burgeoning power of a mysterious sorcerer as ancient prophecies begin to unfold.
This installment introduces a world teetering on the brink of magical upheaval. Explore the origins of dark arcane arts and the individuals who wield them. Discover the intricate lore and the looming threats that challenge established orders.
Prepare for a visually stunning narrative filled with suspense and intrigue. The Dark Wizard, Season 1, Episode 1 sets the stage for a compelling saga of power, destiny, and the fight for survival in a realm where magic reigns supreme.
#DarkWizard #FantasySeries #Magic
This installment introduces a world teetering on the brink of magical upheaval. Explore the origins of dark arcane arts and the individuals who wield them. Discover the intricate lore and the looming threats that challenge established orders.
Prepare for a visually stunning narrative filled with suspense and intrigue. The Dark Wizard, Season 1, Episode 1 sets the stage for a compelling saga of power, destiny, and the fight for survival in a realm where magic reigns supreme.
#DarkWizard #FantasySeries #Magic
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Short filmTranscript
00:00:12When I was a little boy, my first memory was this dream of falling.
00:00:49I always wondered as I got older, you know, if it was some premonition of me falling to
00:00:55my death, but I just feel it so strongly needing to go towards that unknown and that fear.
00:01:20Whoa!
00:01:27Let's go.
00:02:03Let's go.
00:02:48Let's go.
00:03:04Let's go.
00:03:08Let's go.
00:03:17Let's go.
00:03:18Let's go.
00:03:24Let's go.
00:03:26Let's go.
00:03:30Let's go.
00:03:38Let's go.
00:03:42Let's go.
00:03:47Let's go.
00:04:03Let's go.
00:04:09Let's go.
00:04:11Let's go.
00:04:12Let's go.
00:04:13Let's go.
00:04:13Let's go.
00:04:23Let's go.
00:04:26Let's go.
00:04:28Let's go.
00:04:31Let's go.
00:04:34Let's go.
00:04:40Let's go.
00:04:42Let's go.
00:04:47easy. And you had Jim. We all came from a life that wasn't fulfilling. Climbing at the time was
00:04:55a way to put together a new reality of what life was going to be. For me, it was a
00:05:00counterculture
00:05:01thing. I dropped out of school really early and I was playing in bands. You know, when I found
00:05:07this climbing scene, I was like, these are my people.
00:05:13I remember meeting Dean. And Dean loomed, right? Very tall, like 6'6", intense, sort of in your face.
00:05:24But man, he can climb. Most of us were just like having fun, you know, on the rock. But Dean
00:05:30was
00:05:31tapping into something very different.
00:05:42From the beginning, what really set him apart was his relationship with fear.
00:05:49He was seeking out these climbs that were high and scary.
00:05:57For some reason, Dean loved that feeling of being up there, really high off the ground, without a rope.
00:06:06Free soloing. If you fall off, you could die.
00:06:11But when he got in a dangerous situation, something in his brain would kick in.
00:06:16And he could take the fear that he had and morph it into, like, superhuman strength.
00:06:26Woohoo!
00:06:28In those early days, it was pure. He wasn't famous.
00:06:33He was just discovering the power that he had.
00:06:38We're going back.
00:06:42Slacklining is like surfing.
00:06:44You've got to ride this huge wave.
00:06:49Come on.
00:06:50The next step was to take it hundreds of feet off the ground.
00:06:54Oh!
00:06:55With a highline, you're looking at, will the system catch you?
00:06:59It was all new. We didn't have stuff that was built for highlining.
00:07:02One, two, three, one, two, three.
00:07:05No one else is really developing the technical side of highlining.
00:07:09Just me and, you know, my close friends.
00:07:13And they're not rocket scientists.
00:07:15Think that'll hold?
00:07:17No!
00:07:19System failure.
00:07:23Trying to walk a highline, it fucks with your mind so hard.
00:07:31You're tethered to the line.
00:07:40You're doing it, Timmy.
00:07:44My hands are sweating right now thinking about it.
00:07:47But Dean went so deep into it.
00:07:55It's all about control.
00:07:59Here.
00:08:01Becoming the master of your mind.
00:08:06Controlling it.
00:08:11In a way, Dean's whole life was about that struggle.
00:08:24Woo!
00:08:26Woo!
00:08:28Woo!
00:08:29Yeah!
00:08:30Woo!
00:08:32Woo!
00:08:33Woo!
00:08:34Woo!
00:08:34Woo!
00:08:34Woo!
00:08:35Woo!
00:08:35Woo!
00:08:36Woo!
00:08:38He used to write in journals a lot.
00:08:46He wrote about everything.
00:08:50His biggest dreams.
00:08:53But also some bizarre shit.
00:09:01If he knew we were reading these journals, he would be fucking mortified.
00:09:09Dean, who the fuck is he?
00:09:11I don't even know.
00:09:12Nobody does.
00:09:14I hope I don't lose my mind.
00:09:16I haven't yet.
00:09:18But there's always the possibility.
00:09:22There's so much angst.
00:09:27He's clearly in pain.
00:09:30You know, some people are blessed.
00:09:33And some people are cursed.
00:09:36And Dean was both.
00:09:39He was cursed with a dark side that sometimes overcame him.
00:09:46There was always a struggle with his mind.
00:09:52Even when I first met him, he would get in his head, like, really down.
00:09:59And there would be times we would sit together and just have, like, more than a few beers or whatever.
00:10:04And we would literally just sit there and just cry.
00:10:10Like, fucking weep.
00:10:12Both of us were just like, what is it that's fucking stirring the shit in my head?
00:10:19We talked about everything, like, deep, dark childhood shit.
00:10:27Dean had issues with his family, relationship stuff.
00:10:34I mean, he was troubled.
00:10:39And it seemed like climbing, it was the only thing that kind of kept the demons at bay, you know?
00:10:53I climbed to feel the purity of focused mind and body, unhindered by outside thoughts.
00:11:00Dean spent a lot of years living in a beat-up van.
00:11:04Got by with very little.
00:11:06The best part of climbing for me has been developing the close friendships.
00:11:13Being with people that feel the same way I do.
00:11:16Their soul is in climbing and living the alternative lifestyle.
00:11:21Don't have much money and all you want to do is climb and enjoy the beautiful sky and rock and
00:11:29world around you.
00:11:30It makes no sense to some.
00:11:34To us, it's all there is.
00:11:35It's, it's, it's, it's our religion.
00:11:44I remember the first time going to Yosemite with Dean, your face is pressed to the glass, and you're looking
00:11:51up at the walls.
00:11:53El Capitan.
00:11:56Half Dome.
00:11:57They're gargantuan.
00:12:00They're gargantuan.
00:12:00It's hard to fathom.
00:12:02Yosemite.
00:12:04Climbers Shangri-La.
00:12:08For generations, climbers had come to the valley, pushing the limits on these massive walls.
00:12:16I was writing a book about the history of Yosemite climbing, interviewing the old timers and trying to build this
00:12:23story of the lineage.
00:12:24And Dean, I don't even know if I'd ever heard of him at the time, but that was about to
00:12:29change.
00:12:33The Half Dome climb in 99 was Dean's big breakthrough thing.
00:12:41He was pioneering this entirely new way of climbing big walls.
00:12:45Free soloing, but with a small section of rope tied to his back.
00:12:51This is a 2,500 foot fucking wall.
00:12:59He would climb ropeless for most of the route.
00:13:04When it got to the parts that were too sketchy for him to free solo, he would use the gear.
00:13:10You know, place a piece, and he just yard on it.
00:13:14He's pulling on gear, and then he unclips back to free solo.
00:13:21Suddenly, this guy can just blitz up.
00:13:26You know, the prior speed ascent on Half Dome was something like 20 hours.
00:13:31And Dean did it in four?
00:13:35That was the moment I became aware of Dean as this paradigm-shattering talent
00:13:41with a totally different way of thinking about what was possible.
00:13:49It's in here somewhere.
00:13:54These are the masters of stone.
00:13:56In our era, the pinnacle of climbing entertainment was masters of stone.
00:14:02These classic videos, with all the famous climbers, hair metal.
00:14:09Some of it was kind of cheesy, but...
00:14:14It was basically climbing porn.
00:14:17But the guy who made the films, Eric Perlman, he saw the whole thing in epic terms.
00:14:23I came out of the Vietnam War generation.
00:14:25I recognized there is something intrinsically beautiful when life is on the line.
00:14:32In the crucible of adventure sport, the spirit of man rises to a whole new level.
00:14:42That's what evolution demands of us.
00:14:45I had heard about this guy, Dean Potter.
00:14:49I thought I should reach out to him.
00:14:51By this time, his reputation had grown.
00:14:54But he was still like the underground dude.
00:14:57Dean made fun relentlessly of sponsored climbers, shamelessly self-promoting,
00:15:03and bringing, like, capitalist reality into our sacred climbing.
00:15:08I feel that climbers are overly influenced with the pursuit of numbers, competition, fame, and status,
00:15:15and have left behind soul.
00:15:18Never sacrificed my soul.
00:15:21But at the same time, he was worried about his future, and he wasn't going to hold down a regular
00:15:26job.
00:15:27And I was like, dude, you can just be a professional climber.
00:15:31You know, shoot with Eric Perlman, get some sponsorships, make a living.
00:15:38Ultimately, I think Dean recognized that telling a story was part of a way to be able to do what
00:15:47you love in this life and get paid for it.
00:15:50Action!
00:15:52And he embraced the process of making the movie.
00:16:00He brought together his development of technique, his creativity, and boldness,
00:16:10and laid it all out on the most impactful stage in all of climbing.
00:16:18El Capitan.
00:16:21Timmy doubled in as an ordinary climber on El Cap.
00:16:24We came up with this thing.
00:16:26Dean would pass me.
00:16:27Dean goes running past.
00:16:29What's up, dude?
00:16:30Don't touch me.
00:16:31Don't touch me, dude, bro.
00:16:33And I give this cheeseball reaction.
00:16:38There was a certain bit of theatricality to this.
00:16:41Holy shit.
00:16:42But I had a sense that when people saw the things he was doing,
00:16:48they'd think, this guy's superhuman.
00:16:59As an athlete, Dean was the most natural performer.
00:17:05As a speaker, articulator of ideas.
00:17:09When I reached the top.
00:17:12When I reached the top, yeah.
00:17:14Hold on.
00:17:16It took a little encouragement.
00:17:17Go ahead.
00:17:18When I finally reached the top, part of me is real excited, but the rest of me is just, yeah,
00:17:23fuck.
00:17:23But most of me.
00:17:24But most of me.
00:17:25Yeah, fuck.
00:17:25I think at the outset, he was just trying to stay authentic.
00:17:31This isn't really like me at all.
00:17:33It's so different than how you normally talk.
00:17:35My job was just to coach him.
00:17:38Here I am, planted on the summit, my feet firm on the ground, checking the view, and life is good.
00:17:44You do the dialogue, and I'll just go like that.
00:17:46Here I am, standing on the top with my feet planted, and life is good.
00:17:57Masters of stone changed Dean's life.
00:18:00All of a sudden, he went from being Dean to being Dean Potter.
00:18:05He was in the magazines, getting sponsorships.
00:18:10Up until that point, he was all about the counterculture.
00:18:14Now, he's like promoting brands and shit.
00:18:17But at first, he didn't want to completely buy it.
00:18:22For me, the most important gear I have is something that makes my body run clean and strong.
00:18:28A dwalla.
00:18:29It gets the job done.
00:18:37We would give Dean a little bit of a hard time about it.
00:18:40Like, he's a soul climber, climbing solely for his sponsors, right?
00:18:44Like, Dean started to have a mystique around him.
00:18:55He was the center of this whole cast of characters in Yosemite.
00:19:00I just turned 18 when I first showed up in Yosemite.
00:19:03We were sort of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and Dean was a huge influence on all of us.
00:19:08Dean represented what I wanted to be, a badass, risk-taker, bold, pushing the limits.
00:19:16I was lucky just to be in that same tribe with him.
00:19:24We call ourselves the Stone Monkeys, and we had our own call.
00:19:28We'd be like, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
00:19:31We did party-style a sense of El Capitan.
00:19:33Vodka.
00:19:34A full bar.
00:19:36Ounces of weed.
00:19:37Wake and bake.
00:19:38Go tell your mama and papa.
00:19:39We had this huge bag of mushrooms.
00:19:41I'm shaking as well.
00:19:43You're fucking terrified.
00:19:44We're gonna set up a rope, jump out of here.
00:19:46And then we jumped off.
00:19:50Oh my God!
00:19:52Yeah!
00:19:59It was just a feral existence.
00:20:02But this is National Park.
00:20:05There was always this, like, battle with the Rangers.
00:20:07They would come through and give us tickets and stuff.
00:20:09I don't want to come out here and cut it down.
00:20:11Like, all the rest of us were scared of the Rangers.
00:20:13They all had gums and hats.
00:20:14But Dean was, like, not afraid.
00:20:16How are you?
00:20:17Hi, how are you doing?
00:20:18Turn off the camera.
00:20:19Um, no, thank you.
00:20:21Yeah, in the past I have been kind of combative towards the Rangers.
00:20:25My most fundamental principle is just being free.
00:20:29And, you know, I think as long as I'm not harming anybody,
00:20:33that I shouldn't be limited.
00:20:35How come you're pulling me over?
00:20:36I was just honking at you because you were in the...
00:20:38I heard a yield right away at that.
00:20:39You were in the...
00:20:40Oh, no, I didn't, sir.
00:20:41That's a lie.
00:20:42I think you're harassing me.
00:20:44But unfortunately, we're so strapped down with rules
00:20:48that I'm not allowed to be the wild, natural guy
00:20:51that I think everybody should be allowed to be.
00:20:55He was a total iconoclast
00:20:57and was going to do whatever the fuck he wanted.
00:20:59Hey!
00:21:01Maniac!
00:21:03And that became part of the myth of Dean Potter.
00:21:08As it grew and he got more recognition,
00:21:11he seemed like he was taking himself much more seriously.
00:21:15He started to believe that he could be the best climber,
00:21:19the best of all time in Yosemite.
00:21:23Dean calls and he's like,
00:21:25Tim, I need your help.
00:21:27It's time to break the speed record on the nose of El Cap.
00:21:32Climbing 3,000 feet as fast as humanly possible.
00:21:38It's intense.
00:21:40You start the clock, go sprinting up.
00:21:45Typically, you would take multiple days
00:21:47and we're trying to do it in just a few hours.
00:21:51Dean had a special system.
00:21:54You're climbing simultaneously,
00:21:56which makes it even more dangerous.
00:21:59Once, I fell 100 feet.
00:22:02I smashed into the wall
00:22:05and I'm like, I'm still alive.
00:22:06How can it be?
00:22:08And then Dean yelled,
00:22:10The system works!
00:22:11Go, go, go!
00:22:14I love the action of speed climbing,
00:22:17just galloping up the rock.
00:22:19No rules, whatever it takes.
00:22:21Just figure it out and go for it.
00:22:24You know, you break through exhaustion into that flow
00:22:27and then all of a sudden we're standing on top.
00:22:29And boom, we broke the record.
00:22:34Climbing Magazine put him on the cover.
00:22:36I was like down by the UPC symbol, right?
00:22:40And immediately, the record was broken by Hans Florine.
00:22:45Hans Florine was a legendary character
00:22:48in Yosemite speed climbing.
00:22:49You know, Mr. El Cap.
00:22:52All right, Hollywood Hans Florine.
00:22:55Woo-hoo!
00:22:56I'm well known for climbing El Cap smoking fast.
00:22:59I come from an athletic, competitive background.
00:23:03The most exciting competitor, Hans Florine.
00:23:05I wasn't like Dean and his friends.
00:23:08Cut off blue jeans.
00:23:10Like, you know,
00:23:11I'm in Yosemite because I hate my parents
00:23:15or because I don't care to do what society says.
00:23:19I was there because I want to be the best.
00:23:22Hans had the nose record for 10 years.
00:23:25When I heard Dean and Timmy broke our record,
00:23:28I was fucking excited.
00:23:29There's a race.
00:23:32Two weeks later, I go get the record back.
00:23:35I think this record will last for a good long time.
00:23:38After that, yeah, I think Dean got caught up in the competition.
00:23:43That's when we started to see this more aggro side of Dean.
00:23:48He couldn't keep it under control.
00:23:51So we're going again.
00:23:52And Dean could be a fucking psycho.
00:23:55We were doing the nose.
00:23:56I forgot the gear.
00:23:58I made this mistake.
00:23:59He's like, you just fucked us.
00:24:01We're going to lose the record, dude.
00:24:03My second or third speed climb ever was with Dean.
00:24:06I think I had a cam stuck and he just started screaming at me.
00:24:10What the fuck are you doing?
00:24:12He's like, we're losing time.
00:24:13He was just like so intense and so driven.
00:24:16And sometimes that would kind of spill over into being a bit of a dickhead.
00:24:23So Dean and I break the record again by like 40 minutes.
00:24:28I was like, congratulations, you guys got the record.
00:24:30That's so awesome.
00:24:32How did you guys do it?
00:24:33You know, and I didn't get a word from Dean.
00:24:36He didn't want to face and talk to me.
00:24:40Dean and Hans continued dueling back and forth on the nose.
00:24:44Racing with Hans, it disgusted me.
00:24:48He was like this little dog humping my leg.
00:24:51I hate the fact that he wanted to just like piss on what I was doing.
00:24:58And I hated the fact that it brought out the little dog in me that would do that back.
00:25:10I forced him to show how competitive he was and shown too dark a side of him.
00:25:16Think Hans is going to be psyched to come back?
00:25:18I don't give a fuck about Hans.
00:25:20Want me to break your camera, dude?
00:25:21Go away.
00:25:23I was just like, man, I can't believe what came out of me through competition.
00:25:27I was a real asshole.
00:25:31So I stopped myself and realized that's not who I want to be.
00:25:47Okay, we got two cameras rolling.
00:25:53Winkie!
00:25:55Bullwinkle.
00:25:57Dean Fidelman.
00:26:00I answer to most of those.
00:26:04I've been lurking in this valley for a really long time.
00:26:08Okay.
00:26:10I was part of the Stunmasters, which was this band of young climbers that ruled in Yosemite in the 70s.
00:26:23I grew up with all these extraordinary climbers and documented them.
00:26:30We shared this dirt.
00:26:34And then they left me.
00:26:37They became captains of industry or they died or they got married or they had families.
00:26:42And I had nothing like that.
00:26:44I stayed.
00:26:48I never left the dirt.
00:26:55When I first met Dean in 96, 97, he came up to me one day, he goes, why are you
00:26:59here in Yosemite?
00:27:01Why are you?
00:27:03You know, I go, I'm an artist.
00:27:04I make art.
00:27:05And I'm kind of a fuck-up and, you know, sort of a loser in some ways, you know?
00:27:11But I'd rather be here and sleep in the meadow and just, like, make my photographs.
00:27:16That's what I want to do.
00:27:19He believed in me.
00:27:21When not a lot of people were believing in me.
00:27:25Bullwinkle, he's one of the guys I look up to.
00:27:30The Stone Masters, they did what they wanted and what was most cool and radical and felt good to them.
00:27:38Somewhat immune to what society thought.
00:27:43Dean definitely was driven by his ego.
00:27:47But who he wanted to be was not that super competitive sports grow kind of guy.
00:27:54He was searching for a deeper connection.
00:27:57He wanted to be part of nature.
00:28:03He identified with animals, especially with ravens.
00:28:09The raven, it was definitely a big symbol for him.
00:28:14We spent a lot of time together, making photographs, talking about art.
00:28:26Early on, I could see he was an athlete and he was an artist.
00:28:41And he needed to figure out how those two went together.
00:28:52I look up at the wall or see the space between formations.
00:28:57And I kind of get a flash or a picture.
00:29:01And I want to enter that.
00:29:04I see myself becoming one with the beauty and the nature.
00:29:10And then I live it.
00:29:19He was definitely seeking a spiritual path.
00:29:27But also wrestling with who he was and who he wanted to be.
00:29:47I dream of Stephanie.
00:29:50I miss her and wonder how she feels about me.
00:29:55My love, my love, I long for her.
00:29:57That's terrible.
00:29:58Dude, so sappy.
00:30:03And action.
00:30:04My name is Steph Davis.
00:30:06I am 26 years old.
00:30:08I've been climbing for almost exactly eight years.
00:30:13The only time I feel good falling
00:30:15When I'm falling fast and hard for you
00:30:18Steph Davis.
00:30:20She was a really strong climber.
00:30:23Really, really driven.
00:30:28She was trying to decide whether to be a lawyer
00:30:30Or a professional climber.
00:30:32Steph did that classic dirtbag thing
00:30:35Of, like, dropping out of law school,
00:30:37Living in her van.
00:30:38And she had become this badass adventurer
00:30:42Doing huge climbs.
00:30:45I wrote a story all about how she was making her life her way.
00:30:50My profession is fairly vague
00:30:53But it involves mostly just climbing a lot.
00:30:56Not only was she climbing at the highest level
00:30:58But she had secured this great sponsorship
00:31:02With Patagonia.
00:31:04Let's see.
00:31:06How a lot of stripes.
00:31:08There was really no one else like her at the time.
00:31:13Dean and Steph first got together in the early years.
00:31:16He loved Steph more than I've ever seen in love.
00:31:21In a lot of ways, they seem made for each other.
00:31:25These beautiful people.
00:31:27Both top climbers.
00:31:30But there was this friction
00:31:32Between Steph being a focused professional
00:31:36And Dean still being a fucking man child.
00:31:43They were always a tumultuous pair.
00:31:46Get it!
00:31:48Whoa!
00:31:49Dean, you didn't move your left hand.
00:31:51What's up?
00:31:51They were both very opinionated.
00:31:53That didn't matter.
00:31:54It was easy.
00:31:55Bullheaded.
00:31:55I know, but that makes it all angry.
00:31:59These two highly driven people.
00:32:02The adrenaline runs hot.
00:32:04Ah!
00:32:06Ah!
00:32:07You know, with Dean, the emotions run super hot.
00:32:14Stuff with Steph and love, that's more powerful than anything.
00:32:21He always had a really strong fear of being controlled.
00:32:29And that made relationships very hard for him.
00:32:34There were all these cycles of passionate love and then breakups.
00:32:39He would become desperate.
00:32:41Almost obsessive.
00:32:44At one point, he had broken up with Steph.
00:32:48She went down to Patagonia with another guy.
00:32:53They did all these fucking hard roots.
00:32:55Dean was infuriated and jealous.
00:32:59So he went down there and he raged like never before.
00:33:04All right, here we go.
00:33:06He was knocking out one outrageous, cutting-edge alpine climb after another.
00:33:11Totally alone.
00:33:16He then tries to do a first ascent on Fitzroy, which is a mixture of rock and ice.
00:33:22It's 7,000 feet to the summit.
00:33:25He brought a water bottle empty to save weight so he can piss in it and then drink that.
00:33:33That's just so wrong.
00:33:34I'm going to drink my pee.
00:33:36You don't have to do that.
00:33:38He gets to the top, but when he's going down, he gets smashed by a rock.
00:33:43I've hurt my head.
00:33:44Crawls the base camp.
00:33:47He definitely went beyond some boundaries.
00:33:50And I think it was all about trying to impress Steph.
00:33:58Eventually, this tumultuous pair, they sorted it.
00:34:05And against all the fucking odds, they made the decision to get married.
00:34:16I was one of the best men.
00:34:19Jim officiated.
00:34:20I just remember writing something like they kind of deserve each other.
00:34:29There was kind of an everything-coming-together quality for Dean.
00:34:34Dean and Steph had this cute little house out in Utah, out in Moab.
00:34:39They had another place in Yosemite.
00:34:41And now they're both fully sponsored by Patagonia,
00:34:45the classiest brand in the game in those years.
00:34:50At Patagonia, we were climbers, but also misfits and counter-cultural.
00:34:56Dean was a brilliant renegade climber.
00:34:59And he kind of delighted in breaking the rules.
00:35:03And that was a good fit with Patagonia.
00:35:06I spent 10 years heading up PR at Patagonia.
00:35:10I remember meeting Dean.
00:35:12I was in a photo shoot, and I called my mom.
00:35:16Like, Mom, I know what star power is now.
00:35:20He was by far the coolest ambassador.
00:35:24People just gravitate to him.
00:35:27Dean and Steph started to become famous and started to make real money.
00:35:31Stop that!
00:35:32Climbing was booming as a sport, and Dean really, like, rode that wave.
00:35:36There was something truly unique about Dean's game.
00:35:40It was as if he was reinventing what it meant to be a great outdoor athlete.
00:35:46He was seeing himself in a different light now.
00:35:50Really looking at his thing as performance art.
00:35:54He wanted to share with the world his artistic vision.
00:35:58From then on, we filmed everything that Dean did.
00:36:05He was on fire.
00:36:08And his sponsors were psyched.
00:36:11Especially Patagonia.
00:36:13For, like, four years, Dean and Steph were the poster children
00:36:18of everything we stood for and everything we did.
00:36:21There was no one that didn't think
00:36:24they were going to be with Patagonia forever.
00:36:28What am I looking at?
00:36:30The writing.
00:36:33Delegate Arch.
00:36:35May.
00:36:372006.
00:36:38Oh, fuck.
00:36:39Oh, fuck, dude.
00:36:41Are you shitting me?
00:36:45Oh, wait.
00:36:46You're wanting to talk to me about the Delegate Arch.
00:36:49I'm not dropping into that.
00:36:51Mind hole.
00:36:52Bullshit.
00:36:53I got really no comment.
00:36:55I mean, I'll comment on it, but I have nothing to do with it.
00:36:58Yeah.
00:36:58I really don't want to go there.
00:37:00The Delegate Arch was toxic.
00:37:05Ah, shit.
00:37:06You got me talking about it.
00:37:07This is bad.
00:37:10Delegate Arch is one of the most iconic rock formations in the world.
00:37:14It's on the Utah license plate, visited by thousands of tourists every year.
00:37:20Delegate Arch seems almost too fragile to stand.
00:37:23We knew for climbers, there was an unwritten rule that there's certain formations that you
00:37:30shouldn't be fucking around on.
00:37:32So we were like poking the bear, right?
00:37:36And Dean, being with Steph for so long, he hadn't pulled one over on the man in a minute.
00:37:46It was this covert operation.
00:37:50where we sneak out in the middle of the night.
00:37:53Keep quiet.
00:37:57I have an arrow.
00:37:59This is the arrow.
00:38:01The idea is we're going to tie a string to the arrow,
00:38:05shoot it over the top of the arch,
00:38:08and then from the string, we're going to drag the rope up.
00:38:12We're going to set up a top rope.
00:38:14Now we're good.
00:38:16So the dean can rehearse this thing.
00:38:19Before soloing it,
00:38:22we go up there.
00:38:23It's got this flat platform on top,
00:38:26and we just lied there and looked up at the stars.
00:38:30I call Timmy.
00:38:32I'm on the top of a delicate arch.
00:38:35Dean's going to climb it, and Timmy says,
00:38:38That sounds like a bad idea.
00:38:39Isn't that on the license plate?
00:38:41Isn't that called delicate?
00:38:44Dean wanted to shoot this thing right at dawn.
00:38:48Eric Perlman arrives.
00:38:51Hold on.
00:38:54Sure.
00:38:55That's right.
00:38:57I'm rolling.
00:39:00I'm rolling.
00:39:02He said it's the most beautiful thing I've ever tried to do.
00:39:05You've got to be a part of it.
00:39:15Aesthetically, it was a classic art piece
00:39:18on a three-dimensional canvas.
00:39:23A vision of humanity moving and flowing at one with nature.
00:39:38As Dean was climbing,
00:39:41these birds came out.
00:39:46And they were whirling around.
00:39:53It was more magical than any of us could have expected.
00:40:15For Dean,
00:40:17the experience was so profound.
00:40:25He thought it would be one of the most iconic images ever of climbing.
00:40:33I remember coming into work,
00:40:34and our athlete manager at the time
00:40:37was very excited that Dean Potter
00:40:39had just climbed delicate arch.
00:40:41She said,
00:40:43I've called the media,
00:40:44and Dean gave them the footage.
00:40:47Initially,
00:40:48no one had any critique about it.
00:40:50Dean had done another rad feat.
00:40:52It was on the news that night.
00:40:54A rock climber who made his way
00:40:56to the top of delicate arch.
00:40:57Dean Potter is a professional climber for Patagonia.
00:41:00It's a very difficult climb.
00:41:02I wouldn't recommend it.
00:41:03But it wasn't just this puff piece.
00:41:04They were looking into regulations possibly being broken.
00:41:08Potter says he was okay to climb the arch,
00:41:10but park officials disagree.
00:41:12The leadership in Arches National Park
00:41:15got really pissed off.
00:41:17Immediately,
00:41:18they changed the law.
00:41:20Potter may be the last person
00:41:22to climb the delicate arch
00:41:23because the National Park Service
00:41:24has new rules in effect right now.
00:41:27And then the shitstorm started.
00:41:30It was headlining national news.
00:41:33In the climbing community,
00:41:35people were pissed.
00:41:37Dean had provoked new restrictions on climbing
00:41:41with publicity,
00:41:42with his arrogance,
00:41:43and his assumption
00:41:45that he could do anything he wanted.
00:41:50We did not see that coming.
00:41:54I'm Tim Nibble.
00:41:55I'm a correspondent with Outside Magazine.
00:41:57One of the big questions was,
00:42:00did he damage this hallowed rock formation?
00:42:03I decided to send a photographer out there to see.
00:42:05And he found damage.
00:42:09Grooves clearly left by a rope
00:42:12right where they would have been
00:42:13climbing and filming.
00:42:16Dean was adamant that that damage was not his.
00:42:19I respected the rock,
00:42:21and I left it exactly the way I found it.
00:42:25Dude, we were not the first ones on top of this thing.
00:42:28There were already these rope grooves
00:42:30right where he was going to climb.
00:42:32There was, like, the deep forensics
00:42:35into, like, the grooves and the stuff,
00:42:37and I was like, oh, my gosh.
00:42:40This seems a little over the top.
00:42:42I do remember after the story broke,
00:42:45I got a one-line,
00:42:48a two-word email from Dean
00:42:50that said,
00:42:51you're scum.
00:42:52And you're was spelled wrong.
00:42:54And I was just like,
00:42:56okay.
00:42:58After that piece,
00:43:00this thing snowballed.
00:43:02People started going after Dean's sponsors.
00:43:05Suddenly, this became about Patagonia
00:43:07as a supporter of acts
00:43:10that harm our natural places.
00:43:12People writing emails, postcards.
00:43:14I'll never buy Patagonia again.
00:43:16And it put Patagonia
00:43:18in a really awkward position.
00:43:20There was this effort
00:43:22to get Dean to make an apology.
00:43:25Just apologize,
00:43:26and we could sweep this crap under the rug.
00:43:29And Dean responded
00:43:32in a Dean way.
00:43:36The big story in the climbing world
00:43:38these days involves
00:43:39the famous climber Dean Potter.
00:43:41Yeah, I was sitting in the room
00:43:42when he was doing the NPR interview.
00:43:44I asked him why he decided
00:43:46to climb the Delicate Arch.
00:43:47And he goes,
00:43:48Winky, what should I do?
00:43:49I mean, should I apologize?
00:43:50What do I need to do here?
00:43:52And I go,
00:43:53No, man,
00:43:53let's just say fuck the man.
00:43:55Let's like quote some Edward Abbey
00:43:58and like throw some other shit out there.
00:43:59Fuck these people, man.
00:44:01And that was just
00:44:02the wrong thing to do.
00:44:04You have a sponsor, Patagonia,
00:44:06who wants you to apologize.
00:44:08Can you do that?
00:44:09No, I for sure
00:44:10I do have some regrets.
00:44:12And I regret
00:44:13the negative press
00:44:14that has come
00:44:16with my climb
00:44:16of the Delicate Arch.
00:44:18So it sounds like
00:44:19what you're most sorry about
00:44:20is the way this has been
00:44:21portrayed in the median.
00:44:23That's correct.
00:44:24I think
00:44:25if you just keep it factual
00:44:27that a man climbed up a rock
00:44:30and did no environmental harm,
00:44:32then I don't think
00:44:33that there is anything
00:44:35to be sorry about
00:44:36other than the negative energy
00:44:39that ensued afterward.
00:44:40Basically,
00:44:41I'm so sorry
00:44:42that the general public
00:44:43has its head up its ass
00:44:45and doesn't understand
00:44:47what this was all about.
00:44:49Definitely don't call me
00:44:50if you've got
00:44:51some sort of a media problem.
00:44:54I'm only going to make things worse.
00:45:01His livelihood was on the table
00:45:03and he still didn't want to say sorry.
00:45:09He felt misunderstood
00:45:10in the media world
00:45:11and betrayed by a lot of people
00:45:13in the climbing community
00:45:14that came out against him.
00:45:16It came down to
00:45:18are we going to stay associated
00:45:19with this guy?
00:45:21You know,
00:45:21Dean had made this public claim
00:45:24that his climb of Delicate Arch
00:45:26was performance art,
00:45:28that it represented
00:45:29his spiritual connection
00:45:31to nature
00:45:32and I just didn't buy into that.
00:45:35You know,
00:45:36it was connected
00:45:37to Dean's own self-promotion
00:45:39and that made it bullshit.
00:45:48The decision was made
00:45:49to part ways with Dean.
00:45:52The fucked thing is
00:45:54they severed the relationship
00:45:55with Steph as well.
00:45:59Steph didn't make this plan
00:46:01but they shit-canned him both.
00:46:03She had known for a while
00:46:05that his sort of
00:46:07provocateur status
00:46:08was problematic
00:46:09and now he destroyed
00:46:12this relationship
00:46:14that was really important to her.
00:46:19Steph and Dean
00:46:20sort of started to fracture.
00:46:23Dean couldn't fucking deal.
00:46:26He just left.
00:46:31He left Steph and Moab,
00:46:34drove to Yosemite.
00:46:38He needed to be alone.
00:46:43This was Dean going into dark mode.
00:46:49Covering his face with a blanket,
00:46:52sleeping for days.
00:46:55And a lot of people
00:46:57have equated that
00:46:57with like mental health issues.
00:47:01You could call it mental illness.
00:47:03You could call it the dark side.
00:47:06But when it arrived,
00:47:09it was hard to deal with,
00:47:11hard to explain.
00:47:16Looking back,
00:47:17it's like we didn't really talk
00:47:19about mental health,
00:47:20especially as like a man
00:47:22in extreme sports.
00:47:24You know,
00:47:25you just took that stuff
00:47:25and you shoved it down.
00:47:28Dean and I
00:47:30had an understanding.
00:47:32I had been going through
00:47:33some of the same struggles
00:47:35that he had been experiencing.
00:47:38A lot of mood swings.
00:47:41Peaks, valleys.
00:47:42Peaks, valleys.
00:47:44And we started to talk about
00:47:47whether it was
00:47:49a condition.
00:47:53When Dean and Steph were solid,
00:47:55she had encouraged him
00:47:57to get some mental health care.
00:47:59He was given a prescription,
00:48:02went on medication.
00:48:04But he was terrified
00:48:05that people would find out
00:48:07that he was taking this drug.
00:48:11You know, he threatened me.
00:48:12Like, I will fucking kill you
00:48:14if you tell anyone.
00:48:18After the Delicate Arch,
00:48:19he stopped it.
00:48:21Cold turkey.
00:48:22So the highs became higher
00:48:24and the lows became
00:48:25much lower.
00:48:31But for Dean,
00:48:34the mania
00:48:35could be sort of a source
00:48:38of creative power.
00:48:43After the sadness
00:48:45and the isolation,
00:48:48the ideas would start
00:48:49bouncing around.
00:48:51Maybe a sketch
00:48:53in his journal.
00:48:57And the passion
00:48:58would get fanned
00:48:59into a fire.
00:49:02All that angst
00:49:04and all that anger,
00:49:06this is where he
00:49:07drew his energy from.
00:49:11You know,
00:49:12I'm going to show
00:49:12those motherfuckers.
00:49:14I'm going to let
00:49:15the fucking beast out.
00:49:19That's when shit,
00:49:20for me,
00:49:21started to be scary.
00:49:28So Dean goes on this
00:49:29soloing bench.
00:49:33Trying to free solo
00:49:35all these roots
00:49:36that are rated 512.
00:49:41Nobody had done that
00:49:42in Yosemite before.
00:49:52It was balls to the wall.
00:49:54Solo this thing,
00:49:55the same day,
00:49:56we're driving to this point,
00:49:58soloing another thing.
00:50:02It was this manic energy,
00:50:03you know,
00:50:04and impulsiveness.
00:50:18I felt like Dean
00:50:19was free soloing stuff
00:50:21right at his physical limit.
00:50:25Like,
00:50:26sticking his neck out there
00:50:27and just trying to survive.
00:50:35I'm trying to leave
00:50:36this body's limitations,
00:50:39trying to go beyond
00:50:41the physical
00:50:42and not be hindered
00:50:43by this,
00:50:44this carcass
00:50:48that mind can bring you
00:50:50beyond the body.
00:50:53but it's a super fine line
00:50:56between bringing you
00:50:58out of the body
00:50:59and breaking through
00:51:00to the next level
00:51:01or bringing you
00:51:03out of the body
00:51:05and you're dead.
00:51:08Right before my solos,
00:51:10I feel sick
00:51:12to my stomach.
00:51:15but I have no control.
00:51:17I'm compelled to do it.
00:51:21I don't want to live
00:51:23if I can't do it.
00:51:31And then there's heaven.
00:51:35Heaven was at the edge
00:51:37of his abilities.
00:51:45We knew that he
00:51:46could fall.
00:51:49You fall off that thing,
00:51:50you're going for
00:51:51thousands of feet.
00:51:55He fully said to me,
00:51:57he's like,
00:51:57if I fucking die,
00:51:59get the shot.
00:52:01Follow me to the ground,
00:52:03get the shot.
00:52:04Fucking die's like,
00:52:04I'm going to get the shot?
00:52:05No.
00:52:07Your body's getting tired.
00:52:12You're dealing with this
00:52:14knowledge that
00:52:15one mistake
00:52:15means your life.
00:52:23But what I've seen
00:52:25is when you're
00:52:26in those situations,
00:52:27you have all
00:52:28this amazing power
00:52:30inside of you.
00:52:32More power
00:52:33than you can even imagine.
00:52:36Yeah!
00:52:49Everyone's breathing
00:52:50a sigh of relief.
00:52:52Like, yeah, man,
00:52:53he made it.
00:52:55Dude.
00:52:57Fucking impressive, dude.
00:53:00I was like,
00:53:01almost faint
00:53:01before I started.
00:53:02I was just like...
00:53:05This was
00:53:06the redemption
00:53:07for the arch.
00:53:09Unequivocally,
00:53:10that's what it was
00:53:11to him.
00:53:13Talksuckers.
00:53:15It was like,
00:53:16fuck you, doubters.
00:53:17Fuck you, sponsors.
00:53:19Fuck the park service.
00:53:22Nothing was going
00:53:22to hold him back.
00:53:24Make sure he's
00:53:25looking hung.
00:53:26Yeah.
00:53:29At that point,
00:53:31he thought
00:53:32that he had
00:53:32the magic cocktail.
00:53:34Part of me thinks
00:53:35I'm crazy,
00:53:36but every time
00:53:37you break through
00:53:39a limitation,
00:53:40it's like,
00:53:40fuck, I can do this.
00:53:42I can do anything.
00:53:43He was also
00:53:44smoking a lot of weed.
00:53:45Just to put that
00:53:46out there...
00:53:47There are a lot of...
00:53:48A lot of people...
00:53:50Oh, man,
00:53:51you're eating chips again.
00:53:52Mm-hmm.
00:53:58Oh, dude.
00:54:00At some point,
00:54:01Steph called me
00:54:03and said,
00:54:03hey, I'm worried
00:54:04about Dean.
00:54:04I haven't heard
00:54:05from him.
00:54:06Tell him to call me,
00:54:07please.
00:54:07I need to talk to him.
00:54:10He just shut her out.
00:54:11He was like,
00:54:11don't return her calls.
00:54:13It's good when you
00:54:14were calming
00:54:14Steph down today, man.
00:54:16It was awesome
00:54:17to have bros
00:54:17that could do that.
00:54:20She drove to Yosemite
00:54:22to find him.
00:54:24I don't know
00:54:25what was said,
00:54:25but Katie Arnold,
00:54:27the journalist,
00:54:27happened to be there.
00:54:29I was doing a piece
00:54:30about Dean for ESPN.
00:54:32I get to Yosemite
00:54:33to find Dean and Steph
00:54:35in the middle
00:54:37of some kind of
00:54:38really traumatic altercation
00:54:41and was like,
00:54:42holy shit.
00:54:44I'm witnessing
00:54:45the end of their marriage.
00:54:49My understanding
00:54:50is that, you know,
00:54:52he wore his wedding ring
00:54:52around his neck.
00:54:54He just pulled it off,
00:54:57tossed it to her.
00:54:58He's like,
00:55:00I want freedom.
00:55:02I want to be free.
00:55:05You know, Steph,
00:55:08she's the love of my life,
00:55:11and I always thought
00:55:12that that was
00:55:13the most important thing
00:55:15for me was love.
00:55:18But I'm uncontrollably
00:55:20drawn away from the
00:55:23thing I thought
00:55:23I loved the most.
00:55:25No matter how hard
00:55:27Steph tried
00:55:28to make their relationship
00:55:30a place of safety
00:55:32and peace,
00:55:34Dean didn't want safety.
00:55:39He was willing
00:55:41to go places
00:55:43that before
00:55:44were just
00:55:45too frightening.
00:55:54That's the moment
00:55:55where
00:55:56he's untethered,
00:55:58literally untethered.
00:56:08He was pushing the edge
00:56:10so far out
00:56:13that he took
00:56:15the tether off.
00:56:16What?
00:56:19What?
00:56:30What?
00:56:31What?
00:56:34I don't know.
00:57:25I don't know.
00:57:32His only therapy was the death consequence.
00:57:51When I'm leashless, out on the line,
00:57:57or on the rock, free solo,
00:58:03I need total concentration,
00:58:07or I'll die.
00:58:11But somehow, when my life's on the line,
00:58:16it brings my senses to a heightened state
00:58:22of calmness and clarity.
00:58:28It's the most powerful feeling I've ever experienced.
00:58:34It's the most powerful feeling I've ever experienced.
00:58:35We...
00:58:39We...
00:58:40We...
00:58:43We...
00:58:43We...
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