Dean Potter and Delicate Arch

It's an old controversy, and I'm not looking to rehash that discussion. I just want to know if anyone knows where/if the video got published. I know it was filmed. Was it ever put in a movie? Does it exist anywhere, digitally or otherwise? Or was this perceived sin so great that any viewing of it was deemed off limits? 

I don't think anything was published. They announced he climbed it the day after it happened and the outrage was immediate so I doubt they were keen on releasing video. Internet content wasn't what it was today either. 

drew A wrote:

I don't think anything was published. They announced he climbed it the day after it happened and the outrage was immediate so I doubt they were keen on releasing video. Internet content wasn't what it was today either. 

Thanks, figured as much. I was just holding out hope it existed on some dvd somewhere that might have been ripped and posted somewhere. Hell, if it did get put on some obscure dvd I'd pay decent money for it. I remember seeing a half second clip of the footage in some Sender film or another. Maybe one day before I die they'll release it. But probably not...

I swear I remember watching it online shortly after it happened, but I looked for it a few years ago and couldn't find a trace.  Maybe I'm delusional.

I find it weird that a video of some guy climbing a rock in the desert has been censored.

I saw Dean present it at PGSF sometime around January 2009. I recall driving to SF to visit the newly opened Planet Granite to see a presentation by Dean (and I think Steph was there too). I remember seeing in the video how he shot what appeared to be a super janky bow & arrow with the arrow connected to a string so he could pull a rope up (which he used to rap off). I thought it was pretty fitting with Dean's style at the time and I was kinda oblivious to the controversy until I read Steph's book (this was a time before our social media overloads controlled our perceptions about the world). 

Robert Rowsam wrote:

Thanks, figured as much. I was just holding out hope it existed on some dvd somewhere that might have been ripped and posted somewhere. Hell, if it did get put on some obscure dvd I'd pay decent money for it. I remember seeing a half second clip of the footage in some Sender film or another. Maybe one day before I die they'll release it. But probably not...

Why glorify immoral acts, ignorance, crimes, misdeeds?

K Weber wrote:

Why glorify immoral acts, ignorance, crimes, misdeeds?

Do you not pay federal taxes? 

Max Ha wrote:

Do you not pay federal taxes? 

No. Don’t tell me you’re one of those sheep that do.

K Weber wrote:

Why glorify immoral acts, ignorance, crimes, misdeeds?

Seriously.  What Dean did was racist, and set the climbing community back to the dark ages.  

Dan Cooksey wrote:

Seriously.  What Dean did was racist, and set the climbing community back to the dark ages.  

Woah, how was it racist? Maybe i missed part of that story.

John Clark wrote:

Woah, how was it racist? Maybe i missed part of that story.

I am being facetious, John. 

I'm very lost and very curious. Anyone up to write a recap?

John Clark wrote:

Woah, how was it racist? Maybe i missed part of that story.

He's purposefully trying to derail the argument that what Dean did was unethical and ignorant. 

Andre Chiquito wrote:

This is a great article about it:

https://www.outsideonline.com/1825021/how-delicate-was-dean

K Weber wrote:

Why glorify immoral acts, ignorance, crimes, misdeeds?

Why did a large fraction of the country vote for Trump?

I wonder how many times he climbed it before deciding to go public? I felt bad he and Steph lost some sponsors, but come on, he was performing a stunt on one of the most famous landforms in the world for the attention, not the quality of the climbing. Minor lapse of judgment in an amazing career. RIP Dean. 

T Lego wrote:

He's purposefully trying to derail the argument that what Dean did was unethical and ignorant. 

According to the MP bylaws criticizing a dead person is bannable.

JaredG wrote:

I swear I remember watching it online shortly after it happened, but I looked for it a few years ago and couldn't find a trace.  Maybe I'm delusional.

I find it weird that a video of some guy climbing a rock in the desert has been censored.

I remember some video of it at the time.

Problem with it is one of those things that if one person does it, there is little real impact.  But it encourages more people to do the same type of thing, which does have an impact and results in more regulation and in general puts the climbing community in a bad light.

I don't know why Potter did it. In any case it was irresponsible.

What’s it go at?

As I recall it was given a 5.9.  Could be wrong.

Bale wrote:

I wonder how many times he climbed it before deciding to go public? I felt bad he and Steph lost some sponsors, but come on, he was performing a stunt on one of the most famous landforms in the world for the attention, not the quality of the climbing. Minor lapse of judgment in an amazing career. RIP Dean. 

basically sums up my feelings as well...

From Outside Mag:

https://www.outsideonline.com/1825021/how-delicate-was-dean