Sunday, April 22, 2012

No SLACKING OFF in the Sport of SLACKLINING

I must admit I have NEVER seen the sport of Slacklining until recently. I was minding my own business, taking my dog to the park, and as I drove up I saw this guy balancing high in the air on a line.  I was memorized ,I had to park and come for a closer look.  This is what I saw.


 

     Now let me just say a few things before you decide to try Slacklining.  Concentration, the kind that only true yogi's understand, is VERY important.  Balance, Yes it is required on this 1 inch nylon webbing.  I'm not talking about the balance it takes to walk in 3 inch heels.
 
 
 Nice recovery on the left.  These guys tie things between two trees, about 6-7 feet off the ground. Then they simple go for it, regardless of the wind, which on this day was killer. 
 
 
 
Oh yea the guy on the right was intentionally bouncing on the webbing, and the wind  was so fierce, that when the noone was on the webbing, it was shaking so much you could hear a humming sound.  
 
Kind of looks like a karate move with his hands.  This was truly an exhilarating sport to watch.  Don't think I am brave enough, for focused enough to tryit. But I do want to give props to one young lady who was practicing on a lower webbing, and then decided to try the line with the big boys.  She did great!
 
This was so cool to watch I made one of the images my Powerful Portrait of the week on my Debra Snell Photography facebook page.
Slacklining was first created by a couple of Rock Climbers, who started by walking on some chains and cables 1979.  Then they came up with flexible webbing, which seems to make much more sense to me.  114 million people saw this cool sport during the  Super Bowl Half Time show this year.  Debra Snell Photography tips its hat to all those agile and brave slackliners out there.  Keep Balancing. Hope you enjoyed left me a comment.