Extreme Athlete Dean Potter, 2nd Man Found Dead in Yosemite National Park

ktla.com/ ^

[BenLurkin]

Extreme athlete Dean Potter and another man were found dead Sunday in Yosemite National Park after an apparent BASE jumping accident, park officials said.

Potter and Graham Hunt were jumping Saturday night from Taft Point, a 7,500-foot peak above Yosemite Valley, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.

[SamAdams76]

Evel Knievel did a lot of crazy stuff and broke a lot of bones but lived long enough to die of natural causes. Not sure he'd be onboard with what is called "extreme" these days.

What these guys are doing with this base jumping and these "wing suits" - they are absolutely nuts.

[Riley]

I read they tried to fly through a crease in the rocks, but to quote Agent 86, “They missed it by that much”.

Wingsuit jump? I watched Jeb Corliss do that and kiss a rock outcropping in Africa. Had body cams all over him. He got his presence of mind back and reacted with an emergency deployment surprisingly fast. Screwed up his legs- he's OK and jumping again now. It made me draw my legs in and cringe watching that.

[Riley]

I read this morning they were using “wingsuits” and tried to fly though a narrow crevice — apparently missing....splat.

(((shudder)))

[The_Media_never_lie]

Maybe the Supreme Court or Obama should grant an exemption for the mentally challenged from the law of gravity.

[EternalVigilance]

Maybe the Supreme Court or Obama should grant an exemption for the mentally challenged from the law of gravity.

Just like they're trying to do on marriage.

[buckalfa]

"I get my exercise mowing my 1/5th acre kingdom with a reel mower."

They still exist? I thought they were a figment of my childhood imagination.

[freepersup]

The human body is at best, a very crude airfoil. Wingsuits provide the body-pilot with the illusion that the body has been transformed into a fighter jet-like instrument. Proximity flying is always on a descending course. These two base jumpers found themselves on the wrong trajectory (out of the envelope) and impact into terrain was the outcome. A companion at the launch point reported hearing a pop-pop sound... unfortunately it wasn't the deployment of two parachutes, but the sound of two bodies impacting granite at about 140mph.

On a positive note: The one time ground rush would have been spectacular. Traditional belly flyers prefer punching through clouds as it is a much healthier form of "ground rush." Skydivers take a rather callous approach to killing oneself in the sport. 1: You look stupid. 2: You can't skydive anymore. Be careful out there everybody.

[Vigilanteman]

Mine was a special order from Sears. They still sell them.

So do a number of other companies. So I guess I'm not the only anachronism around.

[TurboZamboni]

It’s all about that BASE.

[BenLurkin]

Nice!

[BenLurkin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyTTX6Wlf1Y

[rlmorel]

I currently pay to have my lawn mowed, good money spent because I work a lot of hours and want my time off.

That said, I have bought an old push mower at a yard sale that I am going to recondition, so I can go out and cut my grass at 5:30 in the morning or 9:00 at night.

Well, 5:30 AM maybe if I ever get up that early!

[Polynikes]

Its happened before and will probably happen again. Darwin is a cruel master.
Play Stupid Games
Win Stupid Prizes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKZKxdLeIM

[HereInTheHeartland]

“As an adrenaline junky who has made it to old age, I question your assumption that the deceased led an “empty life”.”

Much better than rotting in a nursing home.

[Talisker]

Evel Knievel did a lot of crazy stuff and broke a lot of bones but lived long enough to die of natural causes. Not sure he'd be onboard with what is called "extreme" these days. What these guys are doing with this base jumping and these "wing suits" - they are absolutely nuts.

Actually its the same. Evel Knievel figured out that if he practiced, concentrated, trained, and calculated carefully enough, there was a slender envelope of perfect safety.

Same with these guys. Perfectly safe, as long as they stayed in the envelope.

Kind of like a jet - it's wings are way too small for its weight, unless it goes really fast. Solution? Go fast. Perfectly safe, millions fly this way every day. As long as they don't slow down, they're fine.

That's why they say, envelopes ain't just a river in Egypt.

[oh8eleven]

Well, 5:30 AM maybe if I ever get up that early!
And your next door neighbors don't own shotguns.

[bray]

Nobody has died from extreme FReeping.

Pray America is waking

[bray]

They were obviously making a video and the helmet cam will tell what happened.

[zipper]

Evel Knievel figured out that if he practiced, concentrated, trained, and calculated carefully enough, there was a slender envelope of perfect safety.

No, that was his son. Evel's medical records are enough to prove he was a daredevil. He didn't take a scientific approach, for him it was mostly "that looks about right" attitude. I admired him just the same, because he was a pioneer, an original.

[zipper]

Dean Potter had made the same jump at Yosemite at least 20 times before.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-extreme-athlete-dean-potter-dead-yosemite-2015051-story.html