1 00:00:13,388 --> 00:00:16,558 When I was a little boy, 2 00:00:16,642 --> 00:00:21,230 my first memory was this dream 3 00:00:21,313 --> 00:00:24,191 of falling. 4 00:00:49,675 --> 00:00:52,553 I always wondered as I got older, 5 00:00:52,636 --> 00:00:54,471 you know, if it was some premonition 6 00:00:54,555 --> 00:00:56,390 of me falling to my death. 7 00:01:02,479 --> 00:01:05,857 But just feel it so strongly, 8 00:01:05,941 --> 00:01:10,696 needing to go towards that unknown and that fear. 9 00:02:34,279 --> 00:02:36,531 And okay. 10 00:02:38,450 --> 00:02:40,369 Yeah, my name is Dean. 11 00:02:40,452 --> 00:02:43,455 - And we first� - My name's Dean Potter. 12 00:02:43,538 --> 00:02:47,167 I never say my name is Dean Potter 13 00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:50,253 'less I'm talking business, and this is to give the folks 14 00:02:50,337 --> 00:02:52,214 a warm feeling about me. 15 00:02:52,297 --> 00:02:55,342 - Okay. - So my name's Dean. 16 00:02:57,761 --> 00:03:01,890 You know, there's this mythology around Dean Potter. 17 00:03:03,308 --> 00:03:06,728 For a long time, I knew Dean 18 00:03:06,812 --> 00:03:10,315 more than anyone else in the world. 19 00:03:13,193 --> 00:03:16,238 And he's still, like, this enigma. 20 00:03:16,321 --> 00:03:18,073 Yeah. 21 00:03:18,156 --> 00:03:21,118 Let's start at the beginning. 22 00:03:23,912 --> 00:03:28,750 I met Dean in the West Texas desert at Hueco Tanks. 23 00:03:28,834 --> 00:03:31,753 It was a hot climbing spot at that time. 24 00:03:31,837 --> 00:03:33,922 People would spend the whole winter 25 00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:37,676 climbing these big boulders. 26 00:03:37,759 --> 00:03:39,136 Right outside the park, 27 00:03:39,219 --> 00:03:43,014 they had this corrugated-steel Quonset hut. 28 00:03:43,098 --> 00:03:45,058 I walked in. 29 00:03:45,142 --> 00:03:49,730 What I noticed first was the smell of the climbers. 30 00:03:49,813 --> 00:03:53,108 There were sleeping bags on the ground, 31 00:03:53,191 --> 00:03:54,443 guys snoring, 32 00:03:54,526 --> 00:03:58,280 and there's one dude with this big, long tent pole 33 00:03:58,363 --> 00:04:01,241 with a tennis ball taped to the end. 34 00:04:01,324 --> 00:04:03,577 When people started to snore, 35 00:04:03,660 --> 00:04:06,329 he would thwack them from across the room, you know. 36 00:04:06,413 --> 00:04:07,414 Bwack. 37 00:04:07,497 --> 00:04:08,832 Thwack. 38 00:04:08,915 --> 00:04:11,710 And I was like, wow, 39 00:04:11,793 --> 00:04:16,548 that's the fucking alpha, I guess. 40 00:04:18,467 --> 00:04:22,304 So I started climbing when I was 17 in New Hampshire. 41 00:04:22,387 --> 00:04:24,723 That year I missed the maximum amount of days 42 00:04:24,806 --> 00:04:26,516 from school and� 43 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,228 and would do anything to go climbing, 44 00:04:30,312 --> 00:04:32,647 taking my parents' car without permission, 45 00:04:32,731 --> 00:04:34,900 you know, wrecking my parents' car 46 00:04:34,983 --> 00:04:36,485 without permission. 47 00:04:36,568 --> 00:04:38,570 He had a little crew. 48 00:04:38,653 --> 00:04:40,197 There was Timmy. 49 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,991 I was this little wiseass from Philly, 50 00:04:43,074 --> 00:04:45,452 utterly in love with the moment. 51 00:04:45,535 --> 00:04:48,538 We were just climbers, dude. It was so easy. 52 00:04:48,622 --> 00:04:50,373 And he had Jim. 53 00:04:50,457 --> 00:04:54,085 We all came from a life that wasn't fulfilling. 54 00:04:54,169 --> 00:04:57,881 Climbing at the time was a way to put together a new reality 55 00:04:57,964 --> 00:04:59,841 of what life was going to be. 56 00:04:59,925 --> 00:05:02,093 For me, it was a counterculture thing. 57 00:05:02,177 --> 00:05:04,137 I'd dropped out of school really early, 58 00:05:04,221 --> 00:05:06,181 and I was playing in bands. 59 00:05:06,264 --> 00:05:09,643 You know, when I found this climbing scene, 60 00:05:09,726 --> 00:05:11,645 I was like, these are my people. 61 00:05:14,064 --> 00:05:15,982 I remember meeting Dean, 62 00:05:16,066 --> 00:05:18,735 and Dean loomed, right? 63 00:05:18,819 --> 00:05:20,821 Very tall, like, 6'6", 64 00:05:20,904 --> 00:05:23,990 intense, sort of in your face. 65 00:05:24,074 --> 00:05:25,700 But, man, he can climb. 66 00:05:25,784 --> 00:05:28,078 Most of us were just, like, having fun, 67 00:05:28,161 --> 00:05:29,454 you know, on the rock. 68 00:05:29,538 --> 00:05:33,875 But Dean was tapping into something very different. 69 00:05:33,959 --> 00:05:35,210 That's it. 70 00:05:35,293 --> 00:05:37,796 Come on. 71 00:05:41,216 --> 00:05:42,384 Nice. 72 00:05:42,467 --> 00:05:45,762 From the beginning, what really set him apart 73 00:05:45,846 --> 00:05:49,391 was his relationship with fear. 74 00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:53,186 He was seeking out these climbs 75 00:05:53,270 --> 00:05:57,482 that were high and scary. 76 00:05:57,566 --> 00:06:00,443 For some reason, Dean loved that feeling 77 00:06:00,527 --> 00:06:02,279 of being up there 78 00:06:02,362 --> 00:06:05,574 really high off the ground without a rope. 79 00:06:05,657 --> 00:06:07,075 Free soloing. 80 00:06:07,158 --> 00:06:09,452 If you fall off, you could die. 81 00:06:11,454 --> 00:06:14,457 But when he got in a dangerous situation, 82 00:06:14,541 --> 00:06:16,376 something in his brain would kick in, 83 00:06:16,459 --> 00:06:19,629 and he could take the fear that he had 84 00:06:19,713 --> 00:06:22,632 and morph it into, like, superhuman strength. 85 00:06:28,555 --> 00:06:32,225 In those early days, it was pure. 86 00:06:32,309 --> 00:06:33,727 He wasn't famous. 87 00:06:33,810 --> 00:06:37,731 He was just discovering the power that he had. 88 00:06:37,814 --> 00:06:38,982 Bring it on back. 89 00:06:41,151 --> 00:06:44,738 Slacklining is like surfing. 90 00:06:44,821 --> 00:06:46,907 You've got to ride this huge wave. 91 00:06:48,867 --> 00:06:51,202 Come on. 92 00:06:51,286 --> 00:06:52,579 Next step was to take it 93 00:06:52,662 --> 00:06:54,289 hundreds of feet off the ground. 94 00:06:55,916 --> 00:06:57,250 With a high line, 95 00:06:57,334 --> 00:06:59,294 you're looking at, will the system catch you? 96 00:06:59,377 --> 00:07:00,420 It was all new. 97 00:07:00,503 --> 00:07:02,839 We didn't have stuff that was built for high lining. 98 00:07:02,923 --> 00:07:04,674 One, two, three, one, two, three. 99 00:07:04,758 --> 00:07:07,469 No one else is really developing the technical side 100 00:07:07,552 --> 00:07:09,346 of high lining, 101 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:12,891 just me and, you know, my close friends. 102 00:07:12,974 --> 00:07:14,976 And they're not rocket scientists. 103 00:07:15,060 --> 00:07:17,103 Think that'll hold? 104 00:07:19,481 --> 00:07:20,774 System failure. 105 00:07:23,443 --> 00:07:28,239 Trying to walk a high line� 106 00:07:28,323 --> 00:07:31,701 it fucks with your mind so hard. 107 00:07:31,785 --> 00:07:34,037 You're tethered to the line. 108 00:07:35,664 --> 00:07:38,500 But it's terrifying. 109 00:07:40,502 --> 00:07:43,463 You're doing it, Timmy. 110 00:07:45,048 --> 00:07:46,841 My hands are sweating right now thinking about it. 111 00:07:48,426 --> 00:07:51,638 But Dean went so deep into it. 112 00:07:56,351 --> 00:08:00,814 It's all about control� 113 00:08:00,897 --> 00:08:03,233 becoming the master of your mind. 114 00:08:06,653 --> 00:08:08,363 Controlling it. 115 00:08:12,117 --> 00:08:15,495 In a way, Dean's whole life 116 00:08:15,578 --> 00:08:18,123 was about that struggle. 117 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:30,343 Yeah! 118 00:08:38,727 --> 00:08:42,272 He used to write in journals a lot. 119 00:08:46,276 --> 00:08:49,988 He wrote about everything� 120 00:08:50,071 --> 00:08:53,992 his biggest dreams� 121 00:08:54,075 --> 00:08:58,621 but also some bizarre shit. 122 00:09:01,374 --> 00:09:03,460 If he knew we were reading these journals, 123 00:09:03,543 --> 00:09:06,546 he would be fucking mortified. 124 00:09:08,757 --> 00:09:11,384 "Dean�who the fuck is he? 125 00:09:11,468 --> 00:09:14,137 "I don't even know. Nobody does. 126 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:16,139 "I hope I don't lose my mind. 127 00:09:16,222 --> 00:09:17,807 "I haven't yet, 128 00:09:17,891 --> 00:09:20,310 but there's always the possibility." 129 00:09:22,395 --> 00:09:24,481 There's so much angst. 130 00:09:27,609 --> 00:09:30,403 He's clearly in pain. 131 00:09:30,487 --> 00:09:33,406 Some people are blessed, 132 00:09:33,490 --> 00:09:36,618 and some people are cursed. 133 00:09:36,701 --> 00:09:39,788 And Dean was both. 134 00:09:39,871 --> 00:09:43,333 He was cursed with a dark side 135 00:09:43,416 --> 00:09:46,211 that sometimes overcame him. 136 00:09:46,294 --> 00:09:48,838 It was always a struggle 137 00:09:48,922 --> 00:09:50,965 with his mind. 138 00:09:52,842 --> 00:09:56,262 Even when I first met him, he would get in his head, 139 00:09:56,346 --> 00:09:59,057 like, really down. 140 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:01,726 And there would be times we would sit together, 141 00:10:01,810 --> 00:10:03,269 you know, just have, like, 142 00:10:03,353 --> 00:10:05,021 more than a few beers or whatever. 143 00:10:05,105 --> 00:10:09,984 We would literally just sit there and just cry, 144 00:10:10,068 --> 00:10:12,195 like, fucking weep. 145 00:10:12,278 --> 00:10:13,988 Both of us were just, like, 146 00:10:14,072 --> 00:10:17,992 what is it that's fucking stirring the shit in my head? 147 00:10:20,411 --> 00:10:22,914 We talked about everything, 148 00:10:22,997 --> 00:10:27,627 like, deep, dark childhood shit. 149 00:10:27,710 --> 00:10:31,381 Dean had issues with his family, 150 00:10:31,464 --> 00:10:34,384 relationship stuff. 151 00:10:34,467 --> 00:10:37,053 I mean, he was troubled. 152 00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:42,642 And it seemed like climbing 153 00:10:42,725 --> 00:10:44,978 was the only thing 154 00:10:45,061 --> 00:10:48,439 that kind of kept the demons at bay, you know. 155 00:10:53,153 --> 00:10:57,282 I climb to feel the purity of focused mind and body 156 00:10:57,365 --> 00:11:00,368 unhindered by outside thoughts. 157 00:11:00,451 --> 00:11:04,455 Dean spent a lot of years living in a beat-up van, 158 00:11:04,539 --> 00:11:06,499 got by with very little. 159 00:11:06,583 --> 00:11:09,627 The best part of climbing for me 160 00:11:09,711 --> 00:11:13,089 has been developing the close friendships, 161 00:11:13,173 --> 00:11:16,551 being with people that feel the same way I do. 162 00:11:16,634 --> 00:11:18,636 Their soul is in climbing 163 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,598 and living the alternative lifestyle. 164 00:11:21,681 --> 00:11:23,224 Don't have much money 165 00:11:23,308 --> 00:11:25,643 and alls you want to do is climb 166 00:11:25,727 --> 00:11:27,770 and enjoy the beautiful sky 167 00:11:27,854 --> 00:11:30,940 and rock and world around you. 168 00:11:31,024 --> 00:11:34,110 It makes no sense to some. 169 00:11:34,194 --> 00:11:37,906 To us, it's all there is. It's our religion. 170 00:11:44,329 --> 00:11:48,750 I remember the first time going to Yosemite with Dean. 171 00:11:48,833 --> 00:11:50,919 Your face is pressed to the glass, 172 00:11:51,002 --> 00:11:53,963 and you're looking up at the walls. 173 00:11:54,047 --> 00:11:57,842 El Capitan, Half Dome� 174 00:11:57,926 --> 00:12:00,261 they're gargantuan. 175 00:12:00,345 --> 00:12:02,931 It's hard to fathom. 176 00:12:03,014 --> 00:12:04,933 Yosemite� 177 00:12:05,016 --> 00:12:08,019 climbers' Shangri-La. 178 00:12:08,102 --> 00:12:11,940 For generations, climbers had come to the Valley 179 00:12:12,023 --> 00:12:16,611 pushing the limits on these massive walls. 180 00:12:16,694 --> 00:12:18,738 I was writing a book about the history 181 00:12:18,821 --> 00:12:20,323 of Yosemite climbing, 182 00:12:20,406 --> 00:12:22,116 interviewing the old-timers 183 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,327 and trying to build this story of the lineage. 184 00:12:24,410 --> 00:12:26,246 And Dean�I don't even know 185 00:12:26,329 --> 00:12:28,164 if I'd ever heard of him at the time, 186 00:12:28,248 --> 00:12:30,333 but that was about to change. 187 00:12:33,294 --> 00:12:35,672 The Half Dome climb in '99 188 00:12:35,755 --> 00:12:38,299 was Dean's big breakthrough thing. 189 00:12:41,094 --> 00:12:43,513 He was pioneering this entirely new way 190 00:12:43,596 --> 00:12:45,723 of climbing big walls, 191 00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:48,768 Free soloing but with a small section of rope 192 00:12:48,851 --> 00:12:51,604 tied to his back. 193 00:12:51,688 --> 00:12:54,649 This is a 2,500-foot fucking wall. 194 00:12:59,529 --> 00:13:03,992 He would climb ropeless for most of the route. 195 00:13:04,075 --> 00:13:06,786 When it got to the parts that were too sketchy 196 00:13:06,869 --> 00:13:08,454 for him to free solo, 197 00:13:08,538 --> 00:13:10,415 he would use the gear, 198 00:13:10,498 --> 00:13:14,335 you know, place a piece and just yard on it. 199 00:13:14,419 --> 00:13:16,421 He's pulling on gear, 200 00:13:16,504 --> 00:13:21,217 and then he unclips back to free solo. 201 00:13:21,301 --> 00:13:26,014 Suddenly, this guy can just blitz up. 202 00:13:26,097 --> 00:13:28,224 You know, the prior speed ascent on Half Dome 203 00:13:28,308 --> 00:13:32,270 was something like 20 hours. 204 00:13:32,353 --> 00:13:35,648 And Dean did it in 4? 205 00:13:35,732 --> 00:13:39,068 That was the moment I became aware of Dean 206 00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:41,696 as this paradigm-shattering talent 207 00:13:41,779 --> 00:13:43,656 with a totally different way of thinking 208 00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:46,159 about what was possible. 209 00:13:49,912 --> 00:13:53,624 It's in here somewhere. 210 00:13:53,708 --> 00:13:56,502 These are the Masters of Stone. 211 00:13:56,586 --> 00:13:59,630 In our era, the pinnacle of climbing entertainment 212 00:13:59,714 --> 00:14:02,216 was "Masters of Stone." 213 00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:07,847 These classic videos with all the famous climbers, 214 00:14:07,930 --> 00:14:08,916 hair metal. 215 00:14:08,931 --> 00:14:11,392 Some of it was kind of cheesy but� 216 00:14:15,438 --> 00:14:17,565 It was basically climbing porn. 217 00:14:17,648 --> 00:14:20,360 But the guy who made the films, Eric Perlman, 218 00:14:20,443 --> 00:14:23,112 he saw the whole thing in epic terms. 219 00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:25,865 I came out of the Vietnam War generation. 220 00:14:25,948 --> 00:14:27,700 I recognized 221 00:14:27,784 --> 00:14:30,536 there is something intrinsically beautiful 222 00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:33,039 when life is on the line. 223 00:14:33,122 --> 00:14:36,918 In the crucible of adventure sport, 224 00:14:37,001 --> 00:14:41,923 the spirit of man rises to a whole new level. 225 00:14:42,006 --> 00:14:45,551 That's what evolution demands of us. 226 00:14:45,635 --> 00:14:49,055 I had heard about this guy, Dean Potter. 227 00:14:49,138 --> 00:14:51,516 I thought I should reach out to him. 228 00:14:51,599 --> 00:14:54,560 By this time, his reputation had grown, 229 00:14:54,644 --> 00:14:57,146 but he was still, like, the underground dude. 230 00:14:57,230 --> 00:15:01,317 Dean made fun relentlessly of sponsored climbers 231 00:15:01,401 --> 00:15:03,319 shamelessly self-promoting 232 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:05,780 and bringing, like, capitalist reality 233 00:15:05,863 --> 00:15:07,907 into our sacred climbing. 234 00:15:07,990 --> 00:15:11,035 "I feel that climbers are overly influenced 235 00:15:11,119 --> 00:15:15,039 "with the pursuit of numbers, competition, fame, and status 236 00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:16,666 and have left behind soul." 237 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,254 "Never sacrifice my soul." 238 00:15:21,337 --> 00:15:23,840 But at the same time, he was worried about his future, 239 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:27,135 and he wasn't going to hold down a regular job. 240 00:15:27,218 --> 00:15:28,204 And I was like, dude, 241 00:15:28,219 --> 00:15:31,264 you can just be a professional climber. 242 00:15:31,347 --> 00:15:33,599 You know, shoot with Eric Perlman, 243 00:15:33,683 --> 00:15:38,312 get some sponsorships, make a living. 244 00:15:38,396 --> 00:15:41,274 Ultimately, I think Dean recognized 245 00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:44,777 that telling a story was part 246 00:15:44,861 --> 00:15:48,448 of a way to be able to do what you love in this life 247 00:15:48,531 --> 00:15:49,782 and get paid for it. 248 00:15:49,866 --> 00:15:51,284 Action. 249 00:15:53,244 --> 00:15:56,706 And he embraced the process of making the movie. 250 00:16:01,210 --> 00:16:05,548 He brought together his development of technique, 251 00:16:05,631 --> 00:16:08,801 his creativity, and boldness� 252 00:16:11,179 --> 00:16:13,598 And laid it all out 253 00:16:13,681 --> 00:16:17,518 on the most impactful stage in all of climbing� 254 00:16:17,602 --> 00:16:20,730 El Capitan. 255 00:16:20,813 --> 00:16:22,398 Timmy doubled in 256 00:16:22,482 --> 00:16:24,775 as an ordinary climber on El Cap. 257 00:16:24,859 --> 00:16:26,444 We came up with this thing. 258 00:16:26,527 --> 00:16:29,071 - Dean would pass me. - Dean goes running past. 259 00:16:29,155 --> 00:16:31,282 What's up, dude? Don't touch me. 260 00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:32,742 "Don't touch me, dude." 261 00:16:32,825 --> 00:16:35,411 And I give this cheeseball reaction. 262 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,000 There was a certain bit of theatricality to this, 263 00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:42,752 Holy shit. 264 00:16:42,835 --> 00:16:45,796 But I had a sense that when people saw 265 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,008 the things he was doing, 266 00:16:49,091 --> 00:16:52,345 they'd think, this guy is superhuman. 267 00:16:59,393 --> 00:17:01,020 As an athlete, 268 00:17:01,103 --> 00:17:05,399 Dean was the most natural performer. 269 00:17:05,483 --> 00:17:09,403 As a speaker, articulator of ideas� 270 00:17:12,114 --> 00:17:14,575 When I reach the top� Yeah. 271 00:17:14,659 --> 00:17:15,826 Hold on. 272 00:17:15,910 --> 00:17:17,411 It took a little encouragement. 273 00:17:17,495 --> 00:17:18,481 Go ahead. 274 00:17:18,496 --> 00:17:20,039 And when I finally reach the top, 275 00:17:20,122 --> 00:17:22,083 part of me is real excited, but the rest of me is just� 276 00:17:22,166 --> 00:17:23,292 yeah, fuck. 277 00:17:23,376 --> 00:17:24,961 - "But most of me"� - But most of me� 278 00:17:25,044 --> 00:17:26,030 Yeah, fuck! 279 00:17:26,045 --> 00:17:27,672 I think at the outset, 280 00:17:27,755 --> 00:17:31,259 he was just trying to stay authentic. 281 00:17:31,342 --> 00:17:33,094 This isn't really like me at all. 282 00:17:33,177 --> 00:17:35,346 It's so different than how you normally talk. 283 00:17:35,429 --> 00:17:37,890 My job was just to coach him. 284 00:17:37,974 --> 00:17:39,976 Here I am, planted on the summit, 285 00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:41,519 my feet firm on the ground 286 00:17:41,602 --> 00:17:44,105 checking the view, and life is good. 287 00:17:46,315 --> 00:17:49,694 Here I am standing on the top with my feet planted, 288 00:17:49,777 --> 00:17:51,654 and life is good. 289 00:17:57,285 --> 00:18:00,788 "Masters of Stone" changed Dean's life. 290 00:18:00,871 --> 00:18:03,291 All of a sudden, he went from being Dean 291 00:18:03,374 --> 00:18:05,835 to being Dean Potter. 292 00:18:05,918 --> 00:18:10,715 He was in magazines, getting sponsorships. 293 00:18:10,798 --> 00:18:13,843 Up until that point, he was all about the counterculture. 294 00:18:13,926 --> 00:18:17,638 Now he's, like, promoting brands and shit. 295 00:18:17,722 --> 00:18:22,184 At first, he didn't want to completely buy it. 296 00:18:22,268 --> 00:18:24,353 For me, the most important gear I have 297 00:18:24,437 --> 00:18:27,982 is something that makes my body run clean and strong. 298 00:18:28,065 --> 00:18:31,193 Odwalla, it gets the job done. 299 00:18:37,325 --> 00:18:39,910 We would give Dean a little bit of a hard time about it. 300 00:18:39,994 --> 00:18:41,787 Like, he's a sole climber, 301 00:18:41,871 --> 00:18:43,914 climbing solely for his sponsors. 302 00:18:43,998 --> 00:18:45,916 Right, like� 303 00:18:50,463 --> 00:18:55,176 Dean started to have a mystique around him. 304 00:18:55,259 --> 00:18:57,553 He was the center of this whole cast 305 00:18:57,637 --> 00:19:00,181 of characters in Yosemite. 306 00:19:00,264 --> 00:19:02,725 I'd just turned 18 when I first showed up in Yosemite. 307 00:19:02,808 --> 00:19:05,478 We were all sort of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, 308 00:19:05,561 --> 00:19:07,938 and Dean was a huge influence on all of us. 309 00:19:08,022 --> 00:19:11,525 Dean represented what I wanted to be� 310 00:19:11,609 --> 00:19:13,402 a badass, risk taker, 311 00:19:13,486 --> 00:19:16,030 bold, pushing the limits. 312 00:19:16,113 --> 00:19:19,283 I was lucky just to be in that same tribe with him. 313 00:19:25,039 --> 00:19:26,707 We called ourselves the Stone Monkeys, 314 00:19:26,791 --> 00:19:28,292 and we had our own call. 315 00:19:28,376 --> 00:19:29,418 We'd be like� 316 00:19:31,212 --> 00:19:33,506 We did party-style ascents of El Capitan� 317 00:19:34,924 --> 00:19:37,218 A full bar, ounces of weed. 318 00:19:37,301 --> 00:19:38,301 Wake and bake. 319 00:19:38,344 --> 00:19:39,929 Don't tell your mama and papa. 320 00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:42,014 We had this huge bag of mushrooms. 321 00:19:42,098 --> 00:19:44,392 - I'm shaking as well. - I'm fucking terrified. 322 00:19:44,475 --> 00:19:46,977 We're gonna set up a rope jump out of here. 323 00:19:47,061 --> 00:19:48,396 And then we jumped off. 324 00:19:50,648 --> 00:19:52,400 Oh, my God! 325 00:19:52,483 --> 00:19:53,651 Yeah! 326 00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:55,194 Whoa. 327 00:19:55,277 --> 00:19:56,904 Fucking crazy bastards. 328 00:19:56,987 --> 00:19:58,406 Whoo! 329 00:19:58,489 --> 00:20:00,032 El Capitan! 330 00:20:00,116 --> 00:20:02,576 It was just a feral existence. 331 00:20:02,660 --> 00:20:04,537 But this is a national park, 332 00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:07,623 so there was always this, like, battle with the rangers. 333 00:20:07,707 --> 00:20:09,709 They would come through and give us tickets and stuff. 334 00:20:11,335 --> 00:20:13,129 Like, all the rest of us were scared of the rangers. 335 00:20:13,212 --> 00:20:15,840 They all had guns and hats, but Dean was, like, not afraid. 336 00:20:15,923 --> 00:20:18,300 - How are you? - Hi. How are you doing? 337 00:20:18,384 --> 00:20:21,679 - Turn off the camera. - Um, no, thank you. 338 00:20:21,762 --> 00:20:24,181 Yeah, in the past, I have been kind of combative 339 00:20:24,265 --> 00:20:26,100 towards the rangers. 340 00:20:26,183 --> 00:20:29,395 My most fundamental principle is just being free, 341 00:20:29,478 --> 00:20:33,149 and, you know, I think as long as I'm not harming anybody 342 00:20:33,232 --> 00:20:35,192 that I shouldn't be limited. 343 00:20:35,276 --> 00:20:36,360 How come you're pulling me over? 344 00:20:36,444 --> 00:20:37,778 I was just honking at you because you were� 345 00:20:37,862 --> 00:20:39,238 Failure to yield right of way 346 00:20:39,321 --> 00:20:40,865 at that intersection back there. 347 00:20:40,948 --> 00:20:42,283 No, I didn't, sir. That's a lie. 348 00:20:42,366 --> 00:20:43,784 - Okay. - I think you're harassing me. 349 00:20:43,868 --> 00:20:48,205 But, unfortunately, we're so strapped down with rules 350 00:20:48,289 --> 00:20:50,624 that I'm not allowed to be the wild, 351 00:20:50,708 --> 00:20:53,294 natural guy that I think everybody 352 00:20:53,377 --> 00:20:55,087 should be allowed to be. 353 00:20:55,171 --> 00:20:57,131 He was a total iconoclast 354 00:20:57,214 --> 00:20:59,675 and was gonna do whatever the fuck he wanted. 355 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:01,469 Hey! 356 00:21:01,552 --> 00:21:03,137 Maniac! 357 00:21:03,220 --> 00:21:07,850 And that became part of the myth of Dean Potter. 358 00:21:07,933 --> 00:21:10,770 As it grew and he got more recognition, 359 00:21:10,853 --> 00:21:15,274 he seemed like he was taking himself much more seriously. 360 00:21:15,357 --> 00:21:19,987 He started to believe that he could be the best climber, 361 00:21:20,070 --> 00:21:23,157 the best of all time in Yosemite. 362 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:27,828 Dean calls, and he's like, "Timmy, I need your help. 363 00:21:27,912 --> 00:21:29,872 "It's time to break the speed record 364 00:21:29,955 --> 00:21:32,625 on the nose of El Cap"� 365 00:21:32,708 --> 00:21:35,044 climbing 3,000 feet 366 00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:38,547 as fast as humanly possible. 367 00:21:38,631 --> 00:21:40,925 It's intense. 368 00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:43,010 You start the clock, 369 00:21:43,093 --> 00:21:44,804 go sprinting up. 370 00:21:44,887 --> 00:21:48,015 Typically, you would take multiple days, 371 00:21:48,098 --> 00:21:51,644 and we're trying to do it in just a few hours. 372 00:21:51,727 --> 00:21:54,980 Dean had a special system. 373 00:21:55,064 --> 00:21:56,941 You're climbing simultaneously, 374 00:21:57,024 --> 00:21:59,360 which makes it even more dangerous. 375 00:21:59,443 --> 00:22:02,780 Once, I fell 100 feet. 376 00:22:02,863 --> 00:22:05,366 I smashed into the wall, 377 00:22:05,449 --> 00:22:08,702 and I'm like, "I'm still alive. How can it be?" 378 00:22:08,786 --> 00:22:11,747 And then Dean yelled, "The system works! 379 00:22:11,831 --> 00:22:14,667 Go, go, go!" 380 00:22:14,750 --> 00:22:17,169 I love the action of speed climbing, 381 00:22:17,253 --> 00:22:19,505 just galloping up the rock. 382 00:22:19,588 --> 00:22:21,757 No rules, whatever it takes. 383 00:22:21,841 --> 00:22:24,385 Just figure it out and go for it. 384 00:22:24,468 --> 00:22:27,304 You know, you break through exhaustion into that flow, 385 00:22:27,388 --> 00:22:29,765 and then all of a sudden, we're standing on top. 386 00:22:29,849 --> 00:22:31,642 And boom. 387 00:22:31,725 --> 00:22:34,019 We broke the record. 388 00:22:34,103 --> 00:22:36,522 "Climbing" magazine put him on the cover. 389 00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:40,693 I was, like, down by the UPC symbol, right? 390 00:22:40,776 --> 00:22:44,488 And immediately, the record was broken by Hans Florine. 391 00:22:44,572 --> 00:22:47,867 Hans Florine was a legendary character 392 00:22:47,950 --> 00:22:49,577 in Yosemite speed climbing, 393 00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:52,454 you know, Mr. El Cap. 394 00:22:52,538 --> 00:22:54,790 All right, Hollywood Hans Florine. 395 00:22:54,874 --> 00:22:55,958 Whoo-hoo. 396 00:22:56,041 --> 00:22:59,837 I'm well-known for climbing El Cap smoking fast. 397 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,756 I come from an athletic, competitive background. 398 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:04,925 The most exciting competitor, Hans Florine. 399 00:23:05,009 --> 00:23:07,386 I wasn't like Dean and his friends, 400 00:23:07,469 --> 00:23:10,097 cut-off blue jeans. 401 00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:13,726 Like, you know, I'm in Yosemite 402 00:23:13,809 --> 00:23:15,227 because I hate my parents 403 00:23:15,311 --> 00:23:17,938 or because I don't care to do what society says. 404 00:23:19,857 --> 00:23:22,026 I was there because I want to be the best. 405 00:23:22,109 --> 00:23:24,904 Hans had the nose record for 10 years. 406 00:23:24,987 --> 00:23:28,073 When I heard Dean and Timmy broke our record, 407 00:23:28,157 --> 00:23:29,658 I was fucking excited. 408 00:23:29,742 --> 00:23:30,910 There's a race. 409 00:23:32,703 --> 00:23:34,705 Two weeks later, I go get the record back. 410 00:23:35,915 --> 00:23:37,583 I think this record'll last for a good long time. 411 00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:41,170 After that, yeah, I think Dean got caught up 412 00:23:41,253 --> 00:23:43,422 in the competition. 413 00:23:43,505 --> 00:23:45,758 That's when we started to see 414 00:23:45,841 --> 00:23:48,844 this more aggro side of Dean. 415 00:23:48,928 --> 00:23:51,096 He couldn't keep it under control. 416 00:23:51,180 --> 00:23:52,973 So we're going again. 417 00:23:53,057 --> 00:23:55,601 And Dean could be a fucking psycho. 418 00:23:55,684 --> 00:23:56,852 We were doing the nose. 419 00:23:56,936 --> 00:23:58,854 I forgot the gear. I made this mistake. 420 00:23:58,938 --> 00:24:01,065 He's like, "You just fucked us! 421 00:24:01,148 --> 00:24:03,067 We're gonna lose the record, dude." 422 00:24:03,150 --> 00:24:06,195 My second or third speed climb ever was with Dean. 423 00:24:06,278 --> 00:24:07,821 I think I had a cam stuck, 424 00:24:07,905 --> 00:24:10,240 and he just started screaming at me. 425 00:24:10,324 --> 00:24:11,867 "What the fuck are you doing?" 426 00:24:11,951 --> 00:24:13,702 He's all, "We're losing time!" 427 00:24:13,786 --> 00:24:16,121 He was just, like, so intense and so driven, 428 00:24:16,205 --> 00:24:19,291 and sometimes that would kind of spill over 429 00:24:19,375 --> 00:24:21,460 into being a bit of a dickhead. 430 00:24:23,587 --> 00:24:26,715 So Dean and I break the record again 431 00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:29,093 by, like, 40 minutes. 432 00:24:29,176 --> 00:24:30,469 I was like, congratulations, you guys got the record. 433 00:24:30,552 --> 00:24:32,221 That's so awesome. 434 00:24:32,304 --> 00:24:33,764 How did you guys do it? 435 00:24:33,847 --> 00:24:36,517 You know, and I didn't get a word from Dean. 436 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,936 He didn't want to face and talk to me. 437 00:24:39,937 --> 00:24:42,773 Dean and Hans continued dueling 438 00:24:42,856 --> 00:24:45,275 back and forth on the nose. 439 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,570 Racing with Hans, it disgusted me. 440 00:24:48,654 --> 00:24:51,865 He was like this little dog humping my leg. 441 00:24:51,949 --> 00:24:55,327 I hate the fact that he wanted to just, like, piss 442 00:24:55,411 --> 00:24:58,747 on what I was doing. 443 00:24:58,831 --> 00:25:00,457 And I hated the fact 444 00:25:00,541 --> 00:25:04,586 that it brought out the little dog in me 445 00:25:04,670 --> 00:25:07,840 that would do that back. 446 00:25:10,759 --> 00:25:13,846 I forced him to show how competitive he was 447 00:25:13,929 --> 00:25:16,432 and shown too dark a side of him. 448 00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:18,100 Think Hans is going to be psyched to come back? 449 00:25:18,183 --> 00:25:19,852 I don't give a fuck about Hans. 450 00:25:19,935 --> 00:25:21,729 Want me to break your camera, dude? 451 00:25:21,812 --> 00:25:23,313 - Go away. - Sorry. 452 00:25:23,397 --> 00:25:25,649 I was just like, "Man, I can't believe 453 00:25:25,733 --> 00:25:28,152 what came out of me through competition." 454 00:25:28,235 --> 00:25:30,738 I was a real asshole. 455 00:25:30,821 --> 00:25:34,908 So I stopped myself and realized, 456 00:25:34,992 --> 00:25:37,244 that's not who I want to be. 457 00:25:47,629 --> 00:25:50,049 Okay, we got two cameras rolling. 458 00:25:53,552 --> 00:25:55,095 Winky. 459 00:25:55,179 --> 00:25:57,765 Bullwinkle. 460 00:25:57,848 --> 00:26:00,350 Dean Fidelman. 461 00:26:00,434 --> 00:26:02,561 I answer to most of those. 462 00:26:05,189 --> 00:26:07,983 I've been lurking in this valley for a really long time. 463 00:26:08,067 --> 00:26:10,319 Roll camera. 464 00:26:10,402 --> 00:26:12,780 I was part of the Stone Masters, 465 00:26:12,863 --> 00:26:15,699 which was this band of young climbers 466 00:26:15,783 --> 00:26:18,535 that ruled in Yosemite in the '70s. 467 00:26:23,957 --> 00:26:26,794 I grew up with all these extraordinary climbers 468 00:26:26,877 --> 00:26:28,670 and documented them. 469 00:26:30,547 --> 00:26:32,424 We shared this dirt. 470 00:26:34,802 --> 00:26:37,429 And then they left me. 471 00:26:37,513 --> 00:26:39,431 They became captains of industry, 472 00:26:39,515 --> 00:26:41,225 or they died, or they got married, 473 00:26:41,308 --> 00:26:44,478 or they had families, and I had nothing like that. 474 00:26:44,561 --> 00:26:45,729 I stayed. 475 00:26:49,108 --> 00:26:50,818 I never left the dirt. 476 00:26:55,114 --> 00:26:57,616 When I first met Dean� '96, '97� 477 00:26:57,699 --> 00:26:58,909 he came up to me one day. 478 00:26:58,992 --> 00:27:01,161 He goes "Why are you here in Yosemite? 479 00:27:01,245 --> 00:27:03,247 Why are you"� 480 00:27:03,330 --> 00:27:05,415 You know, I go, "I'm an artist. I make art. 481 00:27:05,499 --> 00:27:07,417 "And I'm kind of a fuckup 482 00:27:07,501 --> 00:27:10,921 and, you know, sort of a loser in some ways," you know. 483 00:27:11,004 --> 00:27:14,091 But I'd rather be here and sleep in the meadow 484 00:27:14,174 --> 00:27:16,552 and just, like, make my photographs. 485 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:18,887 That's what I want to do. 486 00:27:18,971 --> 00:27:21,265 He believed in me 487 00:27:21,348 --> 00:27:25,310 when not a lot of people were believing in me. 488 00:27:25,394 --> 00:27:30,232 Bullwinkle, he's one of the guys I look up to. 489 00:27:30,315 --> 00:27:33,652 The Stone Masters, they did what they wanted 490 00:27:33,735 --> 00:27:36,155 and what was most cool and radical 491 00:27:36,238 --> 00:27:37,531 and felt good to them� 492 00:27:37,614 --> 00:27:41,743 somewhat immune to what society thought. 493 00:27:43,829 --> 00:27:47,541 Dean definitely was driven by his ego, 494 00:27:47,624 --> 00:27:49,710 but who he wanted to be 495 00:27:49,793 --> 00:27:53,547 was not that super-competitive sports bro kind of guy. 496 00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:58,177 He was searching for a deeper connection. 497 00:27:58,260 --> 00:28:00,888 He wanted to be part of nature. 498 00:28:03,515 --> 00:28:06,143 He identified with animals, 499 00:28:06,226 --> 00:28:09,438 especially with ravens. 500 00:28:09,521 --> 00:28:14,234 The raven�it was definitely a big symbol for him. 501 00:28:14,318 --> 00:28:16,904 We spent a lot of time together 502 00:28:16,987 --> 00:28:19,489 making photographs, 503 00:28:19,573 --> 00:28:21,241 talking about art. 504 00:28:26,705 --> 00:28:30,167 Early on, I could see 505 00:28:30,250 --> 00:28:33,337 he was an athlete 506 00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:35,339 and he was an artist. 507 00:28:41,803 --> 00:28:46,225 And he needed to figure out how those two went together. 508 00:28:52,356 --> 00:28:55,150 I look up at the wall or see the space 509 00:28:55,234 --> 00:28:57,569 between formations, 510 00:28:57,653 --> 00:29:01,907 and I kind of get a flash or a picture. 511 00:29:01,990 --> 00:29:04,493 And I want to enter that. 512 00:29:04,576 --> 00:29:07,079 I see myself becoming one 513 00:29:07,162 --> 00:29:10,082 with the beauty and the nature, 514 00:29:10,165 --> 00:29:12,167 and then I live it. 515 00:29:19,258 --> 00:29:21,969 He was definitely� 516 00:29:22,052 --> 00:29:24,054 seeking a spiritual path� 517 00:29:27,474 --> 00:29:31,478 But also wrestling� 518 00:29:31,561 --> 00:29:34,398 with who he was� 519 00:29:34,481 --> 00:29:36,858 and who he wanted to be. 520 00:29:48,245 --> 00:29:50,539 "I dream of Stephanie. 521 00:29:50,622 --> 00:29:55,419 "I miss her and wonder how she feels about me. 522 00:29:55,502 --> 00:29:58,463 My love, my love I long for�" That's terrible. 523 00:29:58,547 --> 00:30:00,966 Dude, so sappy. 524 00:30:03,260 --> 00:30:04,553 And action. 525 00:30:04,636 --> 00:30:06,054 My name is Steph Davis. 526 00:30:06,138 --> 00:30:07,973 I'm 26 years old. 527 00:30:08,056 --> 00:30:10,017 I've been climbing 528 00:30:10,100 --> 00:30:13,020 for almost exactly eight years. 529 00:30:19,151 --> 00:30:20,986 Steph Davis� 530 00:30:21,069 --> 00:30:23,905 She was a really strong climber, 531 00:30:23,989 --> 00:30:25,657 really, really driven. 532 00:30:28,410 --> 00:30:30,912 She was trying to decide whether to be a lawyer 533 00:30:30,996 --> 00:30:32,664 or a professional climber. 534 00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:35,751 Steph did that classic dirtbag thing of, like, 535 00:30:35,834 --> 00:30:38,378 dropping out of law school, living in her van, 536 00:30:38,462 --> 00:30:42,466 and she had become this badass adventurer� 537 00:30:42,549 --> 00:30:45,302 doing huge climbs. 538 00:30:45,385 --> 00:30:47,888 I wrote a story all about how 539 00:30:47,971 --> 00:30:50,182 she was making her life her way. 540 00:30:50,265 --> 00:30:52,976 My profession is fairly vague, 541 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:55,937 but it involves mostly just climbing a lot. 542 00:30:56,021 --> 00:30:58,982 Not only was she climbing at the highest level, 543 00:30:59,066 --> 00:31:03,028 but she had secured this great sponsorship 544 00:31:03,111 --> 00:31:04,571 with Patagonia. 545 00:31:04,654 --> 00:31:05,906 Let's see. 546 00:31:05,989 --> 00:31:07,532 Have a lot of stripes. 547 00:31:07,616 --> 00:31:10,619 There was really no one else like her 548 00:31:10,702 --> 00:31:12,704 at the time. 549 00:31:12,788 --> 00:31:17,250 Dean and Steph first got together in the early years. 550 00:31:17,334 --> 00:31:21,463 He loved Steph more than I've ever seen love. 551 00:31:21,546 --> 00:31:24,966 In a lot of ways, they seemed made for each other, 552 00:31:25,050 --> 00:31:27,260 these beautiful people, 553 00:31:27,344 --> 00:31:30,138 both top climbers. 554 00:31:30,222 --> 00:31:34,643 But there was this friction between Steph being 555 00:31:34,726 --> 00:31:37,312 a focused professional 556 00:31:37,396 --> 00:31:40,565 and Dean still being a fucking man-child. 557 00:31:43,819 --> 00:31:46,655 They were always a tumultuous pair. 558 00:31:46,738 --> 00:31:47,864 Get it. 559 00:31:51,701 --> 00:31:52,911 They were both very opinionated. 560 00:31:54,913 --> 00:31:55,913 Bullheaded. 561 00:31:59,626 --> 00:32:02,629 These two highly driven people, 562 00:32:02,712 --> 00:32:04,756 the adrenaline runs hot. 563 00:32:07,843 --> 00:32:09,261 You know, with Dean� 564 00:32:09,344 --> 00:32:10,804 Fuck! 565 00:32:10,887 --> 00:32:14,558 The emotions run super hot. 566 00:32:14,641 --> 00:32:19,521 Stuff with Steph and love, that's more powerful than� 567 00:32:19,604 --> 00:32:21,314 than anything. 568 00:32:21,398 --> 00:32:24,943 He always had a really strong fear 569 00:32:25,026 --> 00:32:27,362 of being controlled. 570 00:32:29,489 --> 00:32:34,161 And that made relationships very hard for him. 571 00:32:34,244 --> 00:32:37,414 There were all these cycles of passionate love 572 00:32:37,497 --> 00:32:39,040 and then breakups. 573 00:32:39,124 --> 00:32:42,043 He would become desperate, 574 00:32:42,127 --> 00:32:44,629 almost obsessive. 575 00:32:44,713 --> 00:32:48,216 At one point, he had broken up with Steph. 576 00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:53,180 She went down to Patagonia with another guy. 577 00:32:53,263 --> 00:32:55,557 They did all these fucking hard routes. 578 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,603 Dean was infuriated and jealous. 579 00:32:59,686 --> 00:33:01,688 So he went down there, 580 00:33:01,771 --> 00:33:04,191 and he raged like never before. 581 00:33:04,274 --> 00:33:06,401 All right, here we go. 582 00:33:06,485 --> 00:33:09,196 He was knocking out one outrageous 583 00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:11,281 cutting-edge alpine climb after another, 584 00:33:11,364 --> 00:33:12,491 totally alone. 585 00:33:12,574 --> 00:33:15,952 Oh, fuck, yeah! Whoo, ducky! Whoa! 586 00:33:16,036 --> 00:33:19,748 He then tries to do a first ascent on Fitz Roy, 587 00:33:19,831 --> 00:33:22,459 which is a mixture of rock and ice. 588 00:33:22,542 --> 00:33:25,045 It's 7,000 feet to the summit. 589 00:33:25,128 --> 00:33:28,590 He brought a water bottle empty to save weight 590 00:33:28,673 --> 00:33:31,718 so he can piss in it and then drink that. 591 00:33:33,428 --> 00:33:36,223 - It's just so wrong. - "I'm gonna drink my pee." 592 00:33:36,306 --> 00:33:38,099 You don't have to do that. 593 00:33:38,183 --> 00:33:41,394 He gets to the top, but when he's going down, 594 00:33:41,478 --> 00:33:42,562 he gets smashed by a rock� 595 00:33:42,646 --> 00:33:45,148 I've hurt my head. 596 00:33:45,232 --> 00:33:47,442 Crawls to base camp. 597 00:33:47,526 --> 00:33:50,445 He definitely went beyond some boundaries, 598 00:33:50,529 --> 00:33:54,824 and I think it was all about trying to impress Steph. 599 00:33:58,453 --> 00:34:02,290 Eventually, this tumultuous pair, 600 00:34:02,374 --> 00:34:03,833 they sorted it. 601 00:34:06,044 --> 00:34:10,048 And against all the fucking odds, 602 00:34:10,131 --> 00:34:13,635 they made the decision to get married. 603 00:34:15,971 --> 00:34:18,598 I was one of the best men. 604 00:34:18,682 --> 00:34:20,225 Jim officiated. 605 00:34:20,308 --> 00:34:22,519 I just remember writing something like, 606 00:34:22,602 --> 00:34:24,479 "They kind of deserve each other." 607 00:34:29,442 --> 00:34:32,279 There was kind of an everything-coming-together 608 00:34:32,362 --> 00:34:34,698 quality for Dean. 609 00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:37,158 Dean and Steph had this cute little house 610 00:34:37,242 --> 00:34:39,578 out in Utah, out in Moab. 611 00:34:39,661 --> 00:34:41,871 They had another place in Yosemite, 612 00:34:41,955 --> 00:34:43,873 and now they're both fully sponsored 613 00:34:43,957 --> 00:34:45,333 by Patagonia, 614 00:34:45,417 --> 00:34:48,503 the classiest brand in the game in those years. 615 00:34:50,589 --> 00:34:52,757 At Patagonia, we were climbers 616 00:34:52,841 --> 00:34:56,011 but also misfits and countercultural. 617 00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:59,306 Dean was a brilliant renegade climber, 618 00:34:59,389 --> 00:35:02,767 and he kind delighted in breaking the rules. 619 00:35:02,851 --> 00:35:06,187 And that was a good fit with Patagonia. 620 00:35:06,271 --> 00:35:10,650 I spent 10 years heading up PR at Patagonia. 621 00:35:10,734 --> 00:35:12,611 I remember meeting Dean. 622 00:35:12,694 --> 00:35:14,195 It was in a photo shoot. 623 00:35:14,279 --> 00:35:17,157 And I called my mom, like, 624 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:20,493 "Mom, I know what star power is now." 625 00:35:20,577 --> 00:35:22,537 He was by far the coolest ambassador. 626 00:35:24,623 --> 00:35:26,750 People just gravitate to him. 627 00:35:26,833 --> 00:35:28,877 Dean and Steph started to become famous 628 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:30,545 and started to make real money. 629 00:35:30,629 --> 00:35:32,088 Stop that. 630 00:35:32,172 --> 00:35:33,965 Climbing was booming as a sport, 631 00:35:34,049 --> 00:35:36,217 and Dean really, like, rode that wave. 632 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:40,972 There was something truly unique about Dean's game. 633 00:35:41,056 --> 00:35:43,558 It was as if he was reinventing 634 00:35:43,642 --> 00:35:46,728 what it meant to be a great outdoor athlete. 635 00:35:46,811 --> 00:35:50,357 He was seeing himself in a different light now, 636 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,903 really looking at his thing as performance art. 637 00:35:54,986 --> 00:35:58,531 He wanted to share with the world his artistic vision. 638 00:35:58,615 --> 00:36:01,951 From then on, we filmed everything that Dean did. 639 00:36:04,371 --> 00:36:05,371 Fuck. 640 00:36:05,413 --> 00:36:07,248 He was on fire. 641 00:36:07,332 --> 00:36:08,708 Yeah! 642 00:36:08,792 --> 00:36:11,252 And his sponsors were psyched, 643 00:36:11,336 --> 00:36:13,129 especially Patagonia. 644 00:36:13,213 --> 00:36:15,173 For, like, four years, 645 00:36:15,256 --> 00:36:18,802 Dean and Steph were the poster children 646 00:36:18,885 --> 00:36:21,971 of everything we stood for and everything we did. 647 00:36:22,055 --> 00:36:24,265 There was no one that didn't think 648 00:36:24,349 --> 00:36:26,935 they were going to be with Patagonia forever. 649 00:36:28,687 --> 00:36:31,272 - What am I looking at? - The writing. 650 00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:34,901 "Delicate Arch, 651 00:36:34,984 --> 00:36:38,405 May 2006." 652 00:36:38,488 --> 00:36:39,823 Oh, fuck. 653 00:36:39,906 --> 00:36:41,825 Oh, fuck, dude. 654 00:36:41,908 --> 00:36:44,994 Are you shitting me? 655 00:36:45,078 --> 00:36:46,287 Oh, wait. 656 00:36:46,371 --> 00:36:48,832 You're wanting to talk to me about the Delicate Arch. 657 00:36:48,915 --> 00:36:51,042 I'm not dropping into that 658 00:36:51,126 --> 00:36:53,420 mine hole of bullshit. 659 00:36:53,503 --> 00:36:55,046 I got really no comment. 660 00:36:55,130 --> 00:36:56,840 I mean, I'll comment on it, but I have nothing� 661 00:36:56,923 --> 00:36:58,383 - nothing to do with it, yeah. - Well, okay, but� 662 00:36:58,466 --> 00:37:00,635 I really don't want to go there. 663 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,763 The Delicate Arch� 664 00:37:03,847 --> 00:37:05,306 was toxic. 665 00:37:05,390 --> 00:37:06,891 Ah, shit, you got me talking about it. 666 00:37:06,975 --> 00:37:08,059 This is bad. 667 00:37:10,103 --> 00:37:12,772 Delicate Arch is one of the most iconic 668 00:37:12,856 --> 00:37:15,108 rock formations in the world. 669 00:37:15,191 --> 00:37:17,444 It's on the Utah license plate, 670 00:37:17,527 --> 00:37:20,029 visited by thousands of tourists every year. 671 00:37:20,113 --> 00:37:23,783 Delicate Arch seems almost too fragile to stand. 672 00:37:23,867 --> 00:37:26,244 We knew for climbers, 673 00:37:26,327 --> 00:37:28,079 there was an unwritten rule 674 00:37:28,163 --> 00:37:29,873 that there are certain formations 675 00:37:29,956 --> 00:37:32,083 that you shouldn't be fucking around on. 676 00:37:32,167 --> 00:37:36,087 So we were, like, poking the bear, right? 677 00:37:36,171 --> 00:37:39,632 And Dean being with Steph for so long, 678 00:37:39,716 --> 00:37:42,677 he hadn't pulled one over on the man in a minute. 679 00:37:46,681 --> 00:37:50,393 It was this covert operation, 680 00:37:50,477 --> 00:37:54,063 where we sneak out in the middle of the night. 681 00:37:59,027 --> 00:38:01,070 This is the arrow. 682 00:38:01,154 --> 00:38:04,783 Idea is, we're gonna tie a string to the arrow� 683 00:38:04,866 --> 00:38:07,160 shoot it over the top of the arch� 684 00:38:09,329 --> 00:38:12,665 And then from the string, we're gonna drag the rope up. 685 00:38:12,749 --> 00:38:14,292 We're gonna set up a top rope� 686 00:38:15,210 --> 00:38:16,711 Yeah, let's go. 687 00:38:16,795 --> 00:38:20,215 So that Dean can rehearse this thing before soloing it. 688 00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:23,635 We go up there. 689 00:38:23,718 --> 00:38:25,804 It's got this flat platform on top. 690 00:38:25,887 --> 00:38:28,807 And we just lied there 691 00:38:28,890 --> 00:38:30,809 and looked up at the stars. 692 00:38:30,892 --> 00:38:32,060 I call Timmy. 693 00:38:32,143 --> 00:38:35,021 "I'm on the top of Delicate Arch. 694 00:38:35,104 --> 00:38:36,731 Dean's gonna climb it." 695 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:39,317 - And Timmy says� - That sounds like a bad idea. 696 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,194 Isn't that on the license plate? 697 00:38:41,277 --> 00:38:44,322 Isn't that called "delicate"? 698 00:38:44,405 --> 00:38:47,951 Dean wanted to shoot this thing right at dawn. 699 00:38:48,034 --> 00:38:50,662 Eric Perlman arrives. 700 00:39:02,632 --> 00:39:04,175 He said, "It's the most beautiful thing 701 00:39:04,259 --> 00:39:05,760 "I've ever tried to do. 702 00:39:05,844 --> 00:39:07,846 You've got to be a part of it." 703 00:39:14,936 --> 00:39:18,815 Aesthetically, it was a classic art piece 704 00:39:18,898 --> 00:39:21,150 on a three-dimensional canvas� 705 00:39:24,821 --> 00:39:28,616 A vision of humanity 706 00:39:28,700 --> 00:39:32,370 moving and flowing� 707 00:39:32,453 --> 00:39:35,081 at one with nature. 708 00:39:38,668 --> 00:39:41,546 As Dean was climbing, 709 00:39:41,629 --> 00:39:43,756 these birds came out. 710 00:39:46,593 --> 00:39:48,803 And they were whirling around. 711 00:39:54,642 --> 00:39:57,770 It was more magical 712 00:39:57,854 --> 00:40:01,983 than any of us could have expected. 713 00:40:15,872 --> 00:40:17,290 For Dean, 714 00:40:17,373 --> 00:40:20,251 the experience was so profound. 715 00:40:25,256 --> 00:40:28,801 He thought it would be one of the most iconic images ever 716 00:40:28,885 --> 00:40:30,261 of climbing. 717 00:40:33,097 --> 00:40:34,807 I remember coming into work, 718 00:40:34,891 --> 00:40:37,101 and our athlete manager at the time 719 00:40:37,185 --> 00:40:39,479 was very excited that Dean Potter 720 00:40:39,562 --> 00:40:41,397 had just climbed Delicate Arch. 721 00:40:41,481 --> 00:40:43,900 She said, "I've called the media, 722 00:40:43,983 --> 00:40:47,028 and Dean gave them the footage." 723 00:40:47,111 --> 00:40:50,031 Initially, no one had any critique about it. 724 00:40:50,114 --> 00:40:51,741 Dean had done another rad feat. 725 00:40:51,824 --> 00:40:53,076 You're watching Fox 13. 726 00:40:53,159 --> 00:40:54,535 It was on the news that night. 727 00:40:54,619 --> 00:40:56,037 A rock climber who made his way 728 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:57,455 to the top of Delicate Arch� 729 00:40:57,538 --> 00:40:59,207 Dean Potter is a professional climber 730 00:40:59,290 --> 00:41:00,458 for Patagonia. 731 00:41:00,541 --> 00:41:01,709 It's a very difficult climb. 732 00:41:01,793 --> 00:41:03,044 I wouldn't recommend it. 733 00:41:03,127 --> 00:41:04,629 But it wasn't just this puff piece. 734 00:41:04,712 --> 00:41:05,712 They were looking 735 00:41:05,755 --> 00:41:07,590 into regulations possibly being broken. 736 00:41:07,674 --> 00:41:10,385 Potter says he was okay to climb the arch, 737 00:41:10,468 --> 00:41:12,470 but park officials disagree. 738 00:41:12,553 --> 00:41:15,765 The leadership in Arches National Park 739 00:41:15,848 --> 00:41:17,100 got really pissed off. 740 00:41:17,183 --> 00:41:20,228 Immediately, they changed the law. 741 00:41:20,311 --> 00:41:23,022 Potter may be the last person to climb Delicate Arch 742 00:41:23,106 --> 00:41:24,691 'cause the National Park Service 743 00:41:24,774 --> 00:41:26,651 has new rules in effect right now. 744 00:41:26,734 --> 00:41:30,655 And then the shitstorm started. 745 00:41:30,738 --> 00:41:33,324 It was headlining national news. 746 00:41:33,408 --> 00:41:35,576 In the climbing community, 747 00:41:35,660 --> 00:41:36,995 people were pissed. 748 00:41:37,078 --> 00:41:40,957 Dean had provoked new restrictions on climbing 749 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,168 with publicity, with his arrogance, 750 00:41:44,252 --> 00:41:48,589 and his assumption that he could do anything he wanted. 751 00:41:49,882 --> 00:41:53,511 We did not see that coming. 752 00:41:53,594 --> 00:41:55,096 I'm Tim Neville. 753 00:41:55,179 --> 00:41:57,724 I'm a correspondent with "Outside" magazine. 754 00:41:57,807 --> 00:41:59,892 One of the big questions was, 755 00:41:59,976 --> 00:42:03,730 did he damage this hallowed rock formation? 756 00:42:03,813 --> 00:42:06,357 I decided to send a photographer out there to see. 757 00:42:06,441 --> 00:42:09,360 And he found damage� 758 00:42:09,444 --> 00:42:12,030 grooves clearly left by a rope 759 00:42:12,113 --> 00:42:16,200 right where they would have been climbing and filming. 760 00:42:16,284 --> 00:42:19,495 Dean was adamant that that damage was not his. 761 00:42:19,579 --> 00:42:21,289 I respected the rock, 762 00:42:21,372 --> 00:42:24,625 and I left it exactly the way I found it. 763 00:42:24,709 --> 00:42:28,046 Dude, we were not the first ones on top of this thing. 764 00:42:28,129 --> 00:42:30,673 There were already these rope grooves 765 00:42:30,757 --> 00:42:33,092 right where he was gonna climb. 766 00:42:33,176 --> 00:42:35,887 It was like the deep forensics into, like, 767 00:42:35,970 --> 00:42:39,974 the grooves and the stuff, and I was like, oh, my gosh. 768 00:42:40,058 --> 00:42:42,268 This seems a little over the top. 769 00:42:42,351 --> 00:42:45,271 I do remember after the story broke, 770 00:42:45,354 --> 00:42:48,066 I got a one-line� 771 00:42:48,149 --> 00:42:52,987 a two-word email from Dean that said "your scum," 772 00:42:53,071 --> 00:42:54,739 and "you're" was spelled wrong. 773 00:42:54,822 --> 00:42:57,742 And I was just like, "Okay." 774 00:42:57,825 --> 00:43:02,080 After that piece, this thing snowballed. 775 00:43:02,163 --> 00:43:05,083 People started going after Dean's sponsors. 776 00:43:05,166 --> 00:43:07,502 Suddenly, this became about Patagonia 777 00:43:07,585 --> 00:43:11,798 as a supporter of acts that harm our natural places, 778 00:43:11,881 --> 00:43:14,717 people writing emails, postcards. 779 00:43:14,801 --> 00:43:16,594 "I'll never buy Patagonia again." 780 00:43:16,677 --> 00:43:20,556 And it put Patagonia in a really awkward position. 781 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:25,311 There was this effort to get Dean to make an apology. 782 00:43:25,394 --> 00:43:29,273 Just apologize, and we could sweep this crap under the rug. 783 00:43:29,357 --> 00:43:33,861 And Dean responded in a Dean way. 784 00:43:36,322 --> 00:43:38,825 The big story in the climbing world these days 785 00:43:38,908 --> 00:43:41,035 involves the famous climber Dean Potter. 786 00:43:41,119 --> 00:43:42,662 Yeah, I was sitting in the room 787 00:43:42,745 --> 00:43:44,455 when he was doing the NPR interview. 788 00:43:44,539 --> 00:43:47,250 I asked him why he decided to climb the Delicate Arch. 789 00:43:47,333 --> 00:43:49,043 He goes, "Winkie, what should I do? 790 00:43:49,127 --> 00:43:52,547 I mean, should I apologize? What do I need to do here?" 791 00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:55,133 And I go, "No, man. Let's just say fuck the man. 792 00:43:55,216 --> 00:43:57,635 "Like, quote some Edward Abbey 793 00:43:57,718 --> 00:43:59,595 "and, like, throw some other shit out there. 794 00:43:59,679 --> 00:44:01,055 Fuck these people, man." 795 00:44:01,139 --> 00:44:04,809 And that was just the wrong thing to do. 796 00:44:04,892 --> 00:44:06,727 You have a sponsor, Patagonia, 797 00:44:06,811 --> 00:44:08,479 who wants you to apologize. 798 00:44:08,563 --> 00:44:10,064 - Can you do that or� - No. 799 00:44:10,148 --> 00:44:12,358 For sure, I do have some regrets. 800 00:44:12,441 --> 00:44:14,569 And I regret the negative press 801 00:44:14,652 --> 00:44:18,156 that has come with my climb of the Delicate Arch. 802 00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:20,491 So it sounds like what you're most sorry about 803 00:44:20,575 --> 00:44:23,369 is the way this has been portrayed in the media. 804 00:44:23,452 --> 00:44:24,871 That's correct. 805 00:44:24,954 --> 00:44:27,456 I think if you just keep it factual 806 00:44:27,540 --> 00:44:30,418 that a man climbed up a rock 807 00:44:30,501 --> 00:44:32,628 and did no environmental harm, 808 00:44:32,712 --> 00:44:36,257 then I don't think that there is anything to be sorry about 809 00:44:36,340 --> 00:44:40,553 other than the negative energy that ensued afterwards. 810 00:44:40,636 --> 00:44:44,056 Basically, I'm so sorry that the general public 811 00:44:44,140 --> 00:44:45,766 has its head up its ass 812 00:44:45,850 --> 00:44:48,978 and doesn't understand what this was all about. 813 00:44:49,061 --> 00:44:50,730 Definitely don't call me 814 00:44:50,813 --> 00:44:54,400 if you got some sort of a media problem. 815 00:44:54,483 --> 00:44:56,402 I'm only going to make things worse. 816 00:45:01,073 --> 00:45:04,368 His livelihood was on the table, 817 00:45:04,452 --> 00:45:08,247 and he still didn't want to say "sorry." 818 00:45:08,331 --> 00:45:11,626 He felt misunderstood in the media world 819 00:45:11,709 --> 00:45:13,544 and betrayed by a lot of people 820 00:45:13,628 --> 00:45:16,923 in the climbing community that came out against him. 821 00:45:17,006 --> 00:45:18,174 It came down to, 822 00:45:18,257 --> 00:45:20,927 are we going to stay associated with this guy? 823 00:45:21,010 --> 00:45:23,888 You know, Dean had made this public claim 824 00:45:23,971 --> 00:45:27,892 that his climb of Delicate Arch was performance art, 825 00:45:27,975 --> 00:45:31,729 that it represented his spiritual connection 826 00:45:31,812 --> 00:45:33,064 to nature. 827 00:45:33,147 --> 00:45:35,274 And I just didn't buy into that. 828 00:45:35,358 --> 00:45:40,154 You know, it was connected to Dean's own self-promotion, 829 00:45:40,238 --> 00:45:43,658 and that made it bullshit. 830 00:45:48,037 --> 00:45:52,750 The decision was made to part ways with Dean. 831 00:45:52,833 --> 00:45:54,460 The fucked thing is, 832 00:45:54,543 --> 00:45:59,173 they severed the relationship with Steph as well. 833 00:45:59,257 --> 00:46:01,425 Steph didn't make this plan, 834 00:46:01,509 --> 00:46:04,095 but they shitcanned them both. 835 00:46:04,178 --> 00:46:08,349 She had known for a while that his sort of provocateur status 836 00:46:08,432 --> 00:46:10,351 was problematic, 837 00:46:10,434 --> 00:46:13,938 and now he destroyed this relationship 838 00:46:14,021 --> 00:46:16,524 that was really important to her. 839 00:46:18,901 --> 00:46:22,905 Steph and Dean sort of started to fracture. 840 00:46:22,989 --> 00:46:26,033 Dean couldn't fucking deal. 841 00:46:26,117 --> 00:46:27,994 He just left. 842 00:46:31,580 --> 00:46:34,333 He left Steph in Moab, 843 00:46:34,417 --> 00:46:36,419 drove to Yosemite. 844 00:46:38,671 --> 00:46:40,923 He needed to be alone. 845 00:46:43,217 --> 00:46:46,220 This was Dean going into dark mode. 846 00:46:49,015 --> 00:46:51,851 Covering his face with a blanket, 847 00:46:51,934 --> 00:46:54,020 sleeping for days. 848 00:46:56,188 --> 00:46:58,232 And a lot of people have equated that 849 00:46:58,316 --> 00:47:01,444 with, like, mental-health issues. 850 00:47:01,527 --> 00:47:03,863 You could call it mental illness. 851 00:47:03,946 --> 00:47:06,490 You could call it the dark side. 852 00:47:06,574 --> 00:47:09,285 But when it arrived, 853 00:47:09,368 --> 00:47:12,663 it was hard to deal with, hard to explain. 854 00:47:16,042 --> 00:47:18,002 Looking back, it's like, 855 00:47:18,085 --> 00:47:20,379 we didn't really talk about mental health, 856 00:47:20,463 --> 00:47:24,050 especially as, like, a man in extreme sports. 857 00:47:24,133 --> 00:47:26,844 You know, you just took that stuff, and you shoved it down. 858 00:47:28,888 --> 00:47:31,974 Dean and I had an understanding. 859 00:47:32,058 --> 00:47:35,269 I had been going through some of the same struggles 860 00:47:35,353 --> 00:47:38,356 that he had been experiencing� 861 00:47:38,439 --> 00:47:41,275 a lot of mood swings� 862 00:47:41,359 --> 00:47:44,487 peaks, valleys, peaks, valleys. 863 00:47:44,570 --> 00:47:47,948 And we started to talk about� 864 00:47:48,032 --> 00:47:50,868 whether it was� 865 00:47:50,951 --> 00:47:53,079 a condition. 866 00:47:53,162 --> 00:47:55,623 When Dean and Steph were solid, 867 00:47:55,706 --> 00:47:57,375 she had encouraged him 868 00:47:57,458 --> 00:47:59,752 to get some mental-health care. 869 00:47:59,835 --> 00:48:01,879 He was given a prescription, 870 00:48:01,962 --> 00:48:04,048 went on medication, 871 00:48:04,131 --> 00:48:07,927 but he was terrified that people would find out 872 00:48:08,010 --> 00:48:10,971 that he was taking this drug. 873 00:48:11,055 --> 00:48:13,057 You know, he threatened me, 874 00:48:13,140 --> 00:48:17,895 like, "I will fucking kill you if you tell anyone." 875 00:48:17,978 --> 00:48:22,733 After the Delicate Arch, he stopped it, cold turkey. 876 00:48:22,817 --> 00:48:27,321 So the highs became higher, and the lows became much lower. 877 00:48:31,700 --> 00:48:34,662 But for Dean� 878 00:48:34,745 --> 00:48:38,124 the mania could be sort of a source 879 00:48:38,207 --> 00:48:41,293 of creative power. 880 00:48:43,671 --> 00:48:48,426 After the sadness and the isolation� 881 00:48:48,509 --> 00:48:51,929 the ideas would start bouncing around� 882 00:48:52,012 --> 00:48:54,390 maybe a sketch in his journal. 883 00:48:57,810 --> 00:49:02,565 The passion would get fanned into a fire. 884 00:49:02,648 --> 00:49:06,152 All that angst and all that anger� 885 00:49:06,235 --> 00:49:09,363 this is where he drew his energy from. 886 00:49:11,449 --> 00:49:14,368 You know, "I'm going to show those motherfuckers. 887 00:49:14,452 --> 00:49:16,745 I'm going to let the fucking beast out." 888 00:49:18,622 --> 00:49:23,169 That's when shit, for me, started to be scary. 889 00:49:28,674 --> 00:49:31,385 So Dean goes on this soloing binge� 890 00:49:34,096 --> 00:49:37,808 Trying to free solo all these routes that are rated 5.12. 891 00:49:41,312 --> 00:49:44,607 Nobody had done that in Yosemite before. 892 00:49:52,281 --> 00:49:54,200 It was balls to the wall. 893 00:49:54,283 --> 00:49:55,493 Solo this thing. 894 00:49:55,576 --> 00:49:58,287 The same day, we're driving to this point, 895 00:49:58,370 --> 00:49:59,997 soloing another thing. 896 00:50:02,249 --> 00:50:04,335 It was this manic energy, you know, 897 00:50:04,418 --> 00:50:06,629 and impulsiveness. 898 00:50:18,307 --> 00:50:21,477 I felt like Dean was free soloing stuff 899 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:23,938 right at his physical limit. 900 00:50:25,397 --> 00:50:28,108 Like, sticking his neck out there 901 00:50:28,192 --> 00:50:31,028 and just trying to survive. 902 00:50:32,821 --> 00:50:35,199 Whoo! 903 00:50:35,282 --> 00:50:39,620 I'm trying to leave this body's limitations, 904 00:50:39,703 --> 00:50:42,498 trying to go beyond the physical 905 00:50:42,581 --> 00:50:47,461 and not be hindered by this carcass. 906 00:50:49,338 --> 00:50:53,050 The mind can bring you beyond the body, 907 00:50:53,133 --> 00:50:56,262 but it's a super-fine line 908 00:50:56,345 --> 00:50:59,431 between bringing you out of the body 909 00:50:59,515 --> 00:51:02,101 and breaking through to the next level 910 00:51:02,184 --> 00:51:05,896 or bringing you out of the body� 911 00:51:05,980 --> 00:51:08,399 and you're dead. 912 00:51:08,482 --> 00:51:10,568 Right before my solos, 913 00:51:10,651 --> 00:51:14,863 I feel sick to my stomach� 914 00:51:14,947 --> 00:51:16,865 but I have no control. 915 00:51:16,949 --> 00:51:18,909 I'm compelled to do it. 916 00:51:21,787 --> 00:51:24,832 I don't want to live if I can't do it. 917 00:51:30,879 --> 00:51:34,300 And then there's Heaven. 918 00:51:36,051 --> 00:51:38,345 Heaven was at the edge of his abilities. 919 00:51:45,185 --> 00:51:49,189 We knew that he could fall. 920 00:51:49,273 --> 00:51:50,357 You fall off that thing, 921 00:51:50,441 --> 00:51:53,402 you're going for thousands of feet. 922 00:51:55,821 --> 00:51:59,116 He fully said to me, he's like, "If I fucking die, 923 00:51:59,199 --> 00:52:01,452 "get the shot. 924 00:52:01,535 --> 00:52:03,829 "Follow me to the ground. Get the shot." 925 00:52:03,912 --> 00:52:05,497 Fucking dies, like, I'm going to get the shot? 926 00:52:05,581 --> 00:52:06,790 No. 927 00:52:06,874 --> 00:52:08,959 Your body's getting tired. 928 00:52:12,421 --> 00:52:14,757 You're dealing with this knowledge 929 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:18,010 that one mistake means your life. 930 00:52:23,724 --> 00:52:25,517 But what I've seen is, 931 00:52:25,601 --> 00:52:28,103 when you're in those situations, 932 00:52:28,187 --> 00:52:32,024 you have all this amazing power inside of you, 933 00:52:32,107 --> 00:52:35,778 more power than you can even imagine. 934 00:52:35,861 --> 00:52:38,781 - Whoo! - Yeah! 935 00:52:38,864 --> 00:52:41,909 Whoo! 936 00:52:41,992 --> 00:52:43,994 Yeah! 937 00:52:44,078 --> 00:52:46,580 Yeah! 938 00:52:46,664 --> 00:52:48,874 Whoo! 939 00:52:48,957 --> 00:52:51,377 Everyone's breathing a sigh of relief� 940 00:52:53,045 --> 00:52:55,130 Like, yeah, man, he made it. 941 00:52:55,214 --> 00:52:58,634 Dude� fucking impressive, Dean. 942 00:53:00,260 --> 00:53:02,471 I was, like, almost faint before I started. 943 00:53:02,554 --> 00:53:04,181 Yeah, it looked like you were. 944 00:53:04,264 --> 00:53:06,058 It was just like� 945 00:53:06,141 --> 00:53:09,186 This was the redemption for the Arch. 946 00:53:09,269 --> 00:53:12,314 Unequivocally that's what it was to him. 947 00:53:12,398 --> 00:53:15,150 Cocksuckers. 948 00:53:15,234 --> 00:53:17,736 It was like, fuck you, doubters, 949 00:53:17,820 --> 00:53:19,780 fuck you, sponsors, 950 00:53:19,863 --> 00:53:21,990 fuck the park service. 951 00:53:22,074 --> 00:53:24,535 Nothing was going to hold him back. 952 00:53:26,829 --> 00:53:29,081 Yeah. 953 00:53:29,164 --> 00:53:31,041 And at that point, 954 00:53:31,125 --> 00:53:34,044 he thought that he had the magic cocktail. 955 00:53:34,128 --> 00:53:36,255 Part of me thinks I'm crazy, 956 00:53:36,338 --> 00:53:39,800 but every time you break through a limitation, 957 00:53:39,883 --> 00:53:42,052 it's like, fuck, I can do this. 958 00:53:42,136 --> 00:53:43,971 I can do anything. 959 00:53:44,054 --> 00:53:46,014 He was also smoking a lot of weed� 960 00:53:46,098 --> 00:53:47,558 just to put that out there. 961 00:53:47,641 --> 00:53:50,060 There are a lot of people� 962 00:53:50,144 --> 00:53:52,646 Oh, man, you're eating chips again. 963 00:53:52,730 --> 00:53:53,856 Mm-hmm. 964 00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:01,905 At some point, 965 00:54:01,989 --> 00:54:04,575 Steph called me and said, "Hey, I'm worried about Dean. 966 00:54:04,658 --> 00:54:07,703 "I haven't heard from him. Tell him to call me, please. 967 00:54:07,786 --> 00:54:09,413 I need to talk to him." 968 00:54:09,496 --> 00:54:11,039 He just shut her out. 969 00:54:11,123 --> 00:54:13,041 He was like, "Don't return her calls." 970 00:54:13,125 --> 00:54:16,086 It's good when you were calming stuff down today, man. 971 00:54:16,170 --> 00:54:18,672 It was awesome to have bros that could do that. 972 00:54:20,758 --> 00:54:24,261 She drove to Yosemite to find him. 973 00:54:24,344 --> 00:54:26,680 I don't know what was said, but Katie Arnold, 974 00:54:26,764 --> 00:54:28,682 the journalist, happened to be there. 975 00:54:28,766 --> 00:54:31,977 I was doing a piece about Dean for ESPN. 976 00:54:32,060 --> 00:54:34,021 I get to Yosemite 977 00:54:34,104 --> 00:54:37,483 to find Dean and Steph in the middle 978 00:54:37,566 --> 00:54:42,029 of some kind of really traumatic altercation 979 00:54:42,112 --> 00:54:44,281 and was like, holy shit. 980 00:54:44,364 --> 00:54:49,077 I'm witnessing the end of their marriage. 981 00:54:49,161 --> 00:54:51,705 My understanding is that, you know, 982 00:54:51,789 --> 00:54:54,458 he wore his wedding ring around his neck. 983 00:54:54,541 --> 00:54:58,921 He just pulled it off, tossed it to her, you know. 984 00:54:59,004 --> 00:55:01,924 He's like, "I want freedom. 985 00:55:02,007 --> 00:55:03,592 I want to be free." 986 00:55:05,844 --> 00:55:08,889 You know, Steph� 987 00:55:08,972 --> 00:55:10,891 she's the love of my life, 988 00:55:10,974 --> 00:55:13,602 and I always thought that that was 989 00:55:13,685 --> 00:55:16,188 the most important thing for me, was love. 990 00:55:18,398 --> 00:55:23,237 But I'm uncontrollably drawn away from the thing 991 00:55:23,320 --> 00:55:25,823 I thought I loved the most. 992 00:55:25,906 --> 00:55:28,367 No matter how hard Steph tried 993 00:55:28,450 --> 00:55:30,202 to make their relationship 994 00:55:30,285 --> 00:55:34,331 a place of safety and peace� 995 00:55:34,414 --> 00:55:37,751 Dean didn't want safety. 996 00:55:39,753 --> 00:55:43,632 He was willing to go places 997 00:55:43,715 --> 00:55:47,177 that before were just too frightening. 998 00:55:54,852 --> 00:55:58,397 That's the moment where he's untethered, 999 00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:00,941 literally untethered. 1000 00:56:08,448 --> 00:56:11,159 He was pushing the edge 1001 00:56:11,243 --> 00:56:14,037 so far out� 1002 00:56:14,121 --> 00:56:16,164 that he took the tether off. 1003 00:57:12,054 --> 00:57:13,722 Fuck! 1004 00:57:13,805 --> 00:57:15,515 Fuck! 1005 00:57:21,813 --> 00:57:25,943 Dean was in a bad way. 1006 00:57:26,026 --> 00:57:29,071 I started to realize� 1007 00:57:32,908 --> 00:57:36,161 His only therapy� 1008 00:57:36,244 --> 00:57:37,955 was the death consequence. 1009 00:57:51,885 --> 00:57:55,263 When I'm leashless out on the line� 1010 00:57:58,141 --> 00:58:01,019 Or on the rock free solo� 1011 00:58:03,897 --> 00:58:08,276 I need total concentration, 1012 00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:09,778 or I'll die. 1013 00:58:11,655 --> 00:58:16,493 Somehow, when my life's on the line� 1014 00:58:16,576 --> 00:58:19,621 it brings my senses 1015 00:58:19,705 --> 00:58:22,332 to a heightened state� 1016 00:58:22,416 --> 00:58:25,127 of calmness and clarity. 1017 00:58:29,172 --> 00:58:31,550 It's the most powerful feeling 1018 00:58:31,633 --> 00:58:34,344 I've ever experienced. 1019 00:58:43,437 --> 00:58:45,105 Whoo! 1020 00:58:49,151 --> 00:58:50,777 Aah! 1021 00:58:50,861 --> 00:58:52,446 Aah!