So a little while back climbing out at Stoney Point my climbing mentor, Bob and I were bouldering, just having some fun and someone, not I, had a little accident. We no longer climb at Boulder 1 at Stoney because when Bob was a young man he broke his ankle there also. This time it was not as serious, but it was his wrist so climbing was off for a little. Bob being the eternal optimist called me the next week and said we can't climb but have you tried slacklining? I had not and honestly had 2 views of it 1) the insane high work of guys like Dean Potter, which I was amazed by but never thought would interest me and 2) the silly tricks that people do like with Madonna at the Super Bowl, which I had little interest in any way. Well Bob assured me it was fun and took me to a park that had a rope course with a short slack line, perfect for a beginner like me. I was hooked. It took me over an hour to walk across the short line and then I went home and we ordered one online.

It is relaxing and fun and helps with movement and weight transfer for climbing, I quickly understood why it is so popular. I got a Gibbon's Classic it takes about 5 minutes to set up by myself. The trees in our backyard are perfect for this new past time. We have two that are closer together making them good for beginners and two that provide more of a challenge due to the distance. I now take it to work with me and if I can find 2 trees I'm in business.

So what I'm saying is this, it is fun and is a great workout, training tool, or end in itself. There are 100's of YouTube videos on rigging advice if you just want to use carabiners and webbing, make sure they are not your climbing gear though. And as long as the line doesn't touch the ground you can put it as low as you like. So get out there, its a blast.