Wet Decisions.

After these long hours of planning our scouting destinations and moving from cafe to cafe for a good part of the day on Sunday, it was time to go on the field to see what's the reel highline potential in the blue mountains around Mt Victoria, Blackheath and Katoomba.

As the weather forecast announced some rain from monday(12.01.15) to friday(16.01.15), we were pretty discouraged about the upcoming days. After waking up around 9:30am on Monday morning, we hopped in the car and went to see what the blue mountains had to offer.

We walk along many impressive cliffs and breathtakung lookouts all around blackheath, Mt Victoria and Katoomba and found couples of potential gaps with some really good exposure but as they're all surrounded by very dense vegetation it might be pretty hard to get the line across without the use of a drone or a massive slingshot of some sort!

After a good day of scouting, we had another look at the rainy weather forecast for the upcomming days, it discouraged us once again. As the weather forecast for sydney looks much better, hot and sunny, we then decided to go for a drive all the way to the coast at richard's place so we can dry all our highline and camping gear, have showers and do some laundry. But first of all, we need to get on some more highlines under our feet so we're heading up to Sydney for some seacliffs highlines and and then we'll go to Richard's place for the night.

Be ready Sydney slack crew, we're on our way!
And thanks a lot to you Richard for extending the offer to host us whilst we're in Sydney!

Hanging Rock with Friends.

Hanging Rock. (09/01/2015 - 11/01/2015)

After a relaxing entry to 'The Mountains' we were greeted by the warm members of the Sydney Slackline Crew, (Luke, Sandrine, Ryan, Thea, Travis, Aiden, Chris, Richard, Gui, Nico & Marcus). 

I had never made the long walk out to Hanging Rock previously, however it was the top priority this time around.

Joseph and Myself had been dreaming of the time spend interacting with such a notorious rock feature.

Due to previous fires in the mountains the Rangers have locked the gate into the area. So what used to be quite a short walk in has now turned into a 5.5km trek through undulating fire road. The benefit to this has been tourists mostly avoiding this once popular lookout. Leaving perfect conditions to conduct Highline activities.

Arriving at the lookout above Hanging Rock will accelerate anybody's heart rate and knowing what was about to happen down there gave me butterflies and smiles. 

The nerves did not get to me at all by this stage, only building excitement at each step towards building and executing our visions.

We firstly rigged up the classic Hanging Rock Highline (35m Long x 150-200m direct height)

The defining feature of this highline is walking out to the point of a 2m thick nose that hangs precariously above jagged rocks that once were at home on the vertical cliffs and an endless valley (one of the best in the mountains)

Chris Wallace harnessing the torrent of water around our only shelter.

Surrounding the highline are intimidating red sandstone cliffs and evidence of massive landslides, these landslides make you wonder just how much longer Hanging Rock will stick around for before a violent and spectacular fall into the Grose Valley below!

The challenge Joseph and I had set was to set the line with minimal tension for maximum exposure and testing conditions to begin with. 

The backup was less then hand tensioned through the weblocks and the main line tensioned with a line grip/ hangover roller and two people.

Thanks to Travis for letting us all share some of his Balance Communtiy Type - 18 MKII (it only saw 2 whips over two days, great effort guys!). Walking any highline on nylon fibre webbing will result in smiles all around everytime due to the high stretch and soft edges.

Joseph walked out to hanging rock on his onsight attempt, rested at the end whilst taking in exposure he hadn't ever experienced before. He quickly turned to walked back and again walked it without falls to complete the traverse an inspirational display of calm movements and solid walking.

Travis and Chelly tried their skills on the slack line and showed promising results both getting a few solid attempts at the line.

Richard McGibbon taking glorious photos as usual.

I was up next and enjoyed a 1/3 crossing out to hanging rock on my first attempt, catching the line when the exposure and fear reached breaking point. I felt good and I was controlling the line without too many mistakes. I stood up from where I fell and managed to cross the rest of the line without issue.

Walking back saw me reach 2/3 without issue and then an overwhelming fear took hold and I reached to catch the line. After calming my heart rate I made it home to the hard ground with a huge smiles on my face. Not clean but an experience in itself.

We tensioned up the highline with four people, a line grip and hangover roller and enjoyed a periodically sunny afternoon despite the thunder, lightening and hard rain that passed through a few times throughout the afternoon.

The walk out of a highline has never felt so hopelessly tiring as Friday night did and we were glad to arrive back to the cars to enjoy a hot dinner and a camp chair.

We returned to hanging rock on Saturday to enjoy another day on the 35m highline and brought out another collection of gear to rig a new line at the location. Shane and Gui surprisingly came out to join in and it was good to catch up with these guys.

The new line is slightly lower than the main line and approximately 25m long. The line was put up with help from many ideas and plans and it was an honour to follow Luke for the second crossing on a new line. I walked it onsight full man and enjoyed the more direct exposure walking out to the Grose Valley.

Towards the end of the day we spotted a storm crawling over the mountains on the horizon and knew we'd be in trouble. The de-rig was called and within 10minutes the front had arrived and we were battered by strong winds and torrential rain. Props to Gui and Luke standing out on the nose for the de-rig of hanging rock in scary weather conditions.

We walked out with everything drenched but still with smiles on our faces knowing that we'd all safely made our first dream of the trip come true of walking not just one but two Highlines at Hanging Rock.

Richard McGibbon taking glorious photos as usual.

It has rained ever since Saturday afternoon and it does not look likely to stop for a few days yet, as we move around different cafes and pubs well and truly over staying our welcome.

We have gone into intense planning with topographical maps and Internet research trying to find what other beauty exists through highline paradise.

Happy Slacking!

Training/ Pre-Travel Setbacks

Completing my final two days at work proved more challenging then first anticipated. It was ambitious to consider planning at least the next month within a few days with so many things happening concurrently. I was tired and there was still many things to do before the proposed departure date.

Joseph had been helping organise things whilst I spent 10 hours at work on both Monday and Tuesday, he was also putting in some last minute training on the slacklines and getting used to the type of slackline gear I own.

We also went down to watch the surfers at Bells Beach and train on the sand

More training (110m x 2.5m Sag)

.

My motor vehicle required a new set of brakes and was booked in for the morning that we had planned to depart to the Blue Mountains on. After a slow mechanic and a $600 bill, our motivation to drive 10 hours had diminished and it was agreed that we would alter the plan slightly and leave early in the morning on Thursday the 8th of January.

Sometimes its a good decision to let go of the proposed deadline in order to remain safe, guard our health and allow for a more free flowing and relaxing journey. It is often challenging to do so in my world however it is for good reasons when I re-evaluate and looking back on similar experiences listening to your body is key.

An early night and a clear mind will do both of us good and the excitement and stoke have only risen through these set backs.

Slack ON

Getting Ready for the Adventure

After traveling 17,000km and doing more than 33 hours in planes and airports, I finally managed to get to Melbourne, Australia. I spent the first 3 days walking around and exploring the beautiful city of Melbourne with my small backpack on my back.

During those 3 days, I had the chance to meet some awesome travellers and slackliners for a good primitive slackline session in the park and an incredible party for the new year in down town Melbourne. 
On the third day, as it was 40 degrees, we had a great waterline session at Port Melbourne Pier where I finally met James and some of the local slackline crew.

After a good beer, it was now time for some more serious preparation. We got all the gear laid out on the floor of the apartment to have a look at what we had and figure out what was missing. Finally, as James had all the threaded stainless steel rods at his parent's place, it was time to cut them in various length and make those bolts ready to be glued in.

So after an hour or so of cutting, grinding and filing the bolts, making sure the threads were perfect after the grinding, we ended up with a good stack of M12 bolts in various lengths (142mm, 166mm and 250mm). Making sure we have the right size bolt for any project we get into.

We're now mostly ready to go chase the adventure. We only need to wait for James to finish work on Tuesday (6th Jan), pack up all the gear and food and we'll be ready to go live in the bushes of the Blue Mountains for some good times with some good people.

How Everything Began - Joseph Huard

Everything started on the 7^th of July when I ask on Slackchat to the Slackline community; where would be your #1 destination for highlinig from the beginning of January to the end of February?

On the same night James Shorts replied to me that he has this exact same time off no job, no commitments. Right there I knew I had to go to Australia.

But to understand well my context, you have got to know that this 2 months off school is included in my Adventure Tourism school program schedule as a Professional Development Project (PDP) Period. As I have been slacklining for a bit more than 4 years and I had already completed an internship with 'Slackline Montreal' the previous summer. It was the perfect timing to realize the trip of a lifetime to perfect my “professional skill” in slacklining, more precisely in highlining.

So from that day, I started chatting and preparing the trip with James via Internet. I also started to build my PDP proposal documents to present such an uncommon project to the adventure tourism teachers.  That's pretty much when this trip started to get real in my mind. In addition to that, James was always sending me crazy pictures of space-lines and ridiculously beautiful spots for highlines, information about all the potential spots we could develop and lists of all the established lines.

My inner stoke was rising like never before, it all seemed surreal. And in a blink of an eye, my flight ticket was bought (28 Dec-11 Mar), my PDP proposal was accepted, I even received a good amount of money from an international scholarship program named Cégep International to go help develop some new highline spots and establish new lines in Australia. I couldn't believe how everything was so perfect! It was even better than a dream!

Now I only have to wait a couple more days and this gigantic dream is gonna come to reality!

Australia here I come!!!

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!