How to Slackline!: a Comprehensive Guide to Rigging and Walking Techniques for Tricklines, Longlines, and Highlines

224 Pages·2013·12.612 MB·English

by  Ashburn, Hayley

How to Slackline!

H o w t o C l i m b ™ S e r i e S
How to Slackline!
A Comprehensive Guide to Rigging and Walking
Techniques for Tricklines, Longlines, and Highlines
Hayley Ashburn
Photos by Scott rogers
FFAALLCCOONNGGUUIIDDEESS®
Copyright © 2013 Hayley Ashburn
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted
in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe
Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT
06437.
FalconGuides is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.
Falcon, FalconGuides, and Outfit Your Mind are registered trademarks and How to
Climb is a trademark of Morris Book Publishing, LLC.
Interior photos by Scott Rogers unless noted otherwise.
Illustrations by Robert Prince unless otherwise credited.
Project editor: David Legere
Text design and layout: Casey Shain
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ashburn, Hayley.
How to slackline! : a comprehensive guide to rigging and walking techniques for trick-
lines, longlines, and highlines / Hayley Ashburn ; photos by Scott Rogers.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7627-8499-8
1. Mountaineering. 2. Rappelling. I. Title.
GV200.A835 2013
796.522—dc23
2013013569
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Warning: Climbing and slacklining are dangerous sports.
You can be seriously injured or die. Read the following
before you use this book.
This is an instruction book about rock climbing and slacklining,
sports that are inherently dangerous. Do not depend solely on
information from this book for your personal safety. Your climb-
ing and slacklining safety depends on your own judgment based on
competent instruction, experience, and a realistic assessment of your
climbing and slacklining ability.
The training advice given in this book is based on the author’s
opinions. Consult your physician before engaging in any part of the
training program described by the author.
There are no warranties, either expressed or implied, that this
instruction book contains accurate and reliable information. There
are no warranties as to fitness for a particular purpose or that this
book is merchantable. Your use of this book indicates your assump-
tion of the risk of death or serious injury as a result of climbing
and slacklining’s risks and is an acknowledgment of your own sole
responsibility for your safety in climbing and slacklining or in train-
ing for climbing and slacklining.
Globe Pequot Press and the author assume no liability for acci-
dents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in
the activities described in this book.
Contents
Introduction ix
How to Use This Guide ix
.............................................................................................................................................................
Ethics x
.....................................................................................................................................................................................................
Critical Thinking and Community xi
.......................................................................................................................................
The History of Slacklining xiii
....................................................................................................................................................
The Styles of Slacklining xvii
.......................................................................................................................................................
Chapter One: Finding Your Balance 1
Walk the Line 3
....................................................................................................................................................................................
The Four Unbreakable Rules of Slack 8
.................................................................................................................................
Slackline Is Not a Crime 13
.........................................................................................................................................................
Community 19
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Two: Slackline Rigging 21
Anatomy of a Slackline 21
..............................................................................................................................................................
Choosing Your Gear 23
.....................................................................................................................................................................
Rigging Fundamentals 32
................................................................................................................................................................
Rigging a Gibbon Slackline 38
.....................................................................................................................................................
Simple Slackline Anchors 51
..........................................................................................................................................................
Rigging a Primitive Line 60
...........................................................................................................................................................
Rigging a Slackline-Specific Pulley Kit 68
.............................................................................................................................
Competitive Tricklining: Meet World Champion Andy Lewis 79
................................................................................
Slackline Yoga: Meet the YogaSlackers 87
.................................................................................................................................
Chapter Three: Longlining 93
Intro to Rigging Longlines  93
........................................................................................................................................................
Unders tanding Slackline Forces  94
..............................................................................................................................................
Webbing 97
..............................................................................................................................................................................................
Longline Hardware 101
....................................................................................................................................................................
Tens ioning Longlines  118
................................................................................................................................................................
Soft-Pointing with the Linegrip and Chain Hois t 126
.....................................................................................................
Chapter Four: Highline Skills 131
Training for As piring Highliners  133
........................................................................................................................................
Pers onal Gear 137
...............................................................................................................................................................................
Managing Fear 140
.............................................................................................................................................................................
Highline Mounts  145
.........................................................................................................................................................................
Catching 149
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Tying In 154
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Chapter Five: Highline Rigging 159
Highline Anchor Building 159
......................................................................................................................................................
Highlining Efficiently: A Step-by-Step Guide 175
..............................................................................................................
Glossary 183
Knots Index 186
Knot Terminology 186
.......................................................................................................................................................................
Guide to Knots  186
............................................................................................................................................................................
Index 191
About the Author 197
About the Photographer 198
Contents  vii

Introduction
Slacklining was once relegated to the select few of this book is to explain the applications of the
climbers who had the knowledge and gear to most common slacklining gear, and to put in simple
rig a slackline from scratch. Today slackliners come terms the time-tested techniques for rigging safe,
from all backgrounds. The introduction of easy- walkable slacklines in a variety of environments.
to-assemble slacklines has transformed slacklining There is no “right” way to rig a slackline.
from an obscure offshoot to a full-fledged, modern American highline guru Terry Acomb describes
extreme sport. However, while the mass production the phenomenon like this: “If you ask four differ-
of slackline kits has produced a new generation of ent slackliners how to rig something, you’ll get
highly skilled balance athletes, it has also left those five different opinions.” Slackline rigging is not a
athletes ill-equipped to think critically about slack- standardized practice. The type of line you rig will
line rigging and to manage the full array of rock be determined by the type of line you like to walk.
climbing gear needed to safely construct a longline That’s what makes slacklining so wonderfully per-
or highline. sonal, and so difficult to learn. Each line is custom-
I was lucky enough to be part of a community ized by the slackliner who rigged it. Talking with
of rock climbers and slackliners that were, at the other slackliners about rigging preferences is one of
time, pushing the limits of slacklining, but it still the best ways to learn more about slackline rigging.
took me years to learn the ins and outs of slackline Studying this book will give you the tools to weigh
rigging. Today I know just about every trick there in on slackline rigging discussions and form opin-
is to rigging and walking slacklines, but the major- ions of your own.
ity of that information is still passed from slacker
to slacker by word of mouth and remains difficult,
How to Use This Guide
if not impossible, to learn without the help of an
experienced slackliner. Slackline rigging and walking are progressions that
Owing to the infinite variety of slackline styles go hand in hand. This guide moves through slack-
and locations, no book could ever cover every line concepts in ascending order of complexity and
specific slackline rig. Each slackline is unique, the difficulty, assuming that the reader has no prior
materials and methods determined by the nature knowledge of slackline gear or rigging techniques,
of the anchors and style of the rigger. The purpose and working up to more advanced rigging and
Jordan Tybon walking a highline in the Fisher Towers, Utah
ix