The Seattle Times published an article Thursday about NW Slackline and our efforts to promulgate the sport all around the Pacific Northwest.  It’s also featured today (Friday) at the top of their web site [link]. I’m a little sad they weren’t able to get a photographer to come out for our March 14th meet (when [...]

So I finally got around to editing a video on how to rig a primitive line. If you’d like the pictorial version of this, see [here].  Some other useful posts (with skills utilized in this video) include [using a line locker] and [making anchor slings].  If you want to know how to get the [...]

Seattle Parks and Recreation is going to spend $500,000 to put in a new playground at Golden Gardens park in Ballard.  Kids love slacklines.  I see some possibilities here.  The benefits are manifold.  First off, kids would get a more safe (rubberized surface if they fall) and more accessible (lower + shorter) slackline (or slacklines!) [...]

So I was sitting on the couch tonight while it’s raining outside, decompressing after several long weeks of school and work, and I started wondering if I could rig a slackline without any carabiners at all.  So now I have a new “elegant ring method.” [ angle #2 | angle #3 ] Of course I [...]

Thanks to everybody who had a chance to make it out to the beach today.  I’ll try to post some video in the next few days, schedule permitting.  For now, here’s a quick teaser of the fun…

For everyone who was so kind to come out and join us at the beach, here’s the segment!

There’s a new line locker on the market that shows great promise for short lines.  SMC (Seattle[ish]-based-rigging-hardware-manufacturer) has just released a collar-shaped 1″ inner diameter aluminum ‘rigging ring’ that looks to make a great line locker ($4.50 at REI as well as from SMC directly).  I picked up a couple today and (magical time traveling [...]

Katie and I talked about where we could go volunteer today, to make MLK day a “day on” rather than a “day off.”  There were a few projects going on across town, mostly landscaping related.  When we woke up today and saw the beautiful weather, we had no choice — today would be a day [...]

Thanks to the efforts of Jerry at balance community, I now have a 600ft piece of Type18 that I will stretch to a bit over 650ft and walk this spring.  Stay tuned!
I am also working on posting a “records page” with info on all the domestic and international records, broken down by category, as well [...]

Have you seen me mentioning making slings with your own webbing by tying a “water knot?”  Confused as to what the heck a water knot is, or how to use it to make a sling?  Well, here’s a video that shows you how to do just that.

As soon as we walked into the tree-ring at Cal Anderson Park, Mike remarked to me how much he enjoys visiting states with slackliners who know their cities.  Cal Anderson does not disappoint a visiting longliner, that’s all I have to say.
We rigged one of my 165-foot pink (un-threaded) lines, and then about 20 feet [...]

If you’re loading this site for the first time, after seeing slacklining on Q13 this morning: GREAT!  Slackline is incredibly simple but also incredibly fun.  The most useful articles on this site are linked directly from the Frequently Asked Questions page, so I’d check that out first if you’re new to slackline.  It has links [...]

Today we rigged the sequel to last year’s Gasworks cityscape post.
Mike and Jeremy delighted tourists, along with a short walk by me (adam).  This is flash-slackline at its best!  Note, this line carries a lot of risk due to its height (which does not afford a leash).  If you put this line up I take [...]

All of you should be familiar with the basic “Ellington” or “primitive” system.  It uses 4 carabiners: 1 to hold the end of the line to one anchor; 1 hitched or line-locked about 80% of the distance from that anchor; 2 more at the other anchor, and a very ‘primitive’ looping of the remaining 20% [...]

Alpha Mike and Jeremy are in town for a day or two, doing a demo at REI for Gibbon (the German guys who make the super static 2″ ratchet lines).  After their demo we met up at Golden Gardens for some one-inch fun.  More pics to come after tomorrow’s slacktivities…

James took me to a wicked spot over the Skykomish today.  Bolted on both sides, awesome waterfall in the background, pouring rain, everything (slackline included) slick like ice; perfect! A couple of shots below, plus here’s a quick timelapse video on youtube.

Solutions
I am attempting to work with Parks & Rec to come to a mutually beneficial access policy.  As I’ve stated below slacklining in Seattle is totally legal (when done responsibly).
That said, it seems a very few employees of the Parks dept may see things another way, and it would be nice to have an official [...]

We have a facebook group now — sign up for it and you’ll get a message once a month (approx) with info on our meet up. Once a month might turn into once a week, as soon as summer arrives!

Slackline is different from tightrope, tightwire, slackrope, (etc) in that it uses a dynamic webbing. Although slackline webbing feels flat, and feels static when in your hands, it is actually a tube (that is stretched flat), and once you put your weight on it you can feel it is quite elastic.
There is some semantic [...]

Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill (in Seattle) is a great spot for a 100-200ft slackline.  There is a berm, in the shape of a [200+ft diameter] half circle, 10 or so big trees for anchorage.  10ft slings needed to wrap the trees for a long line (6-8ft probably do-able on most trees for a [...]