Dean Potter | Quick Facts
| Full Name | Dean Spaulding Potter |
| Birth Date | April 14, 1972 |
| Birth Place | Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S. |
| Nick Name | Dark Wizard |
| Religion | Christian |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Education | Joe English Hill School, University of New Hampshire |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Father’sName | Anthony Potter |
| Mother’sName | Patricia Dellert |
| Siblings | Not known |
| Died | May 16, 2015 (aged 43) at Yosemite National Park, California |
| Height | 1.96 m (6’5″) |
| Weight | 185 pounds |
| Shoe Size | Not available |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Hazel Brown |
| Body Measurement | Not available |
| Build | Athlete |
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Wife | Steph Davis (2002-2010) |
| Pet | Australian Cattle Dog, Whisper |
| Profession | Rock Climber |
| Net Worth | $1.7 million |
| Accomplishments | Many hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments |
| Famous for | Rock Climbing, Alpinism, BASE jumping & Highlining |
| Cause of Death | Wingsuit flying crash |
| Practicing since | Grade 10 |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
| Merch | Reel Rock 10, Reel Rock 6 |
| Last Update | July, 2022 |
Sadly, gone from our sight but not from our heart! He must not have lived a long life but has totally understood the depth of life.
The flying man, who inked his story with mountains, rocks, cliffs, bridges, tightropes with the webbed wingsuits, and parachutes, had a net worth of $1.7 million.
In essence, Dean Potter ruled the Yosemite monkeys as a de facto leader and was a pioneer of free solo and speed climbing, BASE jumping and wingsuit flying, and highlining, which he called “the dark arts.”
The extreme athlete, Dean, has finished many hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite National Park and Patagonia.
However, remaining a fixture in the world of adventures for 20 years, Dean bid adieu to the world while attempting wingsuit flying at Yosemite National Park in 2015.
Now, let’s take a sheer look at the quick facts that will best describe the late daredevil, Dean Potter.
Dean Potter Net Worth and Salary
Dean has been climbing without protective gear since he was a teenager. After dropping out of college, he was all in on his dreams. He attended the University of New Hampshire and rowed on the varsity crew.
Dean, whose soul had already fled to the sky, attempted numerous new routes and solo ascents in Yosemite and Patagonia.
Similarly, there is no denying that Dean made the majority of his money from sponsorships. Dean used to live out of his Volkswagen Jetta after dropping out of college in 1992 in order to climb and secure sponsorships.
Furthermore, Dean and his wife shared a home in Moab, Utah, that was only the size of a storage unit and a library card. He couldn’t stay there full-time because he was a nomad.
In pursuit of his dreams, he devised the concept of freebase, or free solo climbing up tall, overhanging walls while wearing a BASE jumping parachute on his back for a marginal degree of safety in case he falls.
Similarly, Dean rose to prominence as the first person to free climb El Capitan and Half Dome in twenty-four hours.
Net Worth of Dean Potter in Different Currencies
Here is a take of Dean Potter’s net worth in different currencies, including the cryptocurrency BitCoin.
| Currency | Net Worth |
| Euro | €1,437665 |
| Pound Sterling | £1,236521 |
| Australian Dollar | A$2,280747 |
| Canadian Dollar | C$2,116,407 |
| Indian Rupee | ₹127,304,160 |
| BitCoin | ฿51,420053 |
Dean Potter | Notable Achievements
- 2002 Supercanaleta, Cerro Fitz Roy, Patagonia. First solo of the route.
- 2003 Concepcion 5.13+ (67m), Day Canyon, Moab, Utah. First ascent.
- 2006 Heaven (5.12d/13a) Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley. First free solo ascent.
- 2006 Southern Belle (V 5.12d R/X), Half Dome, Yosemite Valley. Second ascent with Leo Houlding.
- 2008 Deep Blue Sea (5.12+), Eiger, Bernese Alps, Switzerland. First FreeBASE ascent of the Eiger.
- 2010 The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite. The fastest ascent (2:36:45), a record, was later broken by Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell.
Dean Potter Net Worth | A Brief Glance at his Climbing Career
Climbing on Your Own
Dean completed numerous solo ascents and routes in Yosemite and Patagonia.
As previously stated, he climbed a small portion of Ei Captain in Yosemite, where he discovered a route known as “Easy Rider.”
Climbing in speed
Yosemite and Dean, on the other hand, had a very close relationship. In July 2006, he and Ammon McNeely climbed “The Reticent Wall,” one of the most difficult routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, in about 34 hours and 57 minutes.
Dean, too, climbed “The Nose” of the EI Captain in November 2010.
BASE jumping and highlining
Dean took advantage of the situation by highlining and base jumping. He spent decades jumping off the highest cliffs while wearing the webbed wingsuit that made him look like a giant, red flying squirrel.
Similarly, the human was flying like a bird, heads straight and pointed down, arms outstretched. He was eventually introduced to slacklining.
Charles Victor Tucker III, also known as “Chongo,” is responsible for all of this.
Dean has conquered the majority of the Highline crossing with safety gear or parachutes after becoming one of the first three people to Highline across Lost Arrow Spire.
In Yosemite National Park, these crossings were all 3000 feet above the ground.
When Canines Fly
We’ll never know what it’s like to climb a 300-foot cliff with a dog, strap into a wingsuit, and fly.
Dean, on the other hand, must have completely nailed the feeling, first fantasizing and then realizing. According to him, two hypotheses were developed.
“Oh, we could either fly together or die together.”
Dean released When Dogs Fly, a 22-minute film about his dog Whisper’s incredible experience, in 2014.
It was essentially a wingsuit base jump in which he slowed their descent before deploying a parachute. The short video clip went viral, but animal rights activists were outraged.
Dean was also quoted as saying in a blog post for Tony Suits, which made his wingsuit for the jump, “Lately I think of myself as more bird than human.”
Climb the Arch with Care
Dean continued to test his limits no matter what. Then, in 2006, a contentious climb of Utah’s Delicate Arch in Arch National Park cost him a significant sponsorship from the Patagonia clothing company.
The climb was not technically illegal, but it was also opposed by National Park Service officials and some climbers. Instead, critics blamed him for attempting the climb and endangering the arch for the sake of publicity.
Later, Arches National Park officials issued a blanket ban on the activity. Prior to this incident, Dean had received criticism for slacklining between The Three Gossips.
However, the climber clarified that his ascent of Delicate Arch was “a beautiful communion with nature,” carried out in the most respectful manner possible. Dean’s wife, Steph Davis, was also fired from her Patagonia contract for the same reason. Their divorce was the result of a sudden clash.
This was the “beginning of the end” of their relationship, according to him. Dean Potter Net Worth | Traveling, Exploring, and Experimenting
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Dean supported himself in the early 1990s by working at a golf-bag factory and a local greasy spoon. With time and money, he stood on his toes and spent all of his money on climbing trips.
Dean Potter, with a net worth of $1.7 million, was one of the world’s top climbers by the early 2000s. Furthermore, his death-defying lifestyle stunned everyone.
Dean was addicted to heights; the more he explored, the more he wanted to visit mountains and seek out places to traverse, even if it meant jumping off cliffs or climbing with the bare minimum of equipment.
Dean’s daring attempts earned him the moniker “Dark Wizard” among other climbers. In addition to base jumping, he mastered highlining (a sport similar to tightrope walking but on a wavering, or “slack,” rope).
Not to mention that Potter was the only being in this world who did the crossings without any kind of protection. He clearly had no fear of death.
Although Dean had frequent nightmares prior to his stunts, his climbing partner, Jim Hurst, was fully aware that one mistake, one slip, and you die.
More than a daredevil, he appeared to be a spiritual being with a rare connection to nature.
Exercise is a part of his daily routine.
Dean needed to be physically fit and strong in order to engage in such rebellious behavior. And Dean trained himself by doing “ups” obsessively.
Dean used to do 1540 exercises three or four times per week. He needed two to two and a half hours. As a result, he began with 20 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.
Following that, perform 50 back arches, 30 squats, 20 regular curls, and 20 reverse curls. He also performed ten side-fingertip pull-ups and ten regular pull-ups, attempting to complete six sets with a little rest if possible.
Dean is killed while performing a flying stunt.
Dean, 43, and fellow jumper Graham Hunt, 29, died on May 16, 2015, while attempting a wingsuit flight from Taft Point above Yosemite Valley.
Potter cleared the notch but then crashed after Hunt hit a sidewall. They were discovered dead without parachutes deployed.
Dean Potter’s Personal Life and Net Worth
Dean, on the other hand, had two relationships in his life. One was with his wife, Steph Devis, and the other is mentioned below.
Steph, like Dean, is a climber, base jumper, and wingsuit flyer. They met in 1994 while climbing Long’s Peak and fell in love.
They married in June 2002, after an on-again, off-again relationship. And They divorced in 2006, following the contentious Delicate Arch climb, which cost them their sponsorship.
In terms of the latter, Dean was at a point in his life when he had a caring and warm relationship with his adrenal gland. They only existed to ensure each other’s survival.
Dean Potter | FAQ
Did Dean date someone after getting divorced?
There were rumors that he was dating Jenn Rapp for a long time.
- In 2009, Potter set the record for the longest wingsuit flight by a human being.
- The National Geography documentary, “The Man Who Can Fly,” shows how he mastered extreme wirewalking and flew more than 100 miles per hour in his wingsuit.
- He made breath-taking daring jumps for the film, including a free climb and wingsuit flight at Mount Butte in Alberta.
- Dean devoted his life to studying aerodynamics and trying to improve wingsuit technology.
- He, along with his dog, Whisper, got featured on the cover for the Go Outside magazine, for which he captioned, “Whisper is a cover girl:) Thanks, Go Outside Brazil!”
Quotes
- “I love the idea that I can change the worst possible thing to the best possible thing, from dying to flying.”
- “Adrenaline makes me feel really calm. And then I break through to the focused heightened awareness that attracts me to all these things.”
- “I don’t want to die, but I’m ok putting it all out there for the most beautiful expression of my life.”
- “I don’t want to die, but I’m ok putting it all out there for the most beautiful expression of my life.”
Dean Potter | Social Media Presence
You will be awestruck when you visit Dean’s Instagram handle. Though we cannot say the same for his Twitter account, he did not seem much active.
But scrolling down through his Instagram handle will surely help you to take a look at the world from Dean’s eyes.
Here are the details.
Instagram- @deanpotter with 55.7k followers
Twitter- @DeanSPotter with 2166 followers.
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