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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit

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More from Dean Potter

Join Us On Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo & YouTube

Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit

Check out the prAna Ambassadors

Join Us On Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo & YouTube

Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit

Check out the prAna Ambassadors

National Geographic: Legendary rock climber and base jumper Dean Potter mounts an expedition to free climb the massive peaks of Canada’s Mt. Butte. Catch it Sunday February 12th at 8:00pm!

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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit

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Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.

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Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.

Join Us On Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo & YouTube

~Ciao. Dean Potter

Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.

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Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.

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Last week at the Natural Products Expo West, Dean and ‘Whisper Dog’ were on site at the Flora trade show booth meeting customers and talking about the benefits of Udo’s oil.  Dean’s been using the oil as a dietary supplement and has seen huge benefits in his strength, recovery time and injury prevention.

“Udo’s Oil is an organic blend of plant-sourced oils designed to supply the ideal ratio of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids. It contains all the good fats you need”

~Dean Potter

Dean built an adjustable steel frame to set up a portable slack line, where he introduced slack lining to many show attendees and played around a bit too. Check out the video of Dean’s shortest slack line set up to date…

UPDATE: Check out this video of Dean and Scott Jurek teaching Amy Purdy how to slackline! As far as we know Amy is the first double amputee ever to get up on a line!

… and here’s another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-9JLEB4qA8

Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.

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Midwest Mountaineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

The auditorium was packed – no seats remained for Dean Potter’s show “Embracing Insanity” hosted by Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis.   I started following Dean’s accomplishments many years ago amazed by his persistence to challenge himself, his strength, his speed, his balance and most of all willingness to push beyond what no other has done.

The Dean Potter show was free but you needed to pick up your ticket at Midwest Mountaineering.   No tickets remained the week prior of the show and for those people without a ticket and still hoping for a seat the line began outside the auditorium hours prior of the show.

Dean walked into the building and people rushed to meet him and ask questions, to see him in-person and get their pictures taken with him.  I noticed his graciousness in allowing folks to surround him and his willingness to answer questions and be part of many photos.  There is a certain quietness about him – he appears as someone very comfortable about who he is.

For more than a hour and a half Dean told his stories combined with video and slides.   He wove a story about himself beginning as a child haunted by a dream of falling and his search for a way to fly free.    He told us how this dream has shaped his life.  Dean Potter is truly a creative genius.  He rethinks the possible.   He pushes the limits of climbing by pursuing the dream of flying.

When the program was over, Dean walked with me to another auditorium where folks were being seated for the start of The Banff Mountain Film Festival.   We walked down in front and I could tell that folks recognized him by their whispers.   Someone from the audience came forward and told Dean he heard him speak that afternoon and that he had started a new program in Minneapolis for kids based on Dean’s life experience – dream big and explore creative solutions.

Dean left us with images of an incredible athlete willing to push limits and what can happen when you are willing to follow your dreams.

~Jan Fast

Some have called him crazy, but after hearing Dean Potter speak at Midwest Mountaineering’s Winter Expo, it was simple to see that he was just a man with one request—to fly. He began his presentation by entering into a disclaimer, that he chose the path of stark individualist and introvert so that he would never have to do/give large presentations; similar of course to the one he was giving.  The irony of such a statement and the light humor Potter employed from there on out spoke to the fact that unlike the man he disclosed to the audience, Potter was in fact a fantastic storyteller. He spent little time however describing his accomplishments, focusing instead on the people he met along the way. Potter painted a vivid picture of life in the Yosemite Valley in the 90’s as the colorful birthplace of slack lining, and home to some of the times most extreme athletes. He spoke candidly about many of his closet friends, many of whom had died.  The presentation grappled with two of the most serious and thought provoking questions of our time; what does it mean to live, and how do we come to terms with death. After witnessing the death of many of his friends, Potter spoke about the impact they had had on his own life, as well as their contributions to the outdoor community as a whole. Potter’s presentation was about relationships, and expressing the fullness of ones character. It was about setting goals, and about knowing who you are. At the end, one must come to the conclusion that Dean Potter is not crazy. He is a man with a vision different than most, but his constant and genuine pursuit of his goals lead us to believe that he may have never had a choice in the matter—that his path was decided for him upon birth—and that if anyone can achieve flight, it will be Dean.

~Bria Fast