Accident during BASE jump leaves 2 dead in canyon in the USA, including athlete who went on stage at the Super Bowl with Madonna

Andy Lewis, extreme sports athlete, died in a BASE jumping accident in a canyon in Utah, United States, in June 2026.
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A BASE jumping accident that occurred over the weekend in a canyon in Utah, United States, killed two people, local authorities reported. One of the victims is an extreme sports athlete known for having performed on stage with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show.
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The Grand County Sheriff's Office in Utah confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that one of the dead was Andy Lewis, known for his feats in BASE jumping - a dangerous sport that involves jumping from low altitudes, such as buildings, bridges or cliffs, using parachute.
Emergency crews were called in Sunday after reports of people injured during a BASE jumping attempt in Mineral Bottom, a remote desert area near the Utah-Colorado border, according to the sheriff's office. Lewis and an unidentified 50-year-old man died at the scene.
Among BASE jumpers, Lewis had great popularity and a reputation for pushing the limits - jumping into tighter spaces or opening his parachute later than others would dare, said John McEvoy, a BASE instructor in Twin Falls, Idaho, who once jumped with him.
"He had an incredible level of athleticism and skill developed over years of practice. But he also took on an incredible level of risk," McEvoy said. Read more about Andy Lewis below.
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Another sport shot Lewis to fame, thanks to Madonna
Lewis was also a leading figure in the niche sports slackline and trickline, which combine elements of ribbon balancing with aerial acrobatics, sometimes at dangerous heights.
He went from unknown athlete to overnight celebrity when he appeared on stage during Madonna's 2012 Super Bowl halftime show. Dressed in a Roman toga, Lewis jumped and performed tricks on his inch-wide ribbon as if it were a trampoline, while the singer performed behind him.
"My phone literally rang until it died for three days straight," Lewis said shortly afterwards, in an interview on Conan O'Brien's show.
Andy Lewis alongside Madonna during a musical performance at Super Bowl XLVI, on February 5, 2012.
AP/Charlie Riedel/File
BASE jumping is much more dangerous than skydiving
Although there is no official count of deaths from BASE jumping, a survey by the website BASEaddict.com points to 540 deaths worldwide since 1981 - including 30 last year. Among known cases are those of Dean Potter and his climbing partner Graham Hunt, who died in 2015 during a wingsuit flight in Yosemite National Park, California.
A study published in a medical journal in 2007, focusing on Norway, estimated that BASE jumping presents a risk of injury or death five to eight times greater than traditional skydiving.
Lewis himself openly acknowledged the dangers of the sport.
"It's strange to think how many people have died, because it ends up looking like something normal," he told documentary filmmaker Ella Warnick in an interview published last year.
American slackliner Andy Lewis balances on a slackline in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 23, 2014.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit/File
Lewis owned BASE Jump Moab, a company that offered experiences to inexperienced customers through tandem jumps, in which the client is attached to a guide using the parachute.
Cymbaluk said he did not know whether Lewis and the other man performed such a jump.
Tandem jumps in BASE jumping present additional risks because they involve two people - usually one with no experience - under a single parachute, McEvoy explained. On the other hand, because they include beginners, they tend to be carried out in the most basic and controlled conditions possible.
"Within BASE, it is a very controversial topic," said McEvoy. "There are those who say it's the stupidest thing in the world and others who say, 'We're giving these people the experience of a lifetime.'"
Lewis won four consecutive slackline world titles between 2008 and 2011. He also set a Guinness World Record by slackline surfing over the Diaoshuilou Waterfall in China in 2011, moving his feet as if he were surfing.
In 2014, he crossed a slackline suspended between two hot air balloons more than 1,200 meters high over the Nevada desert. (See photo above)

Source: G1