Profile - James Short

Name: James Short
Origin: Geelong - VIC, Australia
Age: 22

After a long history of sporting interests including; Football, Basketball, Skating, Sailing, Golf Soccer, Downhill MTB, BMX and Rock Climbing I finally found my sporting place of choice after 20 years on Earth.

-Slackline/ Highline-

A travelling Frenchman I met by chance on a ridiculously hot day in Melbourne led to my passions for balance, rigging and nature. I had never heard of the sport of Slackline nor seen anyone attempt one, I was too obsessed with climbing rocks and perfecting strength movements on small holds.

I have come to be absolutely consumed by the feeling of walking on a slackline and the processes surrounding making it happen. I enjoy slackline for the trivial purpose, solitary yet social practise and the self-fulfilment of achieving the goals I set myself. New environments and discovering beauty within nature is also high up on the list of positive experiences.

You need only check out the basic physical and mental attributes to sporting practises to see it ticks all the right boxes.

Sporting movements are fundamentally broken down into;
1. Throwing (throwing your pilot line across a gap and throwing down tricks on the highline)
2. Catching (when all else fails and its time to fall, catching the line is ideal)
3. Jumping (made very difficult by the nature of a dynamic 1" Slackline)
4. Striking (moving when the time is right)
5. Running (running back to the car to grab a beer after a successful day)
6. Kicking (kicking your legs around as you hang many meters above the ground)
7. Agility, Balance and Coordination (Definitely the most profound skill involved in slackline)

Fundamental Sporting Mental Skills
1. Choose/ Maintain a positive attitude (Stoke is not a problem on a Slackline)
2. Self Motivation' (Slackline is extremely measurable and self progression is easily evident)
3. High/ Realistic Goals (Walking slacklines makes you hungry, there is always room to go longer, slacker and higher)
4. Deal Effectively with People (Communication when rigging highlines is imperative to a safe experience)
5. Positive Self-Talk (it is a challenge to alleviate the negative thoughts while undertaking intimidating slacklines and self talk is sometimes the difference between walking and falling)
6. Positive Mental Imagery (envisioning yourself doing what you've come to dream of)
7. Managing Anxiety Effectively (managing fear, stress, demons and other demonic experiences that run through your head)
8. Managing Emotions Effectively (I don't feel this to be that applicable, the highs and lows of the slackline experience
9. Concentration (absolutely key to remaining confident but concentration will also fade into a haze or zen state and that is even better)

Genesis & the Formulation of an International Australian Highline Fellowship

It was in the midst of the sporadic winter of 2014, amidst the frost bitten mornings and consistently rainy Melbourne days that I had began to formulate my visions of fast paced, wildly ambitious & exciting new establishments within the virtually untouched Highline scene of Victoria and the slowly emerging establishment throughout Australia.

Eighteen months since I became obsessive about the sport of Slackline and having built increasingly strong relationships with other dedicated Slackliners within the state of Victoria. The team is getting stronger and interest is almost contagious. 

The time was now, any more waiting would likely result in a drop of motivation and consequently drop outs from the notions we all talked over so regularly.

The ongoing experiences presented at events such as the 2014 Blue Mountains Highline Festival, rigging of existing urban highlines and through careful research/ conceptualizing of highline systems and rigging physics, I had finally built up a big enough pile of assorted steel, aluminum, nylon, polyester, dyneema & knowledge to make it happen. 

The period had come where the only access issue left to test our determination was the motivation to begin the dream of pioneering in the untouched free space.Wanting that more than the comforting hallucinations of a regular life, it was easier than I’d imagined it to be and the process has allowed me to split away from what under-productive things I was doing previously in my spare time.

It was July 8^th when French Canadian Joseph Huard expressed his enthusiasm towards international highline ventures. I had already commenced conceptualizing what I wanted my first legitimate full length; no commitment, no employment & zero worry holiday to be. I would be finishing my full time position as a Line Manager at the ice cream factory on January 6^th 2015, filing my unemployment papers with Centerlink on the 7^th and getting lost in the mountains for a solid 2 months before returning for my final year at university. It is all a dream come true and something that i've been trying to break away to ever since I started Rock Climbing at 18 years old.

Having been a committed weekend warrior, this year I've found myself driving 2-8hours a weekend and rolling back into work of a Monday absolutely destroyed on no sleep and sore joints,albeit no regrets and maximum stoke. Anyone who can consistently keep their outdoor vision alive in a mere 62 hours between finishing work on a Friday and started back on Monday will tell you its not an easy experience, nor is it that fun for 80% of it. I did what I could, whenever I could, to keep progressing through the steps it would take to do what I really desired and felt my purpose to be. You’ve got to love ‘the process’ it takes to bring things into reality, as they say “…its good to have an end to a journey, however in the end it’s the journey that really matters…”. Things that come easy to you never feel like the successes felt when pulling together an elaborate painstaking plan. ….and so it began, our plans aligned and Joseph had committed his support for the plan and he would soon fly over 17,000km from Canada to join me and other members of the community on the trip of a lifetime during a hot 2 month long summer.

There are way too many idea's already and surely not enough time to complete them all however with support and an injury free adventure I am sure the best things will be laid to rest!