moon_hill 2015-5-19 19:56
【now新聞台】美國極限運動員迪安‧波特在優勝美地國家公園，進行定點跳傘時，與同伴雙雙不幸身亡，終年43歲。他生前曾經多次挑戰人類極限，最終亦死於極限運動上。
穿上綠色飛鼠裝的迪安波特不是自己一人低空跳傘，而是帶同愛犬Whisper一齊進行，Whisper戴上眼罩安坐在波特的背包內，最後一人一狗成功著陸。這段紀錄片是波特於去年製作，紀錄了他和whisper多年來一齊進行的極限運動，曾經惹來愛護動物人士抨擊，指他令狗隻無辜承受不必要的壓力和驚慌。
在2003年，奪得勞倫斯體育獎、最佳極限運動員的波特，畢生目標是要把各種挑戰極限的不可能變成可能，生與死的問題一直徘徊他腦海內。
生於美國新罕布什爾的波特，由90年代末開始，曾經進行多次首攀和速攀。在世界多處留下勇於挑戰的身影。11年，在沒有任何安全措施下，在優勝美地國家公園內，創下一天內徒手攀登三座高山岩壁的紀錄。他亦曾經背上五磅重的跳傘裝備，沿藍色深海路綫登上瑞士艾格爾峰後，再從三千米高一躍而下，創造世界上最長距離的極限定點跳傘運動。
他同時是世界高空走扁帶第一人，將三毫米厚的尼龍扁帶固定在兩邊懸崖，在沒有平衡長棍、沒有安全措施下走過峽谷，將萬丈深淵置於腳下。
上星期六，波特再次與朋友不理會禁令，到優勝美地國家公園搭夫脫尖端，進行定點跳傘。由於公園管理員一直聯絡上他，直至早上才發現他和他朋友的遺體，跳傘並沒有打開，他的女朋友和愛犬whisper則生還。
[url=http://news.now.com/home/international/player?newsId=136429]http://news.now.com/home/international/player?newsId=136429[/url]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Potter]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Potter[/url]
Early lifeDean Potter was born in 1972[2][3] to an Army officer in a military hospital at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas[4] and grew up in New Hampshire. He taught himself to climb when he was in high school in southern New Hampshire. He attended the University of New Hampshire, where he rowed varsity crew and the coach urged the team not just to beat the competition, but to "own" them. Potter decided that he didn't want to "own" anyone and he quit college and pursued his passion for climbing.[5]
Free climbingPotter climbed many new routes and completed many solo ascents in Yosemite and Patagonia. He free-solo climbed a small part of El Capitan in Yosemite, where he pioneered a route he called "Easy Rider" by climbing down the slabby upper pitches of the route Lurking Fear (hardest moves rated grade 5.10a) and then traversed across Thanksgiving Ledge to complete the last six pitches and six hundred feet of the route Free Rider (hardest pitch 5.11d, two pitches of 5.10d, 5.10b, 5.10a and 5.7). This was the first major section of El Capitan to be free soloed, but his path avoided the significantly more challenging climbing on what is the easiest way up El Capitan below (several 5.12 pitches, with difficulty up to 5.12d on Free Rider).[6][7]
Speed climbingIn July 2006, he climbed The Reticent Wall, one of the hardest routes on El Capitan, in 34 hours and 57 minutes with Ammon McNeely and Ivo Ninov, shaving five days off the existing time.[8] Potter and Sean Leary set a new speed record for climbing up The Nose of Yosemite Valley's El Capitan in November 2010. They ran up the 31-pitch route in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 45 seconds. This was only twenty seconds quicker than the previous record, set that October by Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine.[9]
Highlining and BASE jumpingPotter was known for his exploits in highlining and BASE jumping. He was introduced to slacklining by Charles Victor Tucker III, aka Chongo,[10] one of the first three people to highline across Lost Arrow Spire. Potter completed a variety of highline crossings without benefit of a safety lanyard, backup line or BASE-jumping parachute. Some of these crossings included lines suspended as much as 3,000 feet (910 m) above the ground in Yosemite National Park.
In 2014 he released the 22-minute long film When Dogs Fly that chronicled the extreme adventures of his dog Whisper. The film became a viral phenomenon, but also attracted criticism from animal rights activists.[11]
Delicate Arch climbControversy surrounded Potter after his 2006 climb of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, for which he lost his sponsorship from the Patagonia clothing company. "There wasn't any legal reason for me not to climb it," Potter said of Delicate Arch, despite well-established tradition forbidding climbing named features in the park. This incident resulted in a blanket ban on the activity within Arches National Park. Potter had previously created conflict with Park authorities by slacklining between the Three Gossips.[12]
"I didn't see any moral reason not to climb it. I didn't hurt it,"[13] he claimed, though rope grooves in the soft sandstone were later found, possibly created or enhanced by the professional photographers Potter brought along to publicize the climb.[12]
Potter said he would not climb Totem Pole, the spire in Monument Valley that Navajo imbue with religious significance. Delicate Arch, despite its prominence on Utah license plates, doesn't have the stature of that sacred Arizona tower, he said. "I didn't see a reason why it's wrong, why we shouldn’t mesh with nature," Potter said.[13] "At first Potter's handler in Patagonia spread the word of his climb by calling a press release to the Salt Lake Tribune. Public outrage was immediate, though, especially in Utah, where many see Delicate Arch as a symbol for the state's wild beauty."[12]
Potter's Delicate Arch climb became the topic of the song Not All Roses by rapper Odub (Kris Hampton), released on the web on April 2, 2007. On April 11, 2007, Potter's lawyer sent Hampton a Cease and Desist letter advising him to halt all distribution of the song. Hampton subsequently released a follow-up song called Cease and Desist.[14]
DeathOn May 16, 2015, Potter and Graham Hunt were killed while attempting a wingsuit flight from Taft Point above Yosemite Valley. Their flight path required them to clear a notch along a ridge before the final descent to the valley floor. Both failed to clear the notch and collided into the ridge. Neither had deployed their parachute.