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Feeding the Wildlife

From time to time, even though the signs warn against it, it is necessary to feed the wild life. I’m not talking about pilfering out a couple peanuts for the local chipmunks, or scattering crumbs for a couple of hungry looking birds, I’m talking about nourishing one’s inner need for adventure. That part of your self that calls out for a hike, a climb, or a ride into the unknown.

Lately I’ve been malnourished, only sustaining myself on the few scraps I could salvage from the afternoons after work. Hungry for more, I packed a bag and jumped on a plane and found myself in the buffet known as Smith Rock. With a quick look around it is easy to see how filling this place can be. Spandex riding gear, harnesses swaying from the backs of climbers, and more sun screen than you can imagine make up the ingredients that can turn any person’s hunger into blissful satiation.

While Smith Rock has numerous options to appease even the pickiest of patrons, I found myself partaking in the heartiest of delicacies, highlining. If you are unfamiliar with the sport, imagine a tight rope walker at a circus; now take away the long pole they use to balance, take the tension out of their rope so that every step results in both lateral and vertical movement, then take the scene out of a circus tent and put it outside in a setting where the wind, daredevil cliff swallows, and 500 feet of nothing below you can play havoc on your mental faculties. Trust me when I say just witnessing the sport can be a heart-pounding experience.

Over the span of four days a small group of highliners traversed across Smith Rock walking—and establishing—various highlines. For some members this was their first experience with lines so high, for other veteran highliners this was a chance to challenge their personal records, not only for the height of the line, but for the length of a line as well.

On the last night in Smith Rock I looked around at my fellow adventure seekers. Their robust attitudes trumped their exhausted bodies; the talk is riddled with developing more highlines, and the possibility of a highlining festival in late summer has many people’s mouth watering. It is in these last moments at Smith Rock that I realize my hunger for adventure has been curbed, but like all cravings I know that the appetite will be back, and when that day comes you’ll hear me calling, “bon appetite.”

~Travis Kuester

Travis Kuester is a contributing freelance writer, literary genius and slacklining friend living in Portland, Oregon. He always wears a smile and enjoys the small details of life that give it greater meaning. Here’s to life Travis and thanks for sharing your voice!

The COMMUNITY of slackliners who make dreams into reality one step at a time

Jerry Miszewski setting a new standard at Smith Rock State Park with his newest highline addition”Overdose,” weighing in at 382′ long!

The bigger perspective of sag and length on Jerry Miszewski’s “Overdose” line, all 382′ of it!

Chris Rigby relaxing between walks on the 220 feet of “Blue Dream” at Smith Rock State Park

Chris Rigby on “Blue Dream”

Cartwheel anyone? Why not!… Chris Rigby pulling it off with 12′ of bouncing on a 220′ highline

Why Balance?

For the past six years I’ve been living a life on the fringe of modern expectation and society. My definition of “home” has become spatially adaptable, shifting from a sedentary house to the nomadic existence of my wandering Honda Element a.k.a. Tiger Paws. Despite having finished a respectable stint in the public school system, graduating with a bachelors degree in spanish and cultural anthropology from the University of Oregon, I have ultimately strayed from the traditional course of post-college life to an unconventionally focused life on the line. This lifestyle shift has fundamentally lead to many domestic sacrifices and a total reassessment of my life goals, all of which have provided a refreshingly new perspective on the world we live in. The journey has taken many twists and turns, traveling over many mountain passes, always leading toward a slower way of life that helps me balance with every step I take. In short, I have fallen in love with my inner purpose; of seeking better personal balance and helping others to realize their own, by means of walking slacklines in the great outdoors. I willingly choose to live with increasingly greater focus, intention and meaning. I take great joys in climbing rocks of many sizes and walking atop 1-inch wide pieces of webbing over great expanses and voids in space. This is the foundation of my life…

Ethan Holt calmly and cooly walking one of the many lines around Moab, UT

Both rock climbing and slacklining are relatively nonsensical challenges by themselves but what they provide in their opportunities for world exploration and deep human bonds is mind blowing and priceless. The outdoor environments where they are both practiced compliment one another perfectly and are the setting of my balanced essence and total expression of joy. Through one experience you finesse your mind and body up a vertical world of rock while in the other your attention is focused moving across a horizontal line in space. Without the skill sets of rock climbing it’s hard to reach elevated positions, such as the tops of towers or cliffs, and without the rigging and engineering knowledge of constructing slacklines safely it is impossible to connect the two points in space. Let alone walk between them successfully. These disciplines demand no explanation of “why do them” other than the immediate rewards of pure happiness achieved by the committed practitioner. They simply provide myself and others around me an excitement for life unparalleled by any other pursuit I have yet encountered.

I feel most aware and at peace with the world when engaged in these art forms. All attention is distilled down to the most fundamental level of breath, focus and spiritual presence. I become calm. I live in the blissful moment of the present. Aside from the shared physical and meditative movements required of them both, they demand and enhance the human senses. They cultivate a greater understanding of heightened awareness which I have become completely committed to improving. While totally focused, I experience an elevated feeling that shifts my perceived realities in a profound way, transporting the conscious mind elsewhere while moving in and above this great Earth. This has directly resulted in me spending a great deal of time living IN the OUT-of-doors with my best friends and has provided a unique modern opportunity to reconnect with mother nature’s many expressions and mysteries. I am immediately reminded throughout all of these challenges that life is precious and fleeting, not something to be taken for granted or procrastinated into a post career retirement plan.

Lukas Irmler walking the loose 200′ line while the 340′ giant looms in the distance

In essence, the adventures experienced through these filtered moments of balance have shaped my evolving worldview, which continues to expand and appreciate with time. Through thick and thin, the vertical and horizontal worlds have pushed me toward my mental and physical boundaries to the point of many larger than life epiphanies. One of which tells me that the “limits” we so commonly define for ourselves are far too often shortsighted of what our true potentials actually are. I have learned who I am in the moment and what I am capable of achieving through disciplined patience, passion and practice… The lessons learned here are that I will always strive to live a more sustainably balanced life that fully resonates with my ever evolving passions and artistic expressions. This space is a glimpse and testament to the reality I have witnessed, created and pursued…

~Brian Mosbaugh