Slacklining Adventures

We had a blast this weekend hanging around the house. Jim set up a slackline, which we all tried out. Instead of a "tight" rope, it's a "slack" rope, which has a fair amount of give in it, bending with weight. Sam was having so much fun using his weight to bounce up and down, which he thought was much cooler than just trying to walk it.

A slackline is basically a piece of webbing, connected between to points--in our case, two trees. Jim had used some climbing webbing, 'biners and a come-along to set it up, but this time he was able to procure a tie-down used to secure gas canisters at work, which has a clamping device built in to the line. You can read more about the sport at Slackline Brothers. Slacklining is loads of fun and surprisingly difficult. I was amazed at how much my leg would wobble back and forth the instant I weighted it, making it nearly impossible to walk without holding onto someone. I was laughing so hard! Obviously, it ought to become easier with practice, but it's amazing that folks actually walk across canyons this way! Julia was really good at it, not surprisingly. Her balance and concentration are phenomenal!