Throwback Thursday: Dean Potter Free Solo and More

Dean Potter was one of the most cutting-edge climbers in the world until his wingsuit flight death in 2015 at age 43.

Before Alex Honnold, Potter free-soloed parts of El Capitan, where he established a route he called Easy Rider by climbing down the slabby upper pitches of the route Lurking Fear (hardest moves rated grade 5.10a) and then traversed Thanksgiving Ledge to complete the last six pitches of Freerider (hardest pitch 5.11d, two pitches of 5.10d, 5.10b, 5.10a and 5.7).

Potter pioneered a sport called free-base, in which he would free-solo some of the world’s biggest walls protected only by the basejumping rig on his back.

First ever FreeBASE #solo. I innovated this new form of #rock #climbing in 2008 on the North Buttress of the #Eiger in #Switzerland. This concept of turning dying into #flying is a metaphor for my basic life principle… Quite often there is a way to change the worse things we have going on into the best things which become our strengths. Photo by my mentor and #mastermind Beat Kammerlander. @Fiveten_Official @AdidasOutdoor @StrideHealth @MetoliusClimbing @Goalzero @Guayaki #FlyFee #FlySafe #Freedom

A post shared by Dean Potter (@deanpotter) on May 15, 2015 at 8:27am PDT

Potter Free-Base