Hey!
The Slackline Brothers have been given the opportunity to spread the seeds of slacklining in Ecuador!! A team of 6 of us; Corbin Usinger, Clay Usinger, Dylan Buffington, Austin Josephs, Jenna McLennan and Maria Quinones-Phiegh are heading out early tomorrow morning at 2 am.. First to Panama, then after a layover for a few hours we’re off to Guayaquil! We will be performing for the extreme sports festival, Feria de Duran, and will be representing Slackline Brothers and the Tesalia Springs Company’s new drink 220V, EXTREME! Steel structures will be supporting our 85ft long/25ft high line that we’ll be playing on, 
Everyone on the team is super psyched for this amazing trip! Pics will be posted soon!
peace!
By Robin Avery
Every time I go outside to setup my slackline I forget something. Here is a list of ten ingredients that are sure to make your experience more enjoyable.
- Bring your slackline. There are many different rigging methods. When I’m cruising the beach-side on my bike, I prefer to bring the minimalist’s rig. It’s light and simple. Other times, when I’m rigging lines over 20 meters (65 feet) I like to bring my pulley blocks. They’re a bit heavier, but worth it when you’re working with long lines and need to adjust tension on-the- fly.
- Bring protection for the trees. Protecting the trees is of utmost importance. Slackline is still not accepted in many places. In fact, it has been banned in many parks around the world. Keep image of slackline a good one by protecting any trees you sling.
- Bring water and snacks. Slacklining takes a lot more energy then most people think. A nice day in the sun feels that much better when you’re well fed and watered.
- Bring a knife. Time and time again I need to cut webbing.
- Bring pen and paper. Slackline is a social activity and a great way to meet new friends. A pen and paper will be useful when that cute guy or girl wants to exchange phone numbers.
- Bring a mat to sit on. In Vancouver we get a lot of rain and the ground can often be quite wet.
- Bring a camera. When you are about to land that new triple backflip you’ve been working on all season, you’ll want a picture for bragging rights.
- Wear sandles. Socks are shoes are no fun when you’re playing in the sun.
- Bring a first-aid kit. As is with any (fun) sport, slackline does carry the risk of injury. Broken glass may be hiding in the grass. Some cloth tape, Afterbite, and band-aids will come in handy if you should cut yourself or be stung by an insect.
- Wear a smile! As a slackliner, whether you like it or not, you’ve become an ambassador and pioneer to an emerging sport. Inevitably, you’ll be approached be passer-bys who want to know why you’re training for the circus. Don’t scoff, instead, tell them what you’re up to, and tell them: slackline.com.
Slackline at Kitsilano beach in Vancouver, British Columbia
French slackliner Damien Mercier is planning to break Christian Schou’s highest highline record (direct exposure) which was set in Norway. Click here to read the article about the preparations for his attempt. Best of luck to you Damien on your world record aspirations!
Damien practicing for his world record attempt
Stefan, or “Fish” in the forums, has recently broken the world longline record, walking a 203 meter (666 feet) slackline at the Fairytale Meadow east of Dresden, Germany. This beautiful line was full manned by Stefan, and is the first slackline of more than 200 meters to be successfully walked. Using a single piece of White Magic webbing, Stefan was able to walk the line after many sessions of increasing line length, walking 80 meters in February, up to 177 meters just a month before his 203 meter walk. Congratulations Stefan on this incredible feat!
You can read more here, at Stefan’s blog entry of the walk. (translated to English through Google)
Slackline Pro Damian Cooksey has finished his new climbing gym, “Bridges Rock Gym”, in the San Francisco Bay area.
What do you get when you combine free standing boulders with some cool toproping and awesome slacklining? Answer: one of the coolest new gyms in the country. Bouldering problems topping out at more than 20 feet high, a new high tech landing pad system, and thousands of slackline combinations just begging for the newest tricks in the world makes Bridges Rock Gym a must visit destination. Damian Cooksey will be giving the best climbing and slacklining instruction in the country, along with their many other top notch employees. The Grand Opening Celebration is going on from the 28th-29th of March, check out all the cool festivities! Visit their web site for more info.
Also, check out this cool slide show of Andy and Damian having a nice slackline session:
Up and coming longline walker Jerry Miszewski walked a 514 foot long slackline in his local park last December, and this is believed to be the longest slackline walked by an American, just shy of the alleged world records of 550 feet and 600 feet set in Europe. His account of the walk can be seen here
Jerry claims that a 600+ ft slackline is definitely possible and he hopes to be able to set the new world record soon. Jerry walks on the “white magic” webbing which is seemingly ideal for long lines. Congratulations Jerry on this awesome accomplishment!
A big crew from Colorado and California got together this year for the Ouray Ice Festival in southwestern Colorado. We rigged a beautiful line over the box canyon in Ouray, spanning 82 feet and topping out at just under 100 feet high. Libby Sauter wrote a great trip report for the event, and it can be read on the blog here: Trip Report. Thanks to everyone who showed up to this event and helped make it awesome!
Jeremy Getting Down
The Slackline.com crew will be rigging a highline or two at the Ouray Ice Festival in Ouray, Colorado during the 9th-11th of January. If you’re in the area, or planning on going to the Festival at all, be sure to come check it out. Some of the best highliners in the country will be coming by to give a highline trick demo, and we’ll have a lowline set up for spectators, first timers, and experienced slackliners to try out. We’ll be sure to post up some photos after we get back, but come see the awesomeness for yourself. The Ouray Ice Festival is a great event held every year that benefits the Ouray Ice Park, it is one of their top fundraisers. You can find out more information about the event at www.ourayicefestival.com
Dylan throwing down some tricks
The forum has been debating whether or not a highline has been rigged on Asian soil. Well we’re still not sure about the soil part, but Sebastian enlightened us to a recent highline rigged by Stephan Siegrist on the glaciers of Gasherbrum II a few years ago. Here is the article:
Sorry, its not translated into English!
Stefan Siegrist on the Line
Recently my friend Matt and I hiked up the Stawamus Chief in Squamish, BC and rigged a highline around 40 meters long. This has been a goal of mine for quite some time. So far it has been rigged three times, twice by Matt, that we know of. I’m proud to say that I got the second send.
We left it up for a bit, came back a few days later with a video camera and got this…
Beta:
Approach: From the Chief parking lots, walk up Shannon falls trail to the 3rd summit of the Chief.
Rigging: There are two bolts on the 2nd summit, as for the 3rd summit side, you have to equalize off of trees. We tied string to a rock and hucked it across. This can prove challenging.See more photos and read more about this on our Slackline.com Forums
Big thanks to Matt for the use of his gear and Ryan Warden for filming it.