[4] Dean Potter was born in 1972[5][1] to an Army officer in a military hospital at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas[6] and grew up in New Hampshire.

[8][9] In July 2006, Potter climbed The Reticent Wall, one of the hardest routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, in 34 hours and 57 minutes with Ammon McNeely and Ivo Ninov, slashing five days off the existing time.

This was twenty seconds quicker than the existing record, set the previous October by Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine.

Potter's record was later surpassed by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds followed by Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell, who completed The Nose route in 1 hour 58 minutes in June 2018.

I didn't hurt it,"[13] he said, though rope grooves in the soft sandstone were later found, possibly created or enhanced by the professional photographers Potter brought along to publicize the climb.

He was introduced to slacklining by Charles Victor Tucker III, known as "Chongo", one of the first three people to highline across Lost Arrow Spire.

[15] Potter completed a variety of highline-crossings without the benefit of a safety lanyard, backup line, or BASE jumping parachute.

[16] Potter invented freebasing, a combination of free solo climbing without the assistance of ropes—but with a BASE parachute rig attached on the climber's back.

[19] On May 16, 2015, Potter and Graham Hunt died attempting a proximity wingsuit flight from Taft Point above Yosemite Valley.