Mountain & Trail News

    Free Solo Slacklining: The Sport That Only the Bravest People in the World Can Do

    Many people have heard of free solo rock climbing, the sport in which rock climbers scale walls with nothing more than a pair of climbing shoes and some chalk on their fingers for assistance. This sport has been made extremely famous by the exploits of Alex Honnold, the world’s greatest free solo climber. Honnold was the subject of the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary, Free Solo, He has climbed an unbelievable amount of difficult rock walls without any harnesses or safety ropes.

    However, Free Solo rock climbing is not the only sport that involves a tremendous amount of courage and skill. There is another sport which is much lesser known called free solo slacklining, which is just as dangerous, if not more so than free solo rock climbing.

    What is Free Solo Slacklining?

    Free solo slacklining is the sport in which a “slackline,” or a piece of flat webbing is suspended across an area and held by two anchors. Once this line is suspended properly, a free solo slackliner attempts to walk across the slackline without any assistance or safety equipment to stop the climber from falling should he or she make a mistake while traversing the slackline.

    Why is Free Solo Slacklining so Dangerous?

    The reason why free solo slacklining is so dangerous is because free solo slacklines are often suspended across chasms valleys, or other very dangerous and high places. So, if a free solo slackliner falls, he or she is essentially falling to his or her death. It is for this reason why only the bravest and the most talented people in the world can do free solo slacklining.

    If you are interested in slacklining, we recommend only doing it with safety gear, or only doing it where there is no risk of death if you fall, for example, if the slackline is suspended only a few feet above a river.

    Check out this awesome documentary on the sport by Levi Allen.