Biography of Dean Potter [Age, Height, Family, Wife, Net Worth & Achievements]

While dropping out of the college in 1992, Dean used to live out of his Volkswagen Jetta to attain climbing and secure sponsorships.

Moreover, Dean had a home with his wife at Moab, Utah, covering only the square feet of a storage unit and library card. But, being a nomad, he could not stay there full-time.

Chasing after his dreams, he formulated the idea of freebase, free solo climbing up tall, overhanging walls, with a BASE jumping parachute on his back for a marginal degree of safety in case if he falls.

And likewise, Dean became famous for being the first human 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.

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

Free Solo Climbing

Dean conquered many solo ascents and new routes in Yosemite and Patagonia.

As mentioned above, he individually climbed a  small portion of Ei Captain in Yosemite, where he discovered a way called “Easy Rider.”

Speed climbing

Well, Yosemite and Dean had a very close relationship. In July 2006, he again mounted the ‘”The Reticent Wall,” one of the toughest routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, in about 34 hours and 57 minutes along with Ammon McNeely and Ivo Ninov.

Similarly, Dean also climbed “The Nose” of the EI Captain in November 2010.

Highlining and BASE jumping

Dean made the most of it through highlining and base jumping. He spent decades wearing the webbed wingsuit that made him appeared like a giant, red flying squirrel, jumping off from the highest cliffs.

Similarly, with heads straight pointed down, arms outstretched, the human was flying like a bird. He was later brought in familiarity to slacklining.

All thanks to Charles Victor Tucker III, also known as “Chongo.”

Dean Potter barefoot walks on the rope between two mountain peaks in Enshi, China, 2012

With becoming one of the first three people to Highline across Lost Arrow Spire, Dean has conquered most of the Highline crossing with the safety gear or parachutes.

And these crossings were all 3000 feet above the ground in Yosemite National Park.

When Dogs Fly

We will never understand how it feels like to mount a 300-story cliff with a dog, buckled on a wingsuit, and fly.

But Dean must have totally nailed the feeling, first by fantasizing and then by realizing. According to him, there were two hypotheses formulated.

“OH, WE COULD FLY TOGETHER OR WE COULD DIE TOGETHER.”

In 2014, Dean released a 22 minutes long film, When Dogs Fly

It was basically a wingsuit base jumping in which he used a fabric suit to slow their descent before deploying a parachute. The short video clip went viral, but it was highly criticized by animal rights activists.

It was also heard that Dean, in a blog post for Tony Suits, which manufactured his wingsuit for that jump, mentioned, “Lately I think of myself as more bird than human.”

Delicate Arch climb

Dean kept pushing his limits no matter what it takes. Then, in 2006, a controversial climb of Utah’s Delicate Arch in Arch National Park cost him a major sponsorship from Patagonia clothing company.

Conducting the climb was not illegal technically, but it was also not supported by National Park Service officials and even some climbers. Instead, critics blamed him for doing the climb and risking the arch to get publicity.

Later the officials put a blanket ban on the activity within Arches National Park. However, before this incident, Dean did gather criticisms for slacklining between The Three Gossips.

, that shot the unbelievable experience of his dog, Whisper.

Dean, free solo rock climbing

But the climber cleared the air saying that his ascent of Delicate Arch was “a beautiful communion with nature,” carried out in the most respectful way possible.

Due to the same reason, Dean’s wife Steph Davis was also knocked out from her Patagonia contract. The sudden clash resulted in their divorce.

Which he described as the “beginning of the end” of their relationship.

Dean Potter Net Worth | Lifestyle, Traversing, and Experimenting

For the early 1990s, Dean made a living out of jobs at a golf-bag factory and a local greasy spoon. But with gradual money and developments, he stood on his toes and spent all his cash on climbing trips.

And by the early 2000s, Dean Potter, with a net worth of $1.7 million, was one of the top climbers globally. Moreover, his death-defying lifestyle shook everyone.

Dean was addicted to heights; the more he explored, the more he wanted to visit mountains and seek places to traverse, that too trying to jump off the cliffs or climb with the least of the supportive equipment.

Dean’s daring attempts got him the nickname “Dark Wizard” by other climbers. Parallel to base jumping, he mastered the art of highlining as well (a sport similar to tightrope walking but on a wavering, or “slack,” rope).

Not to mention, Potter was the only being in this world to do the crossings without any protective gear. Clearly, he was not afraid of death.

Although Dean often had nightmares before his stunts, his climbing partner, according to Jim Hurst and was fully aware of that one mistake, one slip, and you die.

More than a daredevil, he seemed like a spiritual person who shared a rare connection with nature.

Exercise, A Daily Part of his Life

Being physically fit and strong was a necessity for Dean to perform such rebellious activities. Therefore, Dean trained himself by doing “ups” fanatically.

Dean used to commit 1540 exercises about three or four times a week. It took him two to two and half hours. So he initiated with 20 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.

Then 50 back arches, 30 squats, 20 regular curls, and 20 reverse curls. He also made ten side-­fingertip pull-ups and ten regular pull-ups—an attempt to do six sets with a little bit of rest if possible.

Dean dies during a flying stunt.

On May 16, 2015, Dean, 43, with his fellow jumper Graham Hunt, 29, died while attempting a wingsuit flight from Taft Point above Yosemite Valley.

Hunt hit a sidewall; Potter cleared the notch but then crashed. They were found dead with no parachutes deployed.

Dean Potter Net Worth | Personal Life

Well, Dean had two relationships in his life. Acutely, one with his wife, Steph Devis, and the latter one is mentioned below.

Like Dean, Steph is also a climber, Base jumper, and wingsuit flyer. They met in 1994 while doing the Long’s Peak climb and fell in love.

Eventually, with the on and offs in their relationship, they got married in June 2002.

Dean Potter with his wife

After the controversial Delicate Arch climb, which snatched away the sponsorship from them, they divorced in 2006.

Speaking of the latter one, Dean was at that stage in his life where he shared a compassionate and warm relationship with his adrenal gland. They solely existed as the reasons for 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.

Dean Potter | Facts

• 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!”

Dean Potter | 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.