RIP Dean Potter

[Inky_Wretch]

Died in a wing suit accident in Yosemite.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/1...ber-dies-in-jumping-accident-at-yosemite.html

 

[Riptide]

Fresh off the wake of all those "The Thrill is Gone" headlines,
here come all those "They died doing what they loved" eulogies.

RIP to the wing-suiters. Looks like fun, but it takes a lot of guts, too.

 

[LongTimeListener]

BASE jumping, which is essentially parachuting from a fixed structure or cliff, is illegal in the national parks, and Yosemite officials have tried to curtail the practice. But Potter fought and flouted the rules for many years.

Rules are stupid, I guess.

 

[goalmouth]

****-for-brains attention ***** who should have been charged with animal cruelty. I'll never get my tax dollars back for would-be rescuers who had to put their own safety at risk to scrape up this retard's remains after his ILLEGAL jump. **** that guy, I wish instead he'd jumped into a biker shootout in Waco.

 

[Vombatus]

Why bother with the expense of body recovery? They liked the outdoors so much, let them be part of the food chain and get **** by a bear.

 

[TigerVols]

Why bother with the expense of body recovery? They liked the outdoors so much, let them be part of the food chain and get **** by a bear.

No kidding.

The glowing tributes about this guy make me want to puke. BASE jumping is illegal, especially in national parks. I'm sure the same people lighting candles in his honor today would be lighting torches in protest if I rolled into Yosemite with a oil drilling rig.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

No kidding.

The glowing tributes about this guy make me want to puke. BASE jumping is illegal, especially in national parks. I'm sure the same people lighting candles in his honor today would be lighting torches in protest if I rolled into Yosemite with a oil drilling rig.

Some of those people actually knew the guy and were his friends.

I've followed his climbing career for a long time. Once he got into BASE and then wingsuits, most people assumed he'd die like this. The wingsuit guys have zero margin for error when they start doing close passes like that.

 

[Iron_chet]

I am surprised at the harsh replies to his death. These people only really hurt themselves and I think humanity needs those outliers to push the envelope and see what people are capable of doing. I guess I can't get worked up about the illegality of what he was doing.

 

[Vombatus]

I'm not trying to be harsh. There's just a whole Darwinian Award thing about it that doesn't lead to much sympathy.

 

[CD Boogie]

Darwinian? So you'd have been the guy bashing the Wright Brothers for pushing the envelope. These guys aren't popping wheelies on motorcycles on the highway in rush hour traffic; those guys deserve to win thinned from the herd. I have no problem with BASE jumping or wingsuit flying bc they're not hurting anyone. They assume the risk. And your tax payer money? Give me a break. You sound a bitter old **** with that screed.

 

[Songbird]

Darwinian? So you'd have been the guy bashing the Wright Brothers for pushing the envelope. These guys aren't popping wheelies on motorcycles on the highway in rush hour traffic; those guys deserve to win thinned from the herd. I have no problem with BASE jumping or wingsuit flying bc they're not hurting anyone. They assume the risk. And your tax payer money? Give me a break. You sound a bitter old **** with that screed.

 

[Vombatus]

Like these wingman suits are going to lead to a whole new form of transportation, provided of course, you climb to the top of a mountain first in order to start your commute. Wright Brothers, BS. These BASE jumping law breaking folks are out for their jollies. Not research. It says something that sponsors were starting to drop them.

 

[Ace]

RIP. I generally think "tough crap" when mountain climbers don't make it or skiers die when in areas they aren't supposed to be.

This is doing what the suit is designed to do. Dangerous but seems a hell of a like more fun than freezing your ass off on a mountain for months.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Darwinian? So you'd have been the guy bashing the Wright Brothers for pushing the envelope. These guys aren't popping wheelies on motorcycles on the highway in rush hour traffic; those guys deserve to win thinned from the herd. I have no problem with BASE jumping or wingsuit flying bc they're not hurting anyone. They assume the risk. And your tax payer money? Give me a break. You sound a bitter old **** with that screed.

It was a murder by the airline industry. They can't have people body-surfing the friendly skies. Investigate!

 

[Ace]

Like these wingman suits are going to lead to a whole new form of transportation, provided of course, you climb to the top of a mountain first in order to start your commute. Wright Brothers, BS. These BASE jumping law breaking folks are out for their jollies. Not research. It says something that sponsors were starting to drop them.

What if you worked in a skyscraper and could fly home? That would be a pretty cool commute.

 

[Vombatus]

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

It's all fun and games until someone loses an I.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Meh, should have tried to jump off the Eiffel Tower. Oh, wait ...

(Spoiler alert: The guy dies. If you don't want to see a man die, don't watch)





P.S., the guy was breaking the law too, and was supposed to use straw dummies. His friends were even trying to get him not to do it. Nope.

 

[DanOregon]

The thing I find odd is that he and his partner both died in the same crash. It isn't like they were tethered.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Baron thinks that since the guy was expected to represent his workplace well at all times, his family is entitled to worker's comp.