ICE AXE FROM A CAN

Is there any particular story with Dean that stands out for you?

The most powerful moment was when I did my first BASE jump from El Cap with him. But there are thousands of others and they are equally powerful. He spent more time with me then with his wife in those days. (he laughs)

How was the first BASE jump from El Cap?

Phew… It’s hard to describe, man. It is not something that can be explained. The feelings were so strong and that is why they have stayed with me… It is not something you can describe.

How many jumps did he make in Yosemite? Hundreds or thousands?

Thousands in the valley, for sure! We jumped every day.

What was your most scary experience with him?

I have two of them. One was on the west face of the Eiger in Switzerland. It was on the way to the spot where Dean had done the longest BASE jump in the world (3 min, 3.4 miles, 5.5 km) in 2009. This was pretty scary experience because we went up the face wearing sneakers in November 2011. We were the only people on the mountain and had to cross some crazy 50 degree ice fields. We found some pieces of metal such as garbage cans and punched it in the hard snow. When it held in the position, I stepped on Dean’s shoulders and grabbed the rock above… One of us grabbed the other one’s foot to provide a kind of step for him… If you slip you would go one thousand meters down… (You can find Dean’s article at here)

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Something similar happened on the Middle Cathedral in Yosemite where we wanted to jump. There was a place where we could not pass and I climbed on Dean’s shoulders, grabbed a tree and after that he grabbed my legs and climbed up. (laughs) On the Middle Cathedral it was even more interesting, because we went to the top and Dean jumped – he had a wing suit with him. I did not have a wing suit, then I got scared and I did not jump. I had to get back somehow. That day, another friend of mine Sean Learry appeared and threw me a rope so I could come down.

How did Dean’s sense of humor looked like?

Sometimes, it was pretty dark in a way. He liked to make fun of people, but he was a very special person. That is why we would like to make the book – as Timmy O’Neill said we need to show the 3D reality of Dean Potter. People know the 2D one already. He was not a calm person, that people know. Dean was a very angry man, very special in his opinions, thoughts, and desires… He always talked in front of people about spirituality, but his personal life was a complete mess. But everything has a reason why it happens – when Dean was a kid he grew up with a military father so every six months he had to change schools. He always was “the new kid in class”, he never could have friends around. That’s why he was so deep into himself and he had a big heart, really. There were two personalities in Dean – one was the nicest person in the world, and the other one the meanest person in the world. He did not like to express this second personality very often – only close friends could see it.

Was this “other Dean” why he got divorced from Steph Davis? Was she fighting with his personality?

No, no, no. That was different. At some point we all change, and these two were super strong personalities. The problem I saw was the era of projects and secret projects – Steph for example wanted to be the first woman to free climb “Salathé” (8a+, 5.13.c, 37 pitches). Dean at that time wanted to do the BASE line and Steph was super mad at Dean for not supporting her as a belayer on the wall. Dean was not ready to climb the route, he could never climb the headwall. Despite having tried so many times… Dean climbed very hard things on granite because thanks to his size and enormous power, he was a really good climber and amazing free soloist, but his climbing abilities were not universal. He was climbing 8a+ maximum.

So was Steph able to climb harder routes than him?

No, she was frustrated because they always had different projects, and technically could never spend time together. When she was trying “Salathé”, either me or Thomas Huber was there… We communicated with her by walkie talkie every day… Meanwhile Dean was in Moab trying to walk his highlines. They were really driven personalities, everybody had their personal goals and they were really pushed by the media industry to perform and be the first and to make the covers of magazines. It was the modern media that pretty much destroyed their relationship. When Dean and Steph were together around at a crag, Dean was quite nice; maybe he was extreme sometimes but never in front of Steph. I lived with both of them for months in Moab or Yosemite but after they separated, I mostly stopped communicating with Steph.