Today we spent a few hours at the 2nd birthday party for Echo Brewing in Frederick, Colorado. Part of the celebration was a Slackline Competition featuring many great Slackers: Alex Mason, Zack Andrews, Marcus Nelson, Wes Duckworth, MartÃn Hernandez, Mickey Wilson, Justin Wagers, to name a few.
Below is my video featuring some of them.
This past weekend, we set up two lines in the yard. Since they both anchored to the same tree, we were able to practice jumping from one line to the other. Here is a video of a successful jump!
Today’s entry includes a video below.
I had an interesting experience in beginning Slackline. I headed to my buddy Luke’s house (he’s maybe 45) to let him have a go at Slacklining. He’s an avid hockey player, and wanted to test out his balance skills on the line. At first I thought I might set up the line and fifteen minutes later I would tear it down due to lack of interest. But nope! Luke was all in from the first moment he put his foot on the line. He had to learn to control the shaking of his leg, and then to balance on one foot, but he did it! We spent at least a couple of hours, maybe three before lunch. After about an hour or so, he could stand on the line without anyone’s help.
His daughter (13 yrs old) took to the line rather quickly. She didn’t have as much of the shakes to get past, and she was walking on her own after an hour or so. Another daughter (11) also caught on quickly, I think she had done it once or twice before. A neighbor friend (also 11 or so) joined in, and we had a full-on party going!
After lunch, we set the line up again so that his wife could try it. She also did well, without so much of the shakes that other folks (like me) had to deal with.
This was a short line, maybe 26 or 27 feet, so it was easy to get the line really tight and bouncy. This made for easier walking, and the girls were having fun with duels to see who could knock the other person off the line.
Everyone enjoyed the line, and it was a beauty day in the park!
I practiced doing a jump-start and was able to land a few throughout the afternoon. After heading home, my wife and I set up the line for her to practice. I made a few more attempts at jump-start and made the following video of one of them.
I am totally impressed that people can learn to slackline in one day, given enough time on the line! I think my friend might invest in a line, his family surely enjoyed it today!
Mile High Slacker 