Outdoor Industry

Slackliners Crash an SUV: A Dispatch From the Outdoor Retailer Show

By Alex Strickland, 8-06-10

	The bandana adds to the mad skills. Photo by Alex Strickland.

Slackliners tend to be a mellow bunch. Usually found on college campuses, these frequently barefoot, often stoned free spirits are more interested in talking about the spiritual kinship they feel with the rope than how to best huck the gnar. At least, that’s what I thought.

Outside of the Outdoor Retailer Show there were a half dozen slacklines being swarmed by skateboarding youths who appeared to be bouncing off the lines rather than walking across them. Upon closer inspections, these were the Barry Bonds of slacklines – burly and slightly bloated, but capable of humongous propulsion.

“It’s more than slacklining, this is something called trick lining,” says Jaime Klinetob of Gibbon slacklines, the manufacturer of this mobile, spring-loaded balance beam. The 2-inch wide line, made of the same stuff as backyard trampolines, is tightened with a built-in ratchet until it’s taught enough to send a jumping skywalker into the stratosphere.

Klinetob says trick lining “pros” – apparently there’s even a world championship in the sport – can launch backflips, 360s and all types of skate and snowboard inspired moves before landing back on the wire, not to mention an assortment of balancing feats that would cause Olympic gymnasts to stop and stare.

Soon a pair of pros – Frankie and Micki, sporting a handlebar moustache and bandana, respectively – were bouncing from line to line, doing advanced yoga moves and launching themselves high enough to dunk to the amazement of the assembled skinny-jean-wearing masses. The display was so impressive that it literally caused a car accident a few yards away when a rubbernecking SUV driver plowed into the back of another vehicle.

So what’s next for the extreme version of quite possibly the most non-extreme activity around? Klinetob says the sport is shooting for no less than the X Games, where last year “trick lining” made it as far as the athletes’ lounge but never got in front of the camera.

And despite the ankle-breaking, crotch-racking, tailbone-shattering injuries that appear to be unavoidable to the uninitiated, Gibbon has the blessing of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and its snowboarding counterpart as an effective cross-training and injury prevention tool. Klinetob says physical therapists also support the system because of the core strength and stabilizer muscles required to remain upright.

It seemed to come naturally to the pre-teen skaters who are already accustomed to flying through the air with reckless abandon. As one struggled to land a 360 spin and stay on the narrow line, grizzled pro Micki was offering tips and encouragement.

“See, you’re starting to get it,” he told the kid.

Despite the obvious skill involved, I don’t think I do.

CORRECTION: This entry has been changed from the original post based on a reporting error that incorrectly listed the names of slackliners Frankie and Micki.

Alex Strickland is a freelance writer in Utah. He’ll be sending reports from Outdoor Retailer all week.

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