What is highline?

Highline is the practice of slackline, above a lethal height to the slacker if the installation breaks and/or the slacker falls off without a safety leash. The height involved is not necessarily vertiginous. It varies between 16 ft (5 m) to 3,280 ft (1000 m) (at present…). The slackline and longline are positioned between 1.6 ft (0.5 m) and 6.5 ft (2 m) above the ground. Between 6.5 ft (2 m) and 16.5 ft (5 m) is an area in which the highline cannot be carried out – although a fall from that height can be lethal to the practitioner, since a fall from the highline at that height renders the safety leash useless and could lead the slacker to hit the ground. In this height range I would either recommend to never practice highline, or to practice a less lethal version of highline, that is to say, a monkey bridge secured from above.

Beyond this clinical description, the highline is above all a state of mind. It is a quest for space and total balance.

Origin

In 1983, Adam Grosowsky and Jeff Ellington installed, at 2,890 feet (880 m) high, a tightrope wire of 55 foot (17 m) length between a rocky summit of “Lost Arrow Spire” and an adjacent wall at Yosemite natural park – USA. Neither of them were able to cross the line. The following year, inspired by this first try, Scott Balcom and Darrin Carter installed the first highline as they used nylon webbing instead of cable. In 1985, Scott succeeded the crossing. Since then well-famous line.

Why?

Highline is an extreme sensation sport that unlike other extreme sports, is easily accessible and relatively harmless upon the condition that its set up is well thought out.

Crossing a slackline at about a hundred feet from the ground requires nerves of steel and a strong will. Requires a strong character to want to overcome fear, to remain fully concentrated and always persevering. To do this, there is little secret. A progressive training that aims to always push the limits to improve endurance to stress, technique and physical condition.

The ultimate goal of highline is to exceed its own mental limitations. The high dose of stress together with the unique contact of emptiness creates a rush of adrenaline that amplifies each of the sensations. If we achieve to control the rush of adrenaline, that is to say to keep your balance, we can feel a strong joy and a great inside peace. If fear dominates, or we fall, frustration and doubt start to settle. The only way to remove those incapacitating thoughts is to go easy, step by step, to the other side. Each step is a struggle and a victory … and there are a lot of steps!

Besides the psychological facet of the practice, highline is also the quest for an aesthetic line. Unlike others high mountain sports, in which a cliff face offers multiple possibilities for the climber, it also requires creativity and willingness to open new lines.