Dean Potter Free Solos The Eiger North Face [Confirmed]

Dean Potter Free Solos The Eiger North Face [Confirmed]

Posted August 8, 2008 at 7:15 pm · Comments { 16 } · Photo: Sender Films/Beat Kammerlander

Originally posted the afternoon of 8/7/2008

I have received a reliable tip that Dean Potter has free soloed the famous Eiger in Europe. No word on the route taken up, but apparently he BASE jumped from the top. Video was no doubt taken of his exploits.  More details as they become available…

Unsurprisingly there is already a flamewar underway at SuperTopo

Update 8/8/08: Sender Films was there to catch all the action for their upcoming movie.  Here is what they had to say on their blog:

This week, Dean successfully free soloed the route Deep Blue Sea on the north face of The Eiger. It’s 600 feet of gently overhanging limestone with a 5.12+ crux, which posed a huge risk of falling. To overcome the risk element, Potter employed his old safety: super-light B.A.S.E. rig, which, if he fell, and stuck the right position, would save him from death.

Climbing.com has a bit more detail as well including this photo:

Photo:  Beat Kammerlander

Posted In: Free Solo, News
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  • http://jasonplancaster.com Jason Lancaster

    Cool! Bet his trip down was wicked.

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  • l0k1

    he is one crazy dude.

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  • peter

    check out fox, msnbc, and abc tomorrow for news coverage….

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  • Pingback: Breaking: Dean Potter Free Solos Eiger’s North Face - The Adventurist - Mt. Everest to The Poles: Exploring Adventure One Trip At a Time

  • http://bluegrassbouldering.wordpress.com tissuetendons

    clearly someone didn’t read 8a’s list of statements/news/editorial blunders: solos don’t count dean. 0 points.

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  • Dense

    Actually Dean was trying to be as brave and humble as possible by taking 0 points. 9a feels that Dean most likely decided not to use any protection because of 9a’s new regulations. 9a feels that the future of the scoring system may be to have the lowest score possible. However, 9a does not feel that Potter’s send was as revolutionary as the 9a airpad, nor the BMI regulation innovated by said website.

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  • peter

    actually, dean was just trying to reconnect with the natural world

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  • http://www.straightouttabedlam.blogspot.com sock hands

    what does the sit start go at?

    i heard it was a mistake and he intended to warm up on ‘the ladder’ at evans, but couldn’t decipher anything from the new guide.

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  • http://climbingnarc.com Narc

    This sit start sounds like something straight out of crumblewood!

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  • http://www.rock-climbing-for-life.com Ryan

    Excited to see the movie of it, but no surprise to me Dean just up to his old tricks again.

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  • http://www.bouldersgym.com Rhoads!

    WOW! Ok, Dean is and will always be my favorite climber.

    On a side note, what’s this about a scorecard? Climbing doesn’t have a scorecard.

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  • peter

    8a.nu
    Points, the best thing since sliced bread.

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  • http://summitdreams.blogspot.com Ted B

    This is the kind of exploit that manages to both thrill me and scare me witless at the same time. Dean may wear a light rig, but the chute is useless for the earlier part of the climb. If he’d fallen from the later stages he would still have had to get himself in a perfect position for the chute to be of any real use.

    Awesome, absolutely awesome.

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