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Watch The Dark Wizard () free Season 1 Episode 4 online in HD on Dailymotion (2026).
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00:00:07hey buddy oh oh oh you gonna fly with me pal yeah
00:00:24right now i'm going down this path of learning and pushing myself more in the flying arts
00:00:42the wingsuit is basically the flying squirrel suit
00:00:48you get little wings between your arms and legs that allow you to glide
00:00:55the shape of the suit changes downward speed to forward speed
00:01:02so i can shoot through the air at 100 miles an hour
00:01:08this amazing feeling just spreading your wings and soaring unhindered by earthly bounds
00:01:39it's the evolution of human flight and i don't know where it's gonna lead
00:01:46but that's where i'm headed
00:02:20when i was done dying
00:02:21leaving only my shirt and the earth went through me and said it wasn't that fun
00:02:26and i replied i'm sorry if i hurt anyone
00:02:30she said better look next time don't worry so much without ears i couldn't hear i could just feel the
00:02:37but i didn't touch and i fell asleep softly the edge of hockey boy i sure gone deeper but i'm
00:02:44not so brave
00:03:01Wow, wow, in China Dean was at the end of the line, he's done, he's spent, I mean yeah
00:03:14I was fucking pissed, the way he treated me was so unacceptable, right after the walk Dean comes
00:03:24up to me, looks at me, he goes, I'm sorry, and I was like, for what, I can understand his
00:03:40anger
00:03:40toward me was his anger toward himself, because he kind of felt like he sold out, he had been
00:03:47driving off every person in his life, when we got back to the states, he was pretty fucking
00:03:55vulnerable and very quiet, not being around anybody.
00:04:03It's late, around 10-16, got a good wood fire going, I don't want to, I just want to escape
00:04:12society, just go off into Never Never Land.
00:04:25Having these massive snowstorms here in Yosemite, the valley's closed, electricity's out, part
00:04:32of me just wants to be some simple guy that just lives alone with a lover girl.
00:04:43Maybe somehow I'm supposed to be the spiritual master, I'm so far from that.
00:04:51Oh yeah, coffee's an amazing drug, feeling all sorts of energy, thinking that a big change
00:05:01is coming.
00:05:06I feel guilt about the way I treated people, things I've done.
00:05:16I need to start doing all the things I know are right.
00:05:22Maybe this is the beginning.
00:05:33Back in 2006, when I worked at Patagonia, Dean was one of their ambassadors.
00:05:40And he was fired for climbing the Delicate Arch.
00:05:45After Dean left Patagonia, I didn't hear much about him for a while.
00:05:50And then a few years later, I ran into Dean at the outdoor retailer show.
00:05:56He saw me, he was like, hey, you know, how are you?
00:05:59We gave each other a hug, like catching up.
00:06:01And he said that he'd been through kind of hell and back.
00:06:05He had lost friends, he was just like very open about everything.
00:06:11It was really nice to reconnect with Dean.
00:06:15And then he's like, how's your marriage?
00:06:18And I was like, it's great, everything's great, all's good.
00:06:23Great to see you, Dean.
00:06:25And then later that night, I was mad at myself for not answering honestly.
00:06:31In reality, I wasn't happily married.
00:06:34We were struggling as a couple, but we had children.
00:06:39And I thought I would never leave that relationship after that meeting.
00:06:46Dean and I, we ran into each other a couple of times and like, we had so much fun.
00:06:51We had a similar interest in arrowheads.
00:06:54He would send me a picture when he found an arrowhead in Yosemite.
00:06:58I would send pieces that I would find in Santa Barbara.
00:07:02For a while, Dean and I were just friends, but once I realized we had feelings for one another,
00:07:12it was like, all right, it's time to end my marriage.
00:07:16But all signs pointed to, like, this is a really bad idea.
00:07:22I happened to be the spokesperson and publicist for the company that famously fired Dean.
00:07:27All my friends, especially at Patagonia, were going, what the fuck are you doing?
00:07:33Have you gone crazy and left your husband for Dean Potter?
00:07:40You're ruining your family, you're ruining your career.
00:07:44Despite all that, when I was with Dean, I just felt good about myself.
00:07:54I've never felt more, you know, alive.
00:08:00And so, one minute, I'm being a mom and working in Santa Barbara.
00:08:06The next minute, I would find myself on the rock wall with Dean hip-blowing me, afraid I was gonna
00:08:13die.
00:08:15There you go.
00:08:17Yeah, perfect.
00:08:18The excitement and risk.
00:08:21Good job.
00:08:22I realized I needed that.
00:08:27Holy shit, Dean!
00:08:30Step back up, dude!
00:08:31Step back!
00:08:35We were genuinely in love.
00:08:39Like, at that time in my life, I had not experienced something like that.
00:08:45Hey, buddy.
00:08:46Good thing I'm not jealous.
00:08:49Dean, in his best moments, is better than anything.
00:09:05So, suddenly, Dean found himself in a relationship with somebody with very young children.
00:09:14And he totally surprised me.
00:09:18He placed such value on the kids.
00:09:22Show me how to jump!
00:09:23Everybody!
00:09:24Woo!
00:09:25Yeah!
00:09:25He very much thought about his role in their life.
00:09:28Nice one, Roro!
00:09:30Yeah!
00:09:30And the impact on them.
00:09:31Happy birthday to you!
00:09:35Nice!
00:09:36Yay!
00:09:37I loved bringing the children to Yosemite.
00:09:41Just be playful with it and jump right up on it.
00:09:44Don't worry if you fall 20 times or 100 times.
00:09:47You see, now this is the movement.
00:09:50Walk backwards if you want.
00:09:53These kids, they were fascinated by Dean.
00:09:57Jump up on it.
00:09:58I don't know.
00:09:59He seemed like a cool guy to me, always.
00:10:01And we'd be real excited when he was going to come over.
00:10:03Good!
00:10:04Nice!
00:10:05We can go climbing every once in a while.
00:10:08We'd go out there and he was always trying to teach us how to do stuff.
00:10:11All the way.
00:10:13Dean's unique way of loving.
00:10:15To the next one.
00:10:16I look back and being like, Rowan, climb this, go up 25 feet.
00:10:20You're going to break both your legs if you fall, so be really careful, but do it.
00:10:27I was sitting up there trying.
00:10:30But looking back on it, I don't think risk is bad at all.
00:10:33I think risk is really important.
00:10:34I won't touch it.
00:10:35To grow and try new things.
00:10:38Yeah!
00:10:39Nice, Row.
00:10:39These kids, they loved him.
00:10:41He was Dee Dee.
00:10:43Great to meet you.
00:10:45Hi, Dee Dee.
00:10:46I love you so much.
00:10:49I think my brother always had that longing for a stable, calm, loving home.
00:10:58And we didn't have that because of my parents' divorce and the stress in their marriage.
00:11:06That helmet's pretty cute.
00:11:08Dean had always been driven in a way that didn't have a lot of space for other people.
00:11:15Whoa!
00:11:16She'll still do okay.
00:11:17And it was quite a process of him learning how to love.
00:11:24Jen and the kids, you know, they were just a beautiful gift.
00:11:32But, of course, Dean still had his struggles.
00:11:37It wasn't all smiles, that's for sure.
00:11:41His whole life, he had such severe depression.
00:11:47He didn't have an easy path.
00:11:50I remember he'd come over and sometimes he'd bum out.
00:11:54He'd get real bummed, yeah.
00:11:55Blanket over him and sitting underneath that all day long for days, just sitting on the couch.
00:12:02Be a different person at times, that's for sure.
00:12:06Dean knew something was wrong with his brain.
00:12:09There was something chemically off with him that made him struggle more than the average person.
00:12:15And he really wanted to fix it.
00:12:19We saw Western doctors, Eastern doctors, naturopaths.
00:12:26He went on this fucking mung bean diet.
00:12:30Wheat gives me the walking farts.
00:12:33He wasn't willing to take antidepressants because I think he didn't want to lose whatever edge his
00:12:39mental illness gave him. Like his drive, his ideas, his dark arts, as he called them.
00:12:47Like you take the darkness away and, you know, you're just a creepy wizard, not the dark wizard.
00:12:55Come on.
00:12:56Come on.
00:12:59But nothing helped him more than Whisper.
00:13:03Yeah, good girl.
00:13:08She was his princess.
00:13:11I see the crystal raindrops fall and the beauty of it all is when the sun comes shining through.
00:13:19Come on, Whisper.
00:13:20Dean became a total softie around Whisper.
00:13:23Good girl.
00:13:24When I think of you sometimes and I want to finish your child.
00:13:27We love the doggie.
00:13:30Can we all use Whisper?
00:13:32We can't make it if we try.
00:13:35Whisper was very much her father's daughter.
00:13:38She's a complete asshole 90% of the time.
00:13:43And the sweetest thing, 10%.
00:13:46Whisper bit the children.
00:13:48Whisper bit a lot of people.
00:13:51Whisper, you don't bite.
00:13:53No biting.
00:13:53But to Dean, she was the most loyal dog on the planet.
00:13:57And Dean needed a lot of validation.
00:14:02She basically wouldn't let anyone near Dean.
00:14:06She was Dean's emotional support animal.
00:14:10So he brought that dog everywhere.
00:14:23We had to climb with Whisper all the time.
00:14:27She went on the side of El Cap with us.
00:14:29Good girl.
00:14:31Whisper, do you like it?
00:14:34Whisper flew to Switzerland eight times.
00:14:38Climb the Jungfrau, rope between us.
00:14:41Went over crevasses.
00:14:42When Dean was like, hey, we might fall in a crevasse.
00:14:45He wasn't like, here's how you save yourself.
00:14:47He was like, here's how you save Whisper.
00:14:56At that time, Dean was laser focused on wingsuit base jumping.
00:15:20He would walk up to an exit and when Dean would jump, Whisper would bark.
00:15:26She would try to run after him.
00:15:29And he thought that was sad.
00:15:32So Dean was like, hey, if I can climb with her, maybe I can base jump with her.
00:15:37I remember him saying, why am I not jumping with Whisper?
00:15:40And I was like, well, because people don't do that.
00:15:44But lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, we found ourselves working with a designer
00:15:49to develop the Whisper Rig.
00:16:01Perfect.
00:16:03Very good, very good, very good.
00:16:05She'd get in, she'd kind of be calm.
00:16:07You like that.
00:16:09You like it.
00:16:10You kind of fall asleep.
00:16:12Dean thought it was like a dog putting their head out of the car on a freeway.
00:16:17They protect those eyes, huh?
00:16:18Dean thought it was like a dog putting their head out of the car on a freeway.
00:16:20You are good, Dean.
00:16:22Dean thought it was like a dog putting their head out of the car on a freeway.
00:16:23Best friend, Whisper.
00:16:29You ready, sweetie pie?
00:16:32Three, two, one, see ya.
00:16:58The video has gone viral.
00:17:00First base jumping dog.
00:17:02The whole thing was immediately divisive.
00:17:05Some think it's amazing.
00:17:06Others say it's cruel.
00:17:07Should a base jumping dog give us paws?
00:17:10Yeah, I said paws.
00:17:12What a douchebag, this fucking asshole Dean Potter taking his dog base jumping.
00:17:17That's fucking horrible.
00:17:19Someone's making that decision for the dog.
00:17:21I've seen.
00:17:22How does he know the dog doesn't hate it?
00:17:24But like, Dean just thought it was the coolest thing ever.
00:17:26Dogs, whether they're sitting with us on the couch or, you know,
00:17:29flying through the air at 100 miles an hour, they've always been men's best friend.
00:17:33He looked at all of the shit online and was like,
00:17:37here's where you can put your opinions about me and my dog.
00:17:45By now, Dean and I had been together for a couple years.
00:17:50We bought a big parcel of land in Yosemite West in the National Park.
00:17:55We were clearing the land to build our first house on it.
00:18:01I had never seen Dean happier.
00:18:05Something had fundamentally changed with him.
00:18:08He's got Jen, the kids, and Whisper.
00:18:12So there was this base there.
00:18:14I think that was kind of the mood stabilizer he always needed in a lot of ways.
00:18:24He told me, he goes, you know, I'm getting older.
00:18:27And I kind of know some things now that I wish I had known, you know, back then.
00:18:32Come on, go get some.
00:18:33I've gone through a whole life of emotions.
00:18:38Wondering about my life and what life really means.
00:18:42And it certainly isn't just to rock climb.
00:18:45It's like feeling happy, having love.
00:18:47Hi, Dean.
00:18:48Being with Jen and Whisper.
00:18:50These are priceless.
00:18:51Friends and family.
00:18:52Yeah, this is good.
00:18:57That's really the thing.
00:18:59Let's try to figure out how to be up more.
00:19:01No way.
00:19:03Not all angst ridden or impressed.
00:19:07Wow, I got that.
00:19:10I have such a good life.
00:19:11It's hard to realize how I could be down.
00:19:16Seemed like the dark wizard had found the light in a way.
00:19:21Yeah, oh, it's beautiful.
00:19:24Yeah, little wispy.
00:19:28When I met Dean in 2014 for Sun Park Rangers, he was a devil.
00:19:33He was a rascal.
00:19:36But I was a climber too.
00:19:38So good.
00:19:39And so we'd share time together bouldering.
00:19:42Yeah, buddy.
00:19:43Dean and I became friends.
00:19:46I mean, literally.
00:19:47Dean Potter climbing with the chief of staff at Yosemite,
00:19:49helping him be a better rock climber.
00:19:51It shows that people's minds evolve and mature.
00:19:54And Dean's was definitely going there.
00:19:56I remember one time I had a dinner party in my house in Yosemite Valley.
00:20:01Dean came to the party and Alex Honnold was there.
00:20:05I went to this get together of, you know, friends and climbers.
00:20:09Dean and Jen were there.
00:20:11And she was just so much more of an adult than either of us in terms of being well adjusted
00:20:15and emotionally available and sort of a healthy human.
00:20:19Maybe her being there with him sort of brought out the best of both of us.
00:20:23But we could just be normal adults and chat.
00:20:26We ate and hung out.
00:20:27And it was all kind of lovely.
00:20:29Didn't feel overtly competitive in any way.
00:20:33And it was the first time where I could see myself maybe climbing with Dean as a partner.
00:20:37You know, like, oh, let's go do something together.
00:20:39Like, that'd be fun.
00:20:39We could hang out and climb.
00:20:43Dean put up this post paying credence to who Alex was.
00:20:50It seemed like for the first time maybe Dean was ready to pass the torch.
00:20:59I felt, you know, he was back to the love of things.
00:21:02He was back to why he originally started all this stuff.
00:21:08Dean spent a lot of time in the Yosemite backcountry at night.
00:21:12coming down after climbing or evening base jumps.
00:21:18The moon is fucking beautiful.
00:21:24He figured out the day, hour, moment,
00:21:30that the moon would pass between these two features.
00:22:02It seemed like Dean was sort of backing away from I'm going to be the best of the best.
00:22:07Beat the other guys and do the next achievement.
00:22:10And now it was more like, this is just my creative self-expression.
00:22:15His way of getting closer to nature and his undeniably beautiful vision.
00:22:21He's going to be the best.
00:22:21now.
00:22:41Oh, what oh.
00:22:57I've always wanted to fly with the ravens.
00:23:00Their best wingsuit flyers are pretty much the dorks compared to the ravens.
00:23:06Deep in his soul, Dean wanted to be a bird.
00:23:10And Dean wanted to fly.
00:23:16It all related directly to the dreams that he used to have as a child.
00:23:21In my dream, I'm in free fall and these creatures come up next to me, gesturing to do as they're
00:23:28doing and I'll fly.
00:23:33With wingsuit flying, you shape your body into a wing, kind of create this vacuum on
00:23:39your back that lifts you up.
00:23:44He was exploring new possibilities for how he could fly further.
00:23:54So it mostly would come down to minimizing pressure drag.
00:23:59Dean reached out to scientists studying the movements of birds.
00:24:03The equivalent of the thumb digit and a bird would elevate that and help control local flow.
00:24:07He would look at the wings and the structure.
00:24:10So it uses his body to produce a little bit of lift.
00:24:12It helped me visualize what's going on when I'm flying.
00:24:16Wings out of the air full.
00:24:18And what needs to happen with the evolution of the wingsuit.
00:24:21Nice, so now the air is just going to flow over there and not be hitting angles and slowing
00:24:25me down.
00:24:25Exactly.
00:24:26I need to figure out how to move my body in tune with that wing shape.
00:24:35All these little idea changes and design changes allow you to push the limits of human flight.
00:24:41When I look at just how young wingsuit flying is, these next years it's going to transform.
00:24:48I can't even imagine where it's going to be.
00:24:53He went to Switzerland and opened up the Heiger, the highest point of the Heiger.
00:25:00At the time it was the biggest jump in the world, I mean, Dean is like a mythological creature,
00:25:06right?
00:25:07I mean, the guy just had to fly.
00:25:10Usually base jumps last seconds and now I'm closing in on a three minute flight.
00:25:15Potter set the record for the longest wingsuit flight by a human being.
00:25:20All my life, I've been rebelling against the dream, but I started realizing maybe it wasn't
00:25:27me falling to my death that I was dreaming about.
00:25:32Maybe it was me flying.
00:25:41Back in Yosemite, Dean was seeing all kinds of possibilities for new exits.
00:25:47Yeah, this is one of the places I've been wanting to fly from for a long time, but I
00:25:50have to escape this gully here, down there to the sandy landing zone.
00:25:54Who are you?
00:25:55In Yosemite, Dean was flying with this small group of elite wingsuit-based jumpers.
00:26:01Safe flying.
00:26:01Safe flying.
00:26:02It was like this magic moment in time where we were starting to figure out all the different
00:26:08flights we could do in the valley.
00:26:12The new wingsuits were allowing people to fly closer to terrain, fly lower.
00:26:19Also, the wingsuit made it easier to avoid getting caught.
00:26:24Because you can land somewhere much farther away that the rangers might not see.
00:26:33It seemed like we could almost do anything we wanted.
00:26:36It was just a bunch of kids in the candy store.
00:26:42There was a good little group of us.
00:26:44You guys are ready.
00:26:45And that's where Dean met Graham.
00:26:49Graham Hunt, this sweet, young climber that showed up in the valley.
00:26:56My name's Graham Hunt.
00:26:57I like flying wingsuits, rock climbing, going on adventures.
00:27:03Graham's one of the nicest dudes ever.
00:27:06He was the youngest on the scene.
00:27:08We immediately clicked with Graham.
00:27:11He had this little French bulldog.
00:27:13Whisper and his little Frenchie played together.
00:27:17Whisper, who was totally skeptical of everyone, loved Graham.
00:27:22It takes a lot for Dean to, like, welcome someone into the fold.
00:27:28Graham Boat had immediate entrance.
00:27:32Dean respected his quiet ways.
00:27:36Like, Graham was trying to figure out life still.
00:27:39He literally had, like, ten bucks in the bank.
00:27:42What do you do?
00:27:43Right now, I'm just doing labor.
00:27:46He was working for us on the land.
00:27:49He spent a ton of time at our home in Yosemite.
00:27:54Dean really did think of him as a protege.
00:27:58Fight it, Graham.
00:27:59Fight it.
00:28:00Fight it.
00:28:01Woo!
00:28:03Awesome, Graham.
00:28:04It's so hard to do this.
00:28:07You good?
00:28:07Dean and Graham began, you know, partnering up on a lot of these jumps.
00:28:12Okay.
00:28:13That's good, bro.
00:28:14Pulling off all kinds of hijinks.
00:28:16Like, the first ever flight.
00:28:18Off of the Lost Arrow Spire.
00:28:21Looked like studs.
00:28:27Flying over Tooltown, where all the rangers lived.
00:28:36They really loved flying with each other.
00:28:39They had such camaraderie.
00:28:41Following you.
00:28:43They would do these trips to Europe together.
00:28:48Where they would jump these big mountain exits.
00:28:56They were feeding off each other's stove.
00:29:00Woo!
00:29:01Yeah, brother!
00:29:03This is fucking awesome.
00:29:06At a certain point, Graham began really kind of pushing it.
00:29:12Graham got really comfortable, really good quickly.
00:29:22He definitely flew, like, aggressively.
00:29:27Proximity flying.
00:29:29Proximity flying, you're just skimming the terrain.
00:29:35Flying as close as you can, above slabs and between trees.
00:29:45At first, most of us were like, we're never going to proximity fly.
00:29:52It's just too crazy.
00:29:55But Graham started going to the extreme.
00:30:05When you're flying close to something, it's like riding in the car.
00:30:08You know, the yellow lines right next to you are just moving real fast.
00:30:13That relativity makes it feel even more so like you're flying.
00:30:18And now that's kind of become the new psych.
00:30:22Up next, a look at wingsuiting.
00:30:24The deadliest sport in the world.
00:30:25With proximity flying, the body count was just breathtaking.
00:30:30One of every 20 have now died.
00:30:33Guys were smacking into stuff all over the world.
00:30:36And they were people Dean knew.
00:30:41I'd interviewed Dean for a magazine about his wingsuit flying.
00:30:46You know, he said to me that he had rules that he followed that would protect him.
00:30:50Dean was the most opposed to any sort of proximity flying.
00:30:54It seemed like Dean was always, like, still being really conservative,
00:30:56flying away from the wall, not flying next to terrain.
00:31:01Long glides that would mitigate the risks.
00:31:05But as Graham got better and he was able to do more and more technical fights
00:31:15and exceeded Dean, this pure mentorship that Dean had with Graham shifted.
00:31:25A little sketchy.
00:31:26I think Dean felt like he had to maybe keep up with Graham.
00:31:34A little sketchy.
00:31:36That's when Dean's competitive nature started bubbling up again.
00:31:40Did you see me come by you?
00:31:42Like, oh, you're doing all these badass things.
00:31:46I could do them too.
00:31:48I think in Dean's head, it starts to escalate.
00:31:52And then Dean, at some point he crossed that line, started proximity flying.
00:31:59Like, getting as close to stuff as he could.
00:32:25I don't know, there's a certain point in people's careers where you're like,
00:32:31he's made it, he's good.
00:32:33I thought, Dean was past all that, where there's still a danger to themselves.
00:32:37I was like, he's covered.
00:32:39He's smothered and covered.
00:32:40He's not going to be somebody who burns in.
00:32:45But the minute you throw in competition, it becomes ego-driven.
00:32:50Fly these lines and getting lower and lower.
00:32:54And you're like, oh my God, more is possible.
00:32:58Everything's possible.
00:33:05And that's where you get in trouble.
00:33:08It's such a weird sport.
00:33:10You have to believe.
00:33:12You've got to believe in yourself so much.
00:33:14Now that's some fucking human flight for you.
00:33:17But, you know, your ego is not your amigo, right?
00:33:23Fucking intense.
00:33:26I don't think I get too close.
00:33:28I'm a fucking might rip your head off.
00:33:33I'm wild.
00:33:36Oh, it was fucking ledges in my face.
00:33:47That spring, Graham took a trip to Moab.
00:33:51Dean had told Graham about all these towers and features
00:33:56that had never been jumped with a wingsuit.
00:33:59Like right in the middle of the horizon line.
00:34:03The jumps in Moab are from off of all these smaller cliffs.
00:34:07So you need to start flying forward fast.
00:34:11You know, you've got to jump off, get started,
00:34:14and have enough glide to clear the terrain at the bottom.
00:34:17Okay, here we go.
00:34:21Come on.
00:34:25Come on.
00:34:28Fuck yeah.
00:34:29If you can nail that start, you get this insane proximity flight,
00:34:34skimming these huge talus slopes.
00:34:47Holy crap!
00:34:48Oh my god!
00:34:50Graham didn't know this at the time,
00:34:52but Dean had really hoped to be the first wingserter to open these exits.
00:34:59opening new exit points, first jumps.
00:35:04Who was going to get to lay claim to these pioneering moments and experiences?
00:35:10Oh my god, I'm sick.
00:35:12I'm sick.
00:35:13One after another.
00:35:14Graham jumped off every tower.
00:35:16I'm sick of my heart.
00:35:20Holy shit!
00:35:23Graham boy, dude.
00:35:24Just a silent solo killer.
00:35:27He's so cute.
00:35:28Mission accomplished.
00:35:30The worst thing is running around the desert.
00:35:32Getting the kick in the nuts.
00:35:35Graham came back to Yosemite on fire he was so proud so excited to share this with his mentor
00:35:46but Dean didn't take it that way Dean said he was pissed that Graham had like done all
00:35:51these tower exits that someday Dean thought he was going to open first
00:35:57he never let on to Graham that he might be feeling jealous or competitive with him
00:36:02he was also mad at himself for feeling that way
00:36:08having problems with my ego a lot of competition still in me unfortunately I feel like jealous or
00:36:20envious wanting to be the best and stand alone but that's hard hard on me and makes me want to
00:36:28push super hard the ironic part of this whole thing is here's a guy that inside was living in
00:36:38darkness for so fucking long he even gave into that darkness and then he pulls himself out he
00:36:46struggles he claws he climbs he gets to a place where finally he's going to get the peace that he
00:36:57needs
00:37:02you think the demons are gone they're just waiting
00:37:06and he gets pulled right back into it
00:37:11Taft Point is this majestic overlook Graham and Dean would go there all the time for evening base jumps
00:37:20there's two ways you could jump if you go left it's the safe route you have this long beautiful flight
00:37:28down to the valley but to the right is the notch the notch is this obvious feature where the ridge
00:37:40from the rim comes down for years all the guys would joke around you know we'll know when suits are
00:37:48getting really good when we can fly through the notch let's do this but the skills and technology
00:37:55advanced and people started trying to do it it's a dangerous proximity flight
00:38:07the notch was like the gnarliest line ever it was perfect or dead if you barely made it you would
00:38:16go
00:38:17skimming between boulders tree branches going by it was one of the riskiest flights done at that time
00:38:30you've got to get your suit flying as fast as possible and decide if you're high enough to clear it
00:38:37if you're too low you have to do this turn maneuver to get out of there
00:38:49otherwise you're going to splatter
00:38:52i noticed that the really experienced wingsuit flyers just decided that it's not worth it like
00:38:57the margins are too slim one of the first people to fly through the notch was graham
00:39:03and that became dean's next big objective
00:39:08i think his mindset was like i'm just going to show you i can fly the same line you can
00:39:13fly
00:39:16yeah dean always jumped first and graham would film dean
00:39:22are you going to go for it feels really good nice and easy
00:39:29have fun brother
00:39:33ready yep when dean exits he's a big guy he sinks for a while you know it takes a few
00:39:40seconds to get
00:39:41going so he would be too low for the notch and have to bail out but gram would just go
00:39:49scraping
00:39:56through and then he would actually do the second notch
00:40:07gram had the talent he had the technical skill that dean did not have
00:40:23dean just couldn't keep up
00:40:31and ultimately i think that competitive side that he was trying to control for so many years like
00:40:39got the best of him
00:40:47it was a beautiful spring day
00:40:53gram came over to work on the land with us and the boys decided they wanted to go do an
00:41:00evening
00:41:00base jump so we drove up to taft the vibes seemed extremely chill both of them are like this is
00:41:11such
00:41:11a beautiful night like neither of us even care if we jump they weren't hell-bent on going through the
00:41:17night they were just like let's see what happens
00:41:22dean and gram are getting ready they're suiting up and they didn't even bring a camera so dean had just
00:41:31his iphone facing backwards to film gram following behind him i being the photographer and like trying
00:41:40to figure out the frame
00:41:49they're at the exit point and unceremoniously they jump
00:41:58and i realize oh oh they're going for the notch
00:42:04gram had a faster start and immediately gets above dean
00:42:10it didn't seem that dean was high enough
00:42:14he had a few seconds to decide do i have the altitude do i like feel good about this
00:42:20meanwhile gram is on track but maybe he sees that dean is too low
00:42:25all of a sudden gram makes an aggressive left turn like maybe he's going to go around the notch
00:42:32maybe he doesn't think they can make it but dean just keeps fucking going
00:42:41just before the notch gram veers back right
00:42:47i lost track of gram but i saw dean go through the notch in my photos like that's who i
00:42:52was following
00:42:54like fuck yes they've made it then i heard like a
00:42:59fuck like and i was like holy shit someone panic pitched
00:43:04a panic pitch is like something's going wrong i need to pitch my parachute
00:43:08and i'm standing there on the edge looking for a parachute and i didn't see anything
00:43:13there was no parachute kind of going like fuck what do i what do i do
00:43:18i just turned and started running back to the car
00:43:23i'm texting dean calling dean being like something feels really off like where the
00:43:28fuck are you guys and i go down on the valley floor to our meeting spot
00:43:33neither of them are there
00:43:37and i was like fuck something happened i just like started running and ran to like the base
00:43:47of the clock and was just like i'll go find him and i just remember like yelling for him
00:43:57and just thinking like he probably could hear me like which is just so ludicrous like he couldn't
00:44:05um and still didn't like i just knew something was really wrong but i just didn't think he was dead
00:44:14that night around 10 30 i heard a knock it sounded urgent opened the door and i saw jen
00:44:24and immediately i saw the terror on her face i knew what had happened or i felt i knew what
00:44:29was probably
00:44:30had happened so we reported dean and graham missing it was a really long night
00:44:42they had to bring in a heli
00:44:46i still don't like the sound of a helicopter
00:44:53search and rescue spotted two bodies in the wingsuit equipment
00:44:59they were able to um confirm the fatalities
00:45:06i don't even remember who told me that they were i just remember being told they're both in the notch
00:45:14and they're both dead
00:45:21i remember really wanting to watch dean come down
00:45:26and when he's down i want to go see him
00:45:28like i want to go and like be with him and they were like no no no it's not
00:45:33good jen like he impacted with his head
00:45:36and i was like i don't give a shit i want to go see dean
00:45:42i walk in the room and they're both in these black nylon bags
00:45:46i immediately like took off all of the shit they had put on him
00:45:51his body was perfect
00:45:55his head had been impacted but like there's no scrapes
00:45:58there's no fucking limbs sticking out like
00:46:03when someone dies the only thing you have is them
00:46:07like their body
00:46:12as weird as that sounds like i didn't want to let go of his body
00:46:15i felt very very very protective of it
00:46:19i didn't want to let it go
00:46:26i was driving to the grand canyon a friend called and he said did you hear dean died
00:46:37i was like i took a bunch of really deep breaths
00:46:43and uh turned around and drove to yosemite
00:46:52there were a lot of questions about what had happened
00:46:58a friend and i descended from the top into the notch
00:47:05i was really afraid going down there that i wouldn't be able to handle it emotionally
00:47:11top of tree laying right there
00:47:15top of tree missing
00:47:18there was like a single tree sticking up
00:47:22that graham probably wouldn't have been able to see because of the way he was facing
00:47:27he had done this big turn back over the top of where dean was
00:47:33and that's when he clipped the tree
00:47:34and then hit the wall
00:47:39and we went down further and we could see like little pieces of fabric
00:47:44and then we found the spot where dean impacted headfirst into the rock
00:47:51he made it through the notch
00:47:53but on the other side of the notch
00:47:55it's very low angle
00:47:58he was losing altitude so fast that he he went into the slab
00:48:06i felt a presence there it felt really weird i like
00:48:10not like anything i'd ever experienced
00:48:16dean was there
00:48:18you know talking to me
00:48:20and uh the first thing that
00:48:24that came through was like
00:48:26dude i fucked up so bad
00:48:28uh tell jen i'm so sorry
00:48:32like
00:48:34and it was
00:48:36it's like a super present thing
00:48:39like his voice clear as day talking to me
00:48:46i was in santa cruz
00:48:49and i got that fucking phone call
00:48:54i didn't know what to do
00:48:55and so i just put my clothes on
00:48:58got in my car
00:49:00aimed it toward yosemite
00:49:05and i just cried
00:49:08and i got to the valley
00:49:09and as soon as i got in the valley
00:49:11as soon as i got there
00:49:12it started to rain
00:49:13it just started to pour
00:49:15and it just fit
00:49:19and i walked over to the cafeteria
00:49:21i wanted to see dean
00:49:29and he wasn't there
00:49:34i really loved him
00:49:43somebody texted me
00:49:45did you hear
00:49:47that's like shorthand for someone's debt
00:49:51and uh
00:49:52so i
00:49:53i was like no
00:49:54who is it
00:49:55and it was dean
00:49:56and i remember
00:49:58talking with jim
00:50:00and being like
00:50:02man this this one really hurts
00:50:03like
00:50:04this one's unusually painful
00:50:06um
00:50:07because all the other deaths
00:50:09you died resolved
00:50:12or they died as your friend
00:50:14oh look here it is
00:50:15oh no we should get
00:50:16a big ass box of cheesings
00:50:17that's really healthy
00:50:19with dean
00:50:20i'm so disappointed
00:50:22that we couldn't come back together
00:50:26his death
00:50:27made it then final
00:50:29that there wouldn't be like a
00:50:34reintegration
00:50:38when he died
00:50:43we hadn't spoken in years
00:50:47people do think
00:50:48things in their life
00:50:51that aren't always right
00:50:53and sometimes you wreck relationships
00:50:55sometimes you don't make the right call
00:50:57but when you
00:50:59get older
00:51:02like that's the time
00:51:03like that's the time
00:51:04for you to make events
00:51:05and i really thought
00:51:06as much as i knew
00:51:07he could die
00:51:10i really hoped that
00:51:12he would get to that place
00:51:14and he would make it right
00:51:17all he would have had to say
00:51:18all he would have had to say was
00:51:19i forgive you
00:51:20can you forgive me
00:51:21just something like that
00:51:25i really really
00:51:29i just miss him
00:51:35jim let me hear your voice
00:51:37say anything
00:51:39stop being a pansy
00:51:43that's pretty good
00:51:50what is that moment
00:51:51that you're looking for
00:51:52like how will you know
00:51:53you have it
00:51:54like how do you know
00:51:55you have it
00:51:56you know
00:51:57transcending
00:51:59human limitations
00:52:01is
00:52:03kind of what i'm obsessed with in life
00:52:05and i'm obsessed on it
00:52:06on kind of this flashy way
00:52:08where i fly
00:52:09but
00:52:12i see that
00:52:13if i could take that
00:52:15and transcend
00:52:15the really
00:52:16the main things that matter
00:52:19hate
00:52:21jealousy
00:52:23insecurities
00:52:24all the negative things
00:52:26that pull you down in life
00:52:28maybe right now
00:52:29i'm thinking about flying
00:52:31but it's just
00:52:32a metaphor
00:52:33to
00:52:34to bring me somewhere else
00:52:37with the power
00:52:38of soul
00:52:40anything
00:52:41is possible
00:52:45the bodies of two base jumpers
00:52:47were found in yosemite national park
00:52:48yesterday
00:52:49after an illegal jump
00:52:50that went horribly wrong
00:52:51world-renowned climber
00:52:53dean potter
00:52:53and his friend
00:52:54graham hunt
00:52:55died during a wingsuit flight
00:52:57in yosemite
00:52:58it's a very big loss
00:52:59in the world of extreme sports
00:53:01he lived life
00:53:02on the edge
00:53:03pushing the limits
00:53:04of human experience
00:53:05you know when dean would
00:53:07finish the big project
00:53:08and get up there
00:53:09and just do that
00:53:10roar
00:53:13now on the count of three
00:53:14one, two, three
00:53:33i don't think dean realized how much people admired him
00:53:39and until drain leaving no choice but rest
00:53:42how much people loved him
00:53:44that outpouring of love from the community
00:53:48i wish he had seen that
00:53:50that i was torn out and thrown in the sky
00:53:53and i said all my prayers
00:53:54because surely i'd die
00:53:56and i clashed down and smashed into earth
00:53:59into dirt
00:54:00how my skin did explode
00:54:02leaving only my shirt
00:54:04dean was a dancer
00:54:06on the edge of life and death
00:54:09they say that mortality is what gives life
00:54:13its most exquisite line
00:54:16and dean took it there
00:54:20dean's death
00:54:21is an end of an era
00:54:22who's going to be
00:54:24the artistic creative mind
00:54:26that's going to give us the next wild thing
00:54:28his ideas
00:54:30were so far out
00:54:32it's like a sunrise
00:54:38it illuminates your way forward
00:54:41something about dean
00:54:43was
00:54:44fucking cosmic
00:54:45he was a fucking flawed genius
00:54:50that's how i want people to remember him
00:54:53as someone who gave everything he had to his art
00:54:57he painted something gorgeous
00:55:01across the fucking sky
00:55:05he would not have wanted to just fade away would he
00:55:09it was kind of fitting that dean potter
00:55:12you know went out in a blaze of glory
00:55:19my brother would say
00:55:20the key to happiness is following beauty
00:55:24and not the urge to be the best
00:55:28was he able to always do that
00:55:31no
00:55:32right up to the end
00:55:33that was something he really battled
00:55:36but in his most centered moments
00:55:39he knew it was all about
00:55:42listening to your heart
00:55:44and following that
00:55:45i dreamt about climbing into the night sky
00:55:49you know we're all dealt
00:55:50our own weird hand of cards
00:55:52but through all of his struggles
00:55:55dean made a magnificent and beautiful ride
00:56:00thinking about stories i have
00:56:02that could make people laugh
00:56:04cry
00:56:05make others not feel so freakish
00:56:08knowing that
00:56:09some whack job like myself
00:56:11is out there going for it
00:56:14fighting with emotions the whole time
00:56:16but just being me
00:56:23when i eventually free sell it all cap
00:56:25it was almost exactly two years after dean died
00:56:30i think it would have been amazing
00:56:31to talk to dean about free sell it all cap
00:56:34more than almost anybody else on earth
00:56:36he can appreciate what went into it
00:56:38i mean dean was the first person to think about it seriously
00:56:41and he showed the rest of us what's possible
00:56:45the climbing world is just not the same
00:56:47without the dark wizard
00:56:50but every time i see a raven flying by
00:56:51i think i think of dean
00:56:59you want to come out whisper come on
00:57:02whisper come
00:57:04come on whisper pig
00:57:11after dean's death i did a lot of like therapy trauma therapy
00:57:18and i think it genuinely helped
00:57:41a few months after the accident
00:57:45i remember the park investigator called me and was like okay
00:57:49so we got the footage back jen
00:57:51i go into his office
00:57:53and we're going to watch this footage from dean's phone
00:57:57obviously this is going to be really hard
00:58:03you see them exit
00:58:09graham flies out of the frame
00:58:12dean holds his course
00:58:22as he goes into the notch
00:58:26walls on both side come into view
00:58:31this raven comes in behind him
00:58:34right before he impacts
00:58:52like of course
00:58:54a raven followed him into his death
00:59:18hi
00:59:22come on love
00:59:29i knew he would come
00:59:36everybody misses you
00:59:47you
00:59:49i
00:59:53know
01:00:02how
01:00:04how
01:00:05how
01:00:05how
01:00:05how
01:00:07the
01:00:08Amen.
01:00:38Amen.
01:01:08Amen.
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