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Andy Lewis, 'Sketchy Andy,' and Danny Joe Kregle Killed in BASE Jumping Accident Near Moab

Elena MarquezPublished 22h ago3 min readBased on 3 sources
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Andy Lewis, 'Sketchy Andy,' and Danny Joe Kregle Killed in BASE Jumping Accident Near Moab

Two people died on Sunday, June 14, in a BASE jumping accident near Moab, in Grand County, Utah — among them Andy Lewis, 39, the extreme athlete widely known as "Sketchy Andy," and Danny Joe Kregle, 68, a father and grandfather. The Grand County Sheriff's office confirmed both fatalities, with Sheriff Jamison Wiggins identifying Kregle as the second victim. ABC7

Lewis had built a significant public profile in the world of extreme sports. He performed at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Madonna, slacklining across the stage in one of the more unusual appearances in that event's history. Outside Online His career spanned BASE jumping, slacklining, and highlining — disciplines that occupy the outer edge of human exposure to consequence. The nickname "Sketchy Andy" was not ironic within that community; it reflected a willingness to push objectives that most practitioners would decline.

Kregle, at 68, was among the older active participants in a sport where the demographics skew younger. His family confirmed he was a father and grandfather. ABC7 Beyond those details, little additional background on his jumping history has been made public.

The canyon terrain around Moab is among the most active BASE jumping geography in the American West. The region's sandstone walls — particularly in and around Canyonlands and the adjacent canyon systems — draw jumpers from across the country precisely because of the range of exit points and the relative accessibility compared to alpine venues. Grand County has seen repeated BASE fatalities over the years; the sport carries no federal licensing requirement, and exits on public land operate in a regulatory gray zone that has long frustrated both land managers and safety advocates within the community.

BASE — an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth — differs from skydiving in ways that compress every margin. Deployment altitudes are measured in hundreds of feet rather than thousands, leaving little time to address malfunctions. Tracking, canopy flight, and landing all occur in terrain that punishes off-target outcomes. Experienced practitioners reduce risk through meticulous site assessment and equipment checks, but no protocol eliminates exposure entirely. The fatality rate per jump is orders of magnitude higher than in skydiving.

The circumstances that led to both jumpers' deaths on June 14 — whether a shared jump gone wrong or two separate exits — had not been detailed in reporting as of June 15. The sheriff's office confirmed identities and the fact of the accident; the investigative record had not yet been made public. Global News

Lewis was 39. For someone at that age with his level of documented experience, the accident will prompt the kind of community reckoning that follows the loss of a high-profile practitioner — not because it changes the sport's risk calculus, but because it makes the numbers concrete. The BASE community is small enough that reputations are granular; "Sketchy Andy" was known, his jumps were watched, and his death will be felt at that specific register. Kregle's death, less remarked upon in early coverage, deserves equal weight. He was 68, active, and by any measure a long-term participant in a discipline that claims lives at every experience level.

No investigation findings have been released. The Grand County Sheriff's office would typically coordinate with the Utah State Medical Examiner on cause of death determinations, and further details are likely to emerge as that process proceeds.