Two people, including prominent extreme athlete Andy Lewis, died in a BASE jumping accident in a remote Utah canyon over the weekend. Lewis, best known for his highline performance during Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, was one of the fatalities confirmed by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office. The second victim, a 50-year-old man, remains unidentified.
The incident occurred Sunday at Mineral Bottom, a desert area near the Utah-Colorado border. Emergency responders took over an hour to reach the scene, according to reports. Lewis, who relocated to Moab, Utah, was a record-breaking slackliner and BASE jumper. His final Instagram post, shared hours before the accident, showed him performing a flip off a cliff, with a caption expressing excitement for the upcoming season.
BASE jumping fatalities are not officially tracked, but a database maintained by BASEaddict.com lists 540 deaths worldwide since 1981, including 30 in 2022. Prominent figures like Dean Potter and Graham Hunt have also died in similar accidents. The sheriff’s office has not released further details about the cause of the crash.
Lewis, originally from California, was a well-known figure in the extreme sports community. Residents in Moab described him as a ‘very big personality,’ and his death has drawn tributes from fellow athletes and fans.