A daring base jumper known for performing alongside Madonna at the Super Bowl has tragically passed away in a base jumping accident in the United States, authorities confirmed. Andy Lewis, aged 39, was one of two individuals who lost their lives during a base jumping incident in a Utah Canyon over the weekend. Lewis, an extreme athlete, was renowned for his base jumping stunts, which involved parachuting down after leaping from tall structures like buildings, bridges, or cliffs overlooking deep canyons.
Within the base jumping community, Lewis was highly respected for his innovative approach, often taking risks by jumping into confined spaces or delaying his parachute deployment longer than others would consider safe, according to John McEvoy, a base jumping instructor who had jumped with Lewis. Despite his exceptional athleticism and years of practice, Lewis was known for his willingness to take on significant risks.
Lewis gained further recognition when he appeared in Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime performance, showcasing his talent by bouncing and executing tricks on a narrow line while dressed in a Roman toga. The fatal accident occurred in Mineral Bottom, a remote desert area near the Utah-Colorado border, where emergency responders were called to assist injured base jumpers. Both Lewis and an unnamed 50-year-old man lost their lives at the scene.
While official statistics on base jumping fatalities are not available, data from baseaddict.com indicates 540 deaths worldwide since 1981, with 30 fatalities reported last year. A study from 2007 focusing on base jumping in Norway revealed that the sport carries a risk of injury or death five to eight times higher than skydiving.
Lewis openly acknowledged the dangers associated with base jumping, expressing his awareness of the risks involved in the sport. He also owned Base Jump Moab, a business offering tandem jump experiences to novices, where customers were securely attached to a guide equipped with a parachute. Lewis, a multiple world champion in competitive slacklining and a holder of a Guinness World Record for slackline surfing, had a history of pushing boundaries in extreme sports, including walking a slackline suspended between two hot air balloons over 4,000 feet above the Nevada desert in 2014.