Outdoor Adventures to offer slacklining workshop

IU Outdoor Adventures will offer workshops this October to help aspiring slackliners get their feet off the ground.

Slacklining is a derivative of tightrope walking, said Tyler Kivland, Outdoor Adventures assistant programs coordinator. Rock-climbers used it as a way to build core strength.
Unlike tightrope walking, slacklining is performed without the use of heavy cables, and the line upon which a slackliner walks is less taut than a tightrope.

Outdoor Adventures leaders-in-training sophomore Chris Sajdak and senior Devan Anhut are scheduled to lead workshops next month.

The activity’s popularity is growing, Anhut said.

Before slackliners attempt high-altitude feats, they have to start a bit closer to the ground on a line about two or three feet high.

Even so, it’s difficult in the beginning, Sajdak said.

“Your knees shake, the line shakes, and you feel like there’s no way you’re going to keep your balance,” Anhut said.

Kivland said workshop instructors will “have a ‘curriculum’ of sorts dealing with balance, flexibility and techniques that will set them apart from just the average slackliner in the park.”

The workshop leaders will install a “handline” above each slackline to give beginners something to hold onto. Anhut said the instructors will also help participants walk along the lines.

Kivland said Outdoor Adventures might eventually offer slacklining trips in which participants could take part in challenges involving inclined or criss-crossed lines.

“It’s a bit of a new horizon line for us considering the recent increase in popularity and the options it may hold for us,” he said.