Extreme athlete Dean Potter dies in BASE jumping accident

A US national park spokesman says extreme athlete Dean Potter and another man have died in a BASE jumping accident.

The Yosemite National Park spokesman says Potter and Graham Hunt died late Saturday after attempting a wingsuit flight from a 7,500-foot (2,300-metre) promontory called Taft Point.

A search-and-rescue mission began overnight when the jumpers' spotter lost contact with them.

Potter is seen shepherding his dog Whisper down a zipline on the Eiger in Switzerland. (Facebook)

Crews found their bodies Sunday in the Yosemite Valley. No parachutes had been deployed.

Potter is renowned for his bold and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, in which he would parachute from a fixed structure or cliff.

BASE jumping is illegal in Yosemite.

Potter was 43. He completed solo ascents and tightrope walks across some of the world's most famous rocks.

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