Ropeswing – de tijd van je leven
First day
Quickly we found the anchors of the short highline and the ropeswing highline. The short highline was 28 meters long and easy to rig. The ropeswing highline was about 85 meters long, and 15 meters (!) off leveled. Quite bit harder to rig and the most important line, so we started on that one.
Everything went smoothly and we established the big line in about 5 hours, after which we took a small break in the shade to cool off and energize ourselves to rig the smaller line. We didn’t rig the ropeswing on the 85m line yet, because we were pretty sure we had enough time to give the big line a try the next morning. Also the small line was done within no-time (except for a little throwline-error ;)), and at around 18:00 we went back to the hotel after a successful day of rigging. Tomorrow walking time!
Second day
At about half the line I fell again. Chongo was hard, but still doable. Reaching the end was a weird experience. It was so steep, that I almost slipped backwards. Since the line wasn’t very tensioned yet, it was about to hit the rocks, so I just went down. After some bouncy fun in the middle, we decided it was time to rig the ropeswing. We would still have to test it, and the next day was d-day!
I went to the middle of the line to do some improvisatory rigging. With some prussiks and tape to keep everything in place it was all fixed and ready to go. I brought the ropes back to the side, Jonas made an 80kg haulbag full of stones ready to be thrown off the cliff, and then it was time. The first test. Tom and I were keeping an eye on the anchors, which I tried to blindly film the fall of the haulbag.
“3… 2… 1… Komt ‘ie!”. The haulbag fell, and… There was barely any sound. The anchors didn’t move an inch, and the haulbag was slowly swinging 35 meters below the line. Success! Getting the haulbag back up took us quite a lot of time, considering it doesn’t have any arms to keep the ropes from twisting. Therefore it was already late when we got everything ready for the next jump, so we decided to let only Jonas jump the next day before Karen would be the lucky one.
Third and last day
At 11:30 the filmcrew arrived and the show got started. After some funny fake “meetings” it was time to get started. Jonas would jump first. I was by his side, encouraging him. 3, 2, 1, JUMP!!! Without any doubt he threw himself in the abyss. A few seconds later; a dull sound of the ropes catching him as smoothly as possible. A few high pitched man screams later, Tom and I were hauling him back up, and after arriving back to the middle of the line, he pulled himself to safety. Then the moment we’ve been waiting for. Karen was going to jump!
Tom was waiting at the top anchor to go on the line to get Karen off, Jonas at the bottom to pull her up, and me by her side, tieing her into the ropes. The ropes were ready, the filmcrew was ready, and Karen was ready. We would do a countdown from five, she was sure about jumping, and not even breaking a sweat. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, JUMP!!!
And there she went. No hesitation. Fully trusting our judgment. 30 minutes later we got her back on the side, and after some necessary ‘reaction filming’ it was done. Everything went so smoothly!
No more highline for Karen, since they had to go to the airport to catch their flight. We said our goodbyes, as soon as the TV crew left we hugged each other and we were so proud of ourselfs.
Three days of hard work all came together in that one, single jump. All the preparations were totally worth it, as everything in the Jump of Karen went without problems. We were also really happy with the fact that we made a real dream come true; Karen had an awesome experience with the ropeswing and we had made this possible 🙂
PS: Thanks Guillaume for all the great work you did in getting permission for us and finding the spot!
We expect the video of the programm soon to be published. For now we just have the session video of Yuri!
Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.
Istanbul highline trip
Written by Yuri, photos by Can Sahin
In a small car crammed with camping gear, two heavy weight highline rigs and space for 2 people. There were five of us. Things got interesting. Real interesting. Pretty much a masterclass in Tetris multiplied by Twister. We wound our way out of Istanbul at 10pm to camp at the highline spot. The best thing about arriving at midnight is that the beauty of the rocks and landscape will refreshingly welcome you the next morning when you wake up after a great night of sleep. The morning sun painted the rocks and landscape, filling in the blanks left by descriptions and photos I had already seen.
This is the beautiful gap that Can had so excitingly told me about. It would be approximately 135 meters he said, and we would rig it with dragon and 10,5mm rope backup. During breakfast I couldn’t keep my eyes off the gap, while the others were slowly preparing. I was ready. I was excited. Too excited! STOKE!!!
We brought the webbing (ever so kindly sponsored by our friend Sinan!) in between the two rock faces, Nuri and I walked up on one side, made the anchor (all natural) threw a rope down and attatched the first end of the webbing. Then Can bravely walked the webbing to the other side of the river (while keeping it dry!!) and we did the same for the other side. Everything went flawlessly (except for forgetting to put the leash on the line. Standard practice) and we were done rigging within 3,5 hours! It was time for some lunch, to get ready for some long heavy goodness!
We knew the wind would make it pretty hard, but didn’t expect the how much and powerfully the gusts would vary. I got up on the beginning of the line and a gust blew the line 5 meters sideways. I stood up, put a few steps, and the wind stopped for a moment. The line went all the way back and I lost my focus. I caught. This happened a few times and I also tried in the middle. I couldn’t hear anything around me except for rapidly blowing wind. It was a hugely powerful feeling. I slid to the other side and back to get some protection off the line that was necessary during the rigging (thanks for your sweater Nuri 🙂 ) and was drained. Tomorrow I will try again…
When I got on the line the next day, I quickly noticed that it was saggier than yesterday and rather unleveled (later we found out the base camp-side was about 5m higher). Combined with the sag, and brand new dragon webbing the first 20 meters felt really strange. My shakes didn’t really reach the end due to the sag, but every step felt like I missed a step on some stairs. It was a lot lower than I was used to. I walked the first 20 meters on my first try, and got across with a few catches. This was the same for the way back. The incline and slipperiness were both pretty severe, so the last 5 meters I kind of had to shove my feet forward instead of actually walking. So far it went well! I made three more crossings and called it a day. Tomorrow I will try again…
The next day I wanted to try it with a bit more tension. I put one hangover on, and Nuri tensioned it as much as he could, while of course sitting in a really awkward position. With about 8-10m of sag left, I went on the line. I stood up, went in to a surf, catch. Repeat. And again. I got frustrated. I decided just to push through (is what you always should do). I stood up and walked the first 40m. It was ok, the next part should be a lot easier now. I stood up and walked the rest of the line without catches. It was quite the fight, but it felt good! Time to try for the return send. A few catches with not more than 2 steps. I closed my eyes and focused. Don’t get angry, don’t get angry, just focus, I repeatedly told myself. I stood up, and walked the first 50 meters. I took a misstep and fell. I got really angry, but said to myself “then walk it with just 1 catch”. It didn’t work and I walked the rest of the line with about 3 catches. I got mad (as usual) and pushed too hard. When I got to the end I forced out a smile and looked at the camera. You know, because the team shirt is that cool.
And here’s my forced smile:
I got off the line, and they congratulated me. I didn’t accept it because I didn’t send it. Then they said, “but you got across with one catch!”. One catch? Oh yeah, one catch. I got so obsessed with sending it on the way back, that I totally forgot that the way there was just with one catch. I cheered up a bit, and was thinking about going again. Unfortunately I was way too drained for another good try, so I slid to the middle of the line, and bounced the living shit out of it 🙂
Video coming soon!! 🙂
That morning just before we went up the cliff, the waiter of the camping restaurant gave us a huge banner, and he politely asked us if we could maybe hang this on the highline for a quick picture. Of course, the Dutchie that I am, I asked: “in exchange for?”. About this he was kind of vague, and said something like “free beer or dinner or something”. To derig the line, Nuri had to get to the other side, so he took the banner with him, we made a cool picture, and derigged the line. With the huge profits we could afford a couple beers and food, a delicious sell out 😛
.x.
Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.
Highline show @ Moen
On the weekend of 21 & 22 september the Dream Walkers gave a highline show in Moen, Belgium. Kenny Belaey and Viki Gomez (both World Champion Trial bike/flatland BMX) Text underneath by David. Video by Jonas
Two hours later we arrived at Moen in Belgium, in good spirits. We greeted the festival organisers and went directly up into the church. Going into a bell tower was something I had always wanted to do, so quite exciting to see the old wood and bells. However, a few hours later, during the rigging, when the bells rang for a wedding, deafening us, my enthusiasm faded somewhat…
After looking around and checking the structural rigging points, we brought up all the gear, pre-taped the lines, slung beams with slings and padded all the points where any rubbing would or could occur. Rigging is a really fun process, bringing all the team together, all working out the best way to do things, many, many jokes and laughs. If only I could repeat some of the jokes here…
Basic rigging completed, Tom and Yuri went down to the crane, supervised the final positioning and height coordinating of the crane with Jonas and I. Really great fun to be in charge of a big machine. They also arranged for the placement of three, 1t concrete blocks, to provide anchoring for the crane and suitable backup to stop it from wobbling.
After everything was setup, we doubled checked the rigging, double-checked each point and made sure everything was padded and safe. This is a very important step, to make sure that everything is safe and that we have not missed anything. Then we tested out the setup, with a walk. Handily, there were about 400 people running around the village dressed as devils, so a nice crowd. Of course, it was a nice contrast to walk towards the church and have devils running around underneath. We practiced our routine, got the feeling for the line and enjoyed the view.
So amazing, to look out over the village, from such a unique viewpoint and to be able to highline from there. Well, these are the unique moments in life you will always remember, shared with friends. It is for these moments that we love highlining
As it was getting dark, we decided to head to the hotel. The organisers had booked us a hotel room just outside Moen, which was simply amazing. Normally, when we are highlining, we are camping or sleeping somewhere not particularly comfortable. In Moen, we had a huge hot shower, beds and the next morning a huge buffet breakfast. Such a great team experience and great preparation for the show.
Sunday morning, waking up after a great sleep. We arrived back in Moen and straight away double checked every point of the rigging, checked the line, double-checked all possible abrasion points. Safety is our number one concern and we only rig and walk safe lines. Our life is on the line, after all.
We then met Kenny Belaey and Viki Gomez, which was inspirational. They make a living from pursuing their passion, pushing the limits in their sports. They travel the world, competing and showing their skills to thousands and thousands of people each year.
Kenny Belay is a world champion trial biker, he uses a modified mountain bike to hop and jump over all kinds of obstacles and it is amazing to see him perform.
Viki Gomez competes with the world’s best, in BMX flatlands, which is using a modified BMX to do many amazing tricks like riding a BMX like a unicycle , front wheel monos, backwards and more.
We went to lunch with them and they are super relaxed and very friendly. It is quite interesting to talk with people who are successfully pursuing their dreams. I am looking forward to the next time we can work together.
Tom and Jonas opened the show with an amazing trickline performance which really wowed the audience. They really engaged with the audience, got people lying under lines whilst doing tricks over the top and getting the crowd pumped for the Kenny and Viki’s shows. I think that no one there had ever seen slacklining before and to see a few guys who had been doing it for years giving the a top show was a perfect introduction.
All of a sudden, our highline show time arrived! The show plan was us walking and performing for two to three minutes and then Kenny and Viki performing, then us again. Really fast changes and no wasted time at! I was tied in, when suddenly I heard my name being announced over the speakers, by the MC, Denis Herman.
Time to go! I got out, got the start cheering and before I attempted to stand. I was quite nervous, with every one watching. So, I tried to stand up….. and made it! Feeling really great now, I walked out to the middle, balanced on one leg, then danced a little on the line in time to the music, having a lot of fun. I ended up doing a short exposure turn, sat on the line thanked the crowd and slid back to the start, using a Hangover (a line slide to helo you move fast along the slackline)
Then Tom headed out onto the line, showing the crowd how easily it can be to walk the line, showing great control. He didn’t have more time, so he calmly sat down on the line, 15m over the trial bike course, and clipped in, sliding back with a smile on his face!
Jonas followed up, with a show all about interacting with the audience. He had three paper airplanes which he threw down to the audience, hung upside down and showed the crowd his gymnastic abilities.
Yuri closed the show, with a spectacular blindfolded walk. He walked really calmly to the end and sat down, no shaking at all, a solid walk! Ending up with a one arm hang, he clipped in and slid back, a great end to a great show.
It was a marvelous show, we all had a lot of fun putting on a show for Moen! It is nice feeling giving so many people smiles. We aim to inspire people into pushing themselves and doing amazing things. We are already busy planning the next event and hope to get more people interested in highlining and slacklining!
Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.
Holland’s Got Talent Highline
By Jonas Konijnenberg
Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.
Urban Highline in Amsterdam
Urban Highline in Amsterdam
In July 2014 Dream Walkers athletes Tom Peek and Jonas Konijnenberg established a new highline in the Netherlands, Amsterdam. The lines were set up between two formal offices. They were named after the street name where the buildings are placed combined with their length.
Wild-35 and Wild-55Report underneath by Tom Peek
Informatie over geneesmiddelen verandert regelmatig. Sommige geneesmiddelen zijn populair. Andere werken voor bepaalde ziekten zoals schizofrenie. Typisch, zowel mannen als vrouwen hebben last van seksuele disfuncties. Als u geïnteresseerd bent in viagra bestellen zijn waarschijnlijk wensen u om te leren over viagra 100mg. Wellicht weet je over “viagra kopen“. De meest gedenkwaardige wat je moet zoeken is “viagra voor vrouwen“. By the way, zijn er verschillende verklaringen en beroepsbeoefenaren in de gezondheidszorg zijn gewoonlijk in staat om uw probleem te lokaliseren door middel van psychologische tests. Sommige geneesmiddelen kunnen bijwerkingen veroorzaken. Dit geneesmiddel is alleen voor u. Nooit op te geven Viagra naar andere mensen, zelfs als de verschijnselen dezelfde zijn als de jouwe.