Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
|
|
Yes, people have done spectacular long walks 500-1800' above the ground for a long time, particularly in Europe. The distinction being those were all done on high/tightwires with poles.
"slackline is much tougher than the old fashioned 'tight rope'?
Mainly it's different. Different walking media - webbing, 11mm rope, light chain, heavy chain, aluminum wire, light steel wire, heavy steel cable - they all have very different feels, idiosyncracies, and body adjustment requirements to master. The degree of tension or tightness also radically changes the experience of all those media.
The biggest difference between walking something short, light and loose vs. long, heavy and tight is that the latter is relatively immune to the effects of your body weight - by that I mean the weight of your body is not enough to force it into a stable 'resting state' - it just slowly 'floats' around in some diameter circle dependent on length, tension and weight. The upshot of that is now you not only have to balance and walk it, you also have to 'ride' it at the same time as it floats around. That's one of the reasons wire walkers use a pole - its weighted, drooping ends significantly lower your center of gravity and makes the actual balancing / standing part much easier so you can concentrate on the walking / 'riding' part.
Perceptions of 'difficulty' also have a lot to do with what you learn and get used to. I've walked heavily cranked-down dynamic and static 11mm ropes for the past thirty three years and that's normal to me. Webbing slacklines to me are sloppy messes where you spend a lot of time and energy simply keeping the webbing under you and that's a lot less fun for me than tighter media. But for pure 'difficulty' I'd say a solidly cranked-down, guyed, and essentially rigid, heavy steel cable - without a pole - is by far the most 'pure', challenging, and unforgiving walking experience you can have.
And assuming someone has mastered walking - regardless of the media - doing it high up and untethered (I like to call it 'tradlining') is no different an exercise in mental and emotional control than soloing in rock climbing - commitment pegged at 100% and the margin of error is zero. Oh, and the odds of snagging the webbing on falling: very high, but there's still no guarantee regardless of who's doing the walk.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
We may have to put ninjah down as "undecided".
I was wondering about the thread title, though - "Solo Slackline". Is there any other kind of slacklining? Tandem? Human pyramids? Aerialists do things like that. Maybe Chris meant "untethered slackline"? Except the slackline by definition is always tethered - it's the slackliner (the "slacker"?) who may or may not be.
Verb: To slackline
Noun: Slackline (taut rope suspended over gulf)
Noun (transitive): Slackliner/slacker? (With adjectives, e.g. untethered, as needed.)
What is the proper noun to use for someone who slacklines? I see that Joseph suggests that if untethered, it be called tradlining.
|
|
the Fet
Supercaliyosemistic climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
|
|
Bitchin.
|
|
Gene
climber
|
|
I see that the slackline crowd has another meaning of 'solo.' What do they call a walk with a safety connected to the line?
gm
|
|
ninjah
Big Wall climber
a van down by the river
|
|
ok I'm sorry, didn't mean to get so upset:) IT just sounds like the onx is a hater, and i hate that, because i love everyone! :)
|
|
blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
|
|
healyje--thanks for the info; kind of rare to get a serious response to a serious question anymore!!
|
|
matty
climber
po-dunk
|
|
hoochie mamma, yikes!
|
|
Slakkey
Trad climber
From a Quiet Place by the Lake
|
|
I was just looking at this thread again and I thought the same thing great shot of El Cap
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
Onyx, watch out , you're making real sense and on ST no less.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
When one of the no-name Soviet leaders (Andropov? Chernenko?) died in the mid-1980s, our local tabloid had the giant headline "TOP RED DEAD!!!" Presumably if the tabloids cover this, their title will be something subtle like "DAFT ON TAFT!!!"
|
|
JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
|
|
What a gay.
|
|
rwedgee
Ice climber
canyon country,CA
|
|
To fall off you really have to blow it several times; you have to fall, then you have to fall "incorrectly" to blow your chance at catching the line, then you have to blow the catch, assuming you snagged it on the way down. What could possibly go wrong? Certainly wouldn't find me doing that crazyness.
By the way I hate climbing in jeans. Unless it's an offwidth.
|
|
healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
|
|
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Do it enough years and you'd be astounded by the ways it can go wrong. I've done it enough so that at various times an 11mm rope felt like a sidewalk - and still got f#cked in some curious and curiouser ways in controlled and uncontrolled dismounts from standing to hanging (I normally walk with my rope at about 9').
|
|
morphus
Mountain climber
Angleland
|
|
did he lay off the weed for this one?
|
|
Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
|
|
OK.........nice stunt. And what does this have to do with climbing?
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
I read the interesting interview with the dude who kayaked over the 186ft. waterfall. He went on and on and on about how he only did it for personal reasons. Funny, in congratulating his crew it became evident that 75% of them were there for media reasons. Solo slack lining seems to get the same kind of treatment. Bachar and Croft always forgot to bring the camera team along- oh, but that's that boring thing called climbing.
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
"Bachar and Croft always forgot to bring the camera team along"
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Amen, brutha.
|
|
Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
Well it is a great photo. I have a lot of respect for Dean, for various visionary climbs but mostly from what he did on Fitzroty solo, no photogs, no staging etc.
As said previously, most slackline falls result in a catch with the hands, rarely do they blow that and fall onto the leash. And, not to disparage a man and the need to liven up the photo shoot for his lively-hood, but as the dad of Braden, who is one of the top slack line walkers around, I have to say I am not super psyched to see the promotion of "leashless" walking as some sort of penultimate achievement.
So far Braden has been in some films and photo shoots because of his ability to step out on the highest and longest lines with a calm, smooth, focused style, his use of the leash does not detract from the beauty and boldness of his walks. Of course I hope he continues to practice his art that way, and of course as all fathers of 26 year olds, I have next to no influence on how he does his thing.
I am grateful that he makes a great living rigging and does not need to make money from posing for photos.
Just last night I had dinner with a group of high school seniors after one of our enviro ed programs, a few of the boys are into slack-lining. When I ponder all types of "after the fact" staged solo photo shoots, or even something like this where a bunch of practice goes into getting that one "bold" shot, I can't help but be concerned about the influence such things have on the 17 year old dudes.
I tell them learn to walk smooth and keep the leash!
Peter
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!