The Adventurist

Take Up the Slack

PEOPLE TRAIN FOR YEARS BEFORE STEPPING ONTO A HIGHLINE. NOT OUR NEW ADVENTURE COLUMNIST.

- Clint Carter

You might picture highliners stepping straight off the ledge and out onto the line. That’s how I reckoned it went: centimetres-thick nylon webbing is pulled taut between anchors on opposing cliffs, a protective leash is clipped to your harness, and out you go, a bird on a wire. But it’s not that simple. A fall near the anchor could have you swinging back into rock, breaking bones. So instead, you slide out a metre or two on your butt and use a sit-start method such as the Chongo, named after the rock climber and consummate slacker Charles “Chongo” Tucker. With no ground to steady you, you lift your torso and pull a foot beneath your body so your heel presses into your butt. Then, with one arm held out for balance, you bring your free foot up to the line and try to rise slowly, as if you’re coming out of a single-leg squat. Next – if you’re me, anyway – you fall ass over ears, taking a bruising “whipper”, nylon lacerating your inner thighs, adrenaline spiking as you plunge toward the abyss. As you dangle, you have time to listen to all those helpful voices in your head: You’re weak... You’re embarrassing... You’re a waste of everyone’s time.