Base-jumping and Slacklining Star Andy Lewis Killed in Utah Cliff Jump

Andy Lewis, the American extreme sports athlete who rose to fame after appearing with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, was killed on Saturday in a deadly accident in a remote Utah canyon. He died alongside another jumper when a tandem base jump went wrong in Mineral Bottom, near the Utah-Colorado border, after their shared parachute failed to open. The jump was made from a cliff about 85 meters high. Lewis was 39.

Lewis was a well-known figure in the base-jumping world and owned Base Jump Moab, a company that offered tandem jumps to inexperienced clients strapped to a guide with the parachute. Aerial Arts Moab called him on social media a co-founder and “the best friend ever.” John McAvoy, an Idaho base-jumping instructor who had jumped with Lewis, said Lewis often pushed farther than others, jumping into tighter spaces or opening his parachute later than his peers. “He had an incredible level of athleticism and skill, developed over years of training,” McAvoy said, “but beyond that, he took an incredible level of risk.”

The second victim was identified by Grand County Sheriff Jamison Wiggins as Danny Joe Cargle, 68, a father and grandfather described by relatives as a successful businessman. Family member Sydney Laverty told the Times-Independent that he had a “wonderful sense of humor” and loved making people laugh, especially by performing magic tricks with his granddaughter.

Lewis also built a major reputation in slacklining and tricklining. He became famous overnight after performing with Madonna in a toga during the Super Bowl halftime show, bouncing and doing tricks on a line about 2.5 centimeters wide while she sang behind him. He later said his phone “rang nonstop for three days” after that appearance.

In a broader context, the article notes that BASEaddict.com has recorded 540 base-jumping deaths worldwide since 1981, including 30 last year, and a 2007 Norwegian study found the sport carries a risk of injury or death five to eight times higher than skydiving. Lewis had acknowledged the danger, saying last year, “It is strange to think how many people die from it, because it feels like such a normal thing.”