Who was Andy Lewis? Slackline champion dies in Utah Base jumping accident
Andy Lewis, a celebrated slacklining champion and Madonna Super Bowl performer, died in a base jumping accident in Utah, according to local authorities.
Lewis was a renowned figure in high-wire walking and aerial acrobatics. (Photo credit- Sakchai Lalit/AP)
2 min readJun 16, 2026 08:42 PM IST
First published on: Jun 16, 2026 at 08:42 PM IST
Andy Lewis,best known for setting a highline record 480 feet above Las Vegas in October 2013, was among the other who died in a base jumping accident over the weekend in a canyon in Utah, which killed two people. He was widely known for performing on stage with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl.
The sheriff’s office in Grand County, Utah, confirmed that one of the people who died was Andy Lewis. He was an extreme sports athlete known for his skills in base jumping, a dangerous activity where a person jumps from a tall fixed structure, such as a building, a bridge, or a cliff over a deep canyon, and uses a parachute to land safely on the ground.
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Who was Andy Lewis?
Andy Lewis grew up in Marin County, California. He rose to worldwide fame in the mid-2000s and became one of the most well-known faces in the world of aerial sports.
He was a renowned figure in high-wire walking and aerial acrobatics. He went from an athlete to an overnight sensation when he appeared and shared the stage with Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show.
What happened?
According to The Guardian, emergency workers on Sunday responded to reports of people getting hurt during a base jumping attempt at Mineral Bottom, a quiet, remote desert area close to the border between Utah and Colorado.
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According to the sheriff’s office, Andy Lewis and another man, whose name has not been released yet, died at the spot. The sheriff’s office shared this information in an official news release.
It was confirmed to the news agency Associated Press, by Sheriff’s Lt Al Cymbaluk, that the victim was identified as Lewis.
Lewis won four world championships in a row in competitive slacklining from 2008 to 2011. He also set a Guinness World Record for slackline surfing, a move where he swayed his feet from side to side in a motion that looks like surfing, all while keeping his balance high above China’s Diaoshuilou waterfall in 2011.
(Written by Paramita Datta, who is an intern with The Indian Express)
Lewis was a renowned figure in high-wire walking and aerial acrobatics. (Photo credit- Sakchai Lalit/AP) 
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