Dan Osman - Free Solo Climbing

Dan Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998) was an Asian American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sports of "free-soloing" (rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear); and "rope jumping" (falling several hundred feet from a cliff then being caught by a safety rope), for which his record was over 1000 feet / 304.8 meters. He was known for living a bohemian lifestyle, rarely working, and living in a tree house for months at a time. He was the star of several rock climbing videos, which brought free-soloing to a wider audience. Dan had one daughter.


He died on November 23, 1998 at the age of 35 after his rope failed while performing a "controlled free-fall" jump from the Leaning Tower rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Osman had come back to Yosemite to dismantle the jump tower but apparently decided to make several jumps (over a few days) before doing so.[1] The failure was investigated by the National Park Service with assistance from Chris Harmston, Quality Assurance Manager at Black Diamond Equipment. Harmston concluded that a change in jump site angle probably caused the ropes to cross and entangle, leading to the rope cutting by melting.[2] Miles Daisher, who was with Osman when he made the jump, stated that the ropes used in his fatal jump had been exposed to inclement weather — including rain and snow — for more than a month before the fatal jump, but that the same ropes were used for several shorter jumps on the previous and same day.

Source: Wikipedia
Related: Dan Osman - Extreme Climbing and Static Line Jumping