4,000 Feet Above the Earth, 2 Moving Hot Air Balloons and 1 Highline Sans Leash
Looking back at this incredible year of smiles and adventure, I take a moment of pause to reminisce about the wonderful fruition of many outdoor projects. I’m reminded of how much life can turn on a dime and lead in new wonderful directions when least expected. Out here in the crisp cool Fall conditions of Moab, the Moab Monkeys have been raging hard and taking advantage of the incredible weather as the winter season slowly approaches. In this moment, I find myself casually sipping coffee outside and reflecting on the incredible new world record established walking the highest highline (over 4,000′ tall) between two moving hot air balloons outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Below is the 3 part video series, which covers the full story and build up to monumental success, which Cody Tuttle and myself documented and edited together in the passing month.
This wildly creative idea was inspired by the video produced by Seb Montaz and the “Flying Frenchies,” who made the first attempts to walk the highest highline ever rigged between two moving hot air balloons in Spain. Motivated by their failed attempts to walk the line without falling, the Moab Monkeys were more than psyched and qualified to give the challenge a go. The entire story of how this adventure started as a joking suggestion and rapidly grew into a complete success is nothing short of miraculous. In a 24 hour period, more than 24 different professional athletes, cinematographers, pilots and Vegas showtime entertainers were assembled and coordinated to meet outside Las Vegas to attempt this huge stunt. The end result was an absolute success of epic gravity sports meeting an aerial Cirque du Soleil performance 4,000 feet above the desert floor.
~Brian Mosbaugh
Slackline Media 