On a recent weekend, a tragic BASE jumping accident occurred in a Utah canyon, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. Among them was Andy Lewis, a well-known daredevil athlete who gained fame for his performance with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl. Emergency responders were called to Mineral Bottom, a remote desert area near the Utah-Colorado border, following reports of injuries during a BASE jumping attempt, as confirmed by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office in Utah.
Andy Lewis was celebrated for his extreme sports feats, particularly in BASE jumping. This dangerous sport involves leaping from a tall, fixed object like a building, bridge, or desert cliff, followed by a parachute descent. The victims were engaged in a tandem jump, where two individuals are harnessed together. A social media post by Aerial Arts Moab, an acrobatics company, described Lewis as a ‘co-owner and best friend.’ He also owned BASE Jump Moab, a business offering tandem jumps to novices guided by experienced jumpers wearing a parachute. Promotional videos on the company’s website showcase pairs jumping off towering cliffs and briefly falling before deploying parachutes.
In BASE jumping circles, Lewis was highly regarded for taking significant risks. John McEvoy, a BASE jumping instructor in Idaho who had jumped with Lewis, spoke of his athleticism and skill developed over years of practice. McEvoy noted, ‘He had an incredible level of athleticism and skill that was developed over years of practice, but then he would take an incredible amount of risk.’
The other victim, Danny Joe Kregle, was a 68-year-old father and grandfather. A family member described him as an accomplished businessman with a wonderful sense of humor. Sydney Laverty, a relative, shared, ‘Danny had a wonderful sense of humor and was always looking for ways to make people laugh. One of his greatest joys was performing magic tricks alongside his granddaughter.’
Beyond BASE jumping, Lewis was a prominent figure in slacklining and tricklining, sports combining high-wire walking and aerial acrobatics at great heights. His fame surged when performing in Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, where he executed tricks on a narrow line while dressed in a Roman toga. This performance made him a household name virtually overnight.
BASE jumping is considerably riskier than skydiving. There is no official count of BASE jumping fatalities, though BASEaddict.com reports 540 worldwide deaths since 1981, including 30 last year. Notable deaths include BASE jumpers Dean Potter and Graham Hunt, who perished in 2015 during a wingsuit flight in California’s Yosemite National Park. A 2007 study from Norway found that BASE jumping has five to eight times the risk of injury or death compared to skydiving. Lewis candidly acknowledged the sport’s dangers, expressing in an interview with documentary filmmaker Ella Warnick that the frequency of fatalities was unsettling.
Within BASE, it’s a very controversial topic,” McEvoy said. “There’s a lot of people who say it’s the stupidest thing in the world and others arguing: ‘No, we’re giving people the experience of their lives.’
Lewis was a formidable competitor in slacklining, securing four consecutive world championships from 2008 to 2011. He set a Guinness World Record for slackline surfing above China’s Diaoshuilou waterfall in 2011. Three years later, he walked a slackline suspended between two hot air balloons over 4,000 feet above the Nevada desert. Lewis’s appearance with Madonna catapulted him to celebrity status.