Dean Potter and Graham Hunt die BASE jumping

Nice find, Sam! Can't agree more with Wright's quote
"Anybody who enters the park is entering a savage mountain environment. It’s mandatory that you’re an expert climber to be on Yosemite Search and Rescue, because a lot of times hikers get themselves into a situation that only a climber can get them out of.”

The people that wrote all the shitty comments on the internet are exactly those that may sit on their butts all day long behind the computer screen.

Sam N. wrote:Food for thought. Nice to see some more in depth and not knee jerk coverage of this: Did rules, not risk, cause Dean Potter's Base jumping death?

Good find. Thanks for sharing.

I am going to disagree with premise of the article. As part of grieving process friends want to find something / someone to blame for DP's death. Which is the basis of the article is "If only BASE jump was legal in the parks DP and GH would not have jumped late in the day and they would have lived." While a perfectly natural response, it is one of many what ifs that have yet to be answered. Especially given the author states:

Caty Enders wrote:It’s too early to determine what factors contributed to Potter’s death. Officials say there is footage might help explain what happened.

So contradiction. Even with the videos and photos the reason(s) may never be known. But hopefully some light will be shed on the events as it might/will give some form of closure.

In regards to deaths because of the ban, Frank Gambalie's death was an indirect cause. Jan Davis's death was not related to the ban, but human error. In my reading of other deaths in Yosemite and other parks I do not see any direct correlation to the ban and deaths. But then again I am not a base jumper. So until I see some correlation IMHO the article is rather specious.

Didn't know Graham but hung out with Dean for couple days. Dean was very humble and knew and accepted the risk involved
With everything he did.

Allen Sanderson wrote:In regards to deaths because of the ban, Frank Gambalie's death was an indirect cause. Jan Davis's death was not related to the ban, but human error.

Are you a lawyer? Only minute parsing of those events would cause one to arrive at your conclusion.

Sure, Gambalie's death was technically incidental, but he also would likely not have jumped into the Merced trying to elude capture - a capture attempt entirely the result of his banned base jump.

Davis died from human error - an error brought about by her using gear she would not normally have used because she didn't want to risk confiscation of her own chute. Again, the only reason she did that, just like Gambalie, was due to the desire to avoid the consequences of the ban.

To say that neither death wasn't largely caused by the base jumping ban is semantic nit-picking worthy of a court-room.

Marc801 wrote: Are you a lawyer? Only minute parsing of those events would cause one to arrive at your conclusion. Sure, Gambalie's death was technically incidental, but he also would likely not have jumped into the Merced trying to elude capture - a capture attempt entirely the result of his banned base jump. Davis died from human error - an error brought about by her using gear she would not normally have used because she didn't want to risk confiscation of her own chute. Again, the only reason she did that, just like Gambalie, was due to the desire to avoid the consequences of the ban. To say that neither death wasn't largely caused by the base jumping ban is semantic nit-picking worthy of a court-room.

Uh you might re-read what I wrote and what you quoted from my post, especially about Gambalie's death. But just in case:

Allen Sanderson wrote:In regards to deaths because of the ban, Frank Gambalie's death was an indirect cause.

For others, the context of Davis's jump is important. Davis was not making a clandestine jump like Gambalie. Davis was partaking in a very public planned protest jump that was in response to Gambalie death. Davis knew she would be arrested and her gear confiscated. That is NPS rangers knew about her jump (and four others) to the point that:

"They agreed ahead of time to land in a designated area, allow themselves to be arrested, forfeit their equipment. We give them a citation for illegal air delivery and the U.S. magistrate sets the fine, traditionally about $2,000," said Scott Gediman, a park spokesman.

articles.latimes.com/1999/o…

Davis made a conscious decision to use borrowed gear because she knew she was going be arrested and have her gear confiscated. She was not familiar enough with the gear as she should have been, that unfortunately was her fatal mistake.

Had Davis been making a clandestine jump with borrowed gear just in case she was caught, I would say that her death like Gambalie's death was an indirect cause of the ban.

That said I can see how some might say had the ban not been in place, Gambalie would not have died thus there would have been no reason for the protest jump. However, when there are other ways of protesting that logic IMHO becomes specious.

Finally, one should read the last bit of this article regarding how Gambalie might have reflected on Davis's jump:

espn.go.com/espn/story/_/pa…

Allen Sanderson wrote: Uh you might re-read what I wrote and what you quoted from my post, especially about Gambalie's death. But just in case: For others, the context of Davis's jump is important. Davis was not making a clandestine jump like Gambalie. Davis was partaking in a very public planned protest jump that was in response to Gambalie death. Davis knew she would be arrested and her gear confiscated. That is NPS rangers knew about her jump (and four others) to the point that: "They agreed ahead of time to land in a designated area, allow themselves to be arrested, forfeit their equipment. We give them a citation for illegal air delivery and the U.S. magistrate sets the fine, traditionally about $2,000," said Scott Gediman, a park spokesman. articles.latimes.com/1999/o… Davis made a conscious decision to use borrowed gear because she knew she was going be arrested and have her gear confiscated. She was not familiar enough with the gear as she should have been, that unfortunately was her fatal mistake. Had Davis been making a clandestine jump with borrowed gear just in case she was caught, I would say that her death like Gambalie's death was an indirect cause of the ban. That said I can see how some might say had the ban not been in place, Gambalie would not have died thus there would have been no reason for the protest jump. However, when there are other ways of protesting that logic IMHO becomes specious. Finally, one should read the last bit of this article regarding how Gambalie might have reflected on Davis's jump: espn.go.com/espn/story/_/pa…

As I said - semantic hair-splitting reserved for a court room. Neither death would have occurred without the ban. You can argue the fine linguistic points all you like.

Agreed about the semantics. I can't agree with your analysis Allen.

Anyway, I'm sorry and sad to see Dean and Graham didn't make it on this jump. Seems that we still don't have too many specific details as to what exactly went wrong. This article comes the closest to exploring these details of any that I've seen so far. It also has some nice historical background:

Yosemite BASE jumper was attuned to the flutter of a butterfly

"Whether you accept this or not may determine your ultimate feelings about Potter and the legacy he left behind. Were his outings just another reckless spectacle, entertaining a voyeuristic culture? Or did he offer something of more lasting value? A reminder, perhaps, that in our increasingly sedentary, insulated, comfortable, and convenient world there is something important to be found in genuine adventure, hurtling into the unknown where the risks are real and the outcome uncertain."

time.com/3898978/dean-potte…

People are drawn to certain things. Some need constant adventure. Some are perfectly happy raising kids and working the same blue collar job for 50 years. Most are in-between. There are a million ways to achieve personal fulfillment, and not all of them are risky. I'm more inspired by the janitor at my work, who has a smile and a greeting every single day, than any BASE jumper or rock climber.

Just trying to put things in perspective. All of the news articles and comments about Dean living "more" than anyone else are sort of a slap in the face to people with different motives in life. I applaud anyone who follows their own flame (Dean/Graham included).

David Barbour wrote:People are drawn to certain things. Some need constant adventure. Some are perfectly happy raising kids and working the same blue collar job for 50 years. Most are in-between. There are a million ways to achieve personal fulfillment, and not all of them are risky. I'm more inspired by the janitor at my work, who has a smile and a greeting every single day, than any BASE jumper or rock climber. Just trying to put things in perspective. All of the news articles and comments about Dean living "more" than anyone else are sort of a slap in the face to people with different motives in life. I applaud anyone who follows their own flame (Dean/Graham included).

I agreed, David. But at the same time it's also a slap to the face for those that love adventure and see that as their lifstyle, their purposes. Ignorant comments from outsiders that don't undertand their lifestyle, their sports, are bad as well.