13 November 2009

Ueli Gegenschatz has died

After an accident during a BASE jump on Nov. 11, aerialist Ueli Gegenschatz has died in a Swiss hospital.

This spring at TED, Gegenschatz spoke movingly of his desire “to come as close as possible to the human dream of being able to fly.” Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Discuss this Blog Post

Chris Anderson
Nov 14 2009
All of us at TED are devastated to hear of Ueli’s death. He gained a lot of new friends in his time at Long Beach this year. We will miss him. I suppose some people will re-question the wisdom of his pursuit of extreme adventure. Yet he was an amazing pioneer whose courage and free spirit inspired many. He died doing what he loved to do. Our warmest wishes and sincere condolences go out to his loved ones.
Petko Fiziev
Nov 14 2009
RIP! This is very sad news! Condolescence for his family and friends.
Terri Hayes
Nov 14 2009
I am so sorry to hear this. He was an amazing person chasing an amazing dream. I hope he’s flying.
Alex Loer
Nov 14 2009
TED helps show us people willing to risk, learn and share – some of them to more extremes then others. Ueli was a great example of someone who loved what he did and we got a glimpse of that this spring at TED. He calculated the risks but was willing to keep pushing to find where it would lead him. Sad news yes, but an inspirational doer of life!
vishal kurup
Jan 2 2010
I just saw the note about Ueli’s death and am absolutely dumfounded and in grief. I messaged Ueli after seeing his video on Ted and told him how inspirational he is. The world has lost a pioneer and visionary athlete. Ueli – I know you are up there flying somewhere. You will be sorely missed! Godspeed my friend!
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