Above is a brief trailer of some local Moab BASE jumping and highline footage compiled between Slackline Media, Moab Monkeys and the epic SkySight team for a SONY advertisement. The Monkey team has been working with this professional group to capture some of the most breathe taking and inspiring extreme sports aerial perspectives. I’m excited to be surrounding myself and working with such motivated and talented individuals in life. Every person has contributed something special to this project and I very much look forward to the adventures to come from all our hard work and raging in the cold. As history tends to repeat itself, the continuing cycle of adventure is guaranteed to mature into the next step of what is shaping up to be an amazing year so far!
For more information concerning SkySight and the awesome work they’ve been producing, check out the links listed below. Make sure to “Like” their pages and follow up on continuing projects as they capture life from new unparalleled aerial perspectives never before seen!
To Check out more of what the Moab Monkeys of extreme athletes are up to around the world, subscribe to our new EpicTV channel under Moab Monkeys and stay up to date with our adventures on Facebook.
The Moab Monkeys have officially launched the first video edit from our adventures in Brazil and it’s scheduled to be one of many more coming your way! Scott Rogers and I are excited to be extensively documenting this experience so that the rest of you can hopefully be inspired by our adventures and give some support to our monkey missions by watching, subscribing and sharing the YouTube channel. In the first week of our highlining and BASE jumping expedition in the southern hemisphere, we’ve been raging around with the awesome locals here and completing many adventurous pursuits. Amongst them, we repeated the Classic Gavea Stone highline, which was established by wingsuit/BASE jumping professional Hugo Langel Van Erven in 2006. We also opened a new highline atop the Four Summits above the city. The line was entitled “Brazilian BBQ” in the end and was successfully rigged and walked in a loose fashion due to the fragile anchors we had to utilize. This line was positioned in a beautiful location with the city of Rio de Janeiro in the backdrop and the beautiful salty ocean alongside it. The statue of Jesus could also be seen from the line in addition to other famous landmarks such as the Sugarloaf and other noteworthy natural and urban features. More ideal anchors would have of course been preferred, but when adventure rigging in the hot and humid jungle by steep rocky cliffs, beggars can’t be choosers. You ultimately take what Mother Nature gives you and hope for the best, backing up all your anchor points as best you can.
In addition to all the balanced feats accomplished so far, such as the waterline near Favela da Vidigal and highlines on Pedra da Gavea, Scott Rogers and Hugo have been BASE jumping from various points atop the 2,800 foot tall granite monolith almost everyday. This trip so far has been action packed and the Moab Monkeys are proudly raging hard! Watch the video to get a better idea about what we’re doing down south and the creative pursuits we’ve been pursuing. I hope you enjoy the short film, please subscribe to us at Moab Monkeys on Facebook for progressive updates on the trip and of course to our YouTube channel which is sure to flourish as missions get bigger and Brazil gets hotter.
Climbing is without a doubt an essential part of highlining, BASE jumping or playing in the mountains. One of the primary challenges with all these pursuits is accessing hard to reach environments where we can challenge ourselves, and for some athletes the climb is both the means and the end. In this post, I’d like to examine a pair of adventure seekers who’ve found themselves maniacally devoting their energy and time to the vertical ascent in all types of environments around the world. Ranging from the alpine mountains of Patagonia to the legendary big walls of Yosemite, both Brad Gobright and Scott Bennett are elite rock climbers who are chasing their dreams on scary routes, ascending big wall classics (sometimes without ropes) and smashing speed record link ups everywhere they go.
Brad Gobright hugs tight on The Backbone (5.13a) of the Monkey.
I first met Brad many years ago, while climbing in Joshua Tree and the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. He initially came off as your average dirtbag climber nomadically seeking out hard rock routes. His very unassuming presence, goofy personality and pastry focused diet made Brad seem a pretty average but quirky guy in this community. After spending many months trading belays and witnessing his graceful finesse on the rock, it was obvious there was something special about his gifts. Brad absolutely lives for the experience to climb on rock, he is obsessed. He also likes to climb without a rope, quite a lot actually, sometimes free-soloing several thousand feet on very technical terrain with calm and cool demeanor. Despite his young age, every move he makes reflects decades of rock climbing experience in the body of a young determined man. His confidence and skill in the vertical world make it obvious he’s been going up his whole life, which he pretty much has been since his infancy. Examining the impressive resume of climbing achievements in his short 25 years of life, and his prowess as a well rounded athlete and committed climber is inspiring beyond words. As is the case with many climbers, Brad tends to fly under the radar of mainstream publicity living out of a small hatchback Civic traversing the country and living in Yosemite to work on first ascents and big wall projects. He is driven by a fearless psyche, which I can only try to comprehend, always surrounding himself with the best climbers in the world who add to the stoke of his internal fire.
Scott Bennett with his on-sight lead on The North Face (5.12a) of the Monkey Face, a 200 foot stretcher in length.
Scott Bennett is one of his many incredible climbing partners, who also quietly boasts an adventurous and experienced background. He’s been published in climbing media for his alpine achievements and speedy ascents which all require a good set of lungs and endurance. His energy level seems to never fade or falter, sometimes going for long runs at the end of a very hard day of climbing to train. Some professional athletes appear to be either motivated by fame or fortune, but in the world of rock climbing very few ever achieve this type of recognition. The lifestyle of being a dirtbag isn’t “popular” so to speak and for that reason it attracts a certain type of person committed to their discipline for intrinsic reasons. This is why climbing remains a very pure and honest passion pursuit. Brad and Scott are an incredible duo when teamed up, fueled by shared dreams and goals of climbing longer, harder and more technical routes for the sake of improving their craft and pushing their limits. I met up with these two rock junkies back in the summer of 2011, as they were passing through Smith Rock State Park looking for hard sends to complete and new speed climbing records to shatter. Which is essentially, what they did… Both climbers, boldly on-sight free soloed the 3 amazing pitches of Zebra Zion in crisp cool summer conditions (read: very hot and undesirable temps), and got the red point sends of The Quickening 5.12d (for Scott) and The Backbone 5.13a (for Brad). Of course many other feats were accomplished, such as Brad’s new speed solo ascent of the classic Monkey Face tower (over 300 feet of vertical gain) in an impressive 3.25 minutes, without a rope. Scott also established a new mixed endurance speed record of the “Monkey to Monkey” time in just under 22 minutes. This challenge was a mixed race of running and climbing, starting on the plastic monkey boulder from the Bivouac campground and ending atop the real Monkey Face in similar fashion as Brad. After crushing dozens of other routes in the park, these two set off on their respective paths to bigger projects in Yosemite and Patagonia. Much thanks to both gentleman for allowing me to capture and witness their impressive and life long passion of ascending rock. Here is some evidence of their accomplishments.
Scott Bennett on the sharp end of The Backbone (5.13a).
Brad Gobright nearing the top of The Backbone (5.13a).
Brad Gobright working through the long overhung moves on Aggro Monkey (5.13b).
Brad Gobright setting the new standard of speed climbing the Monkey. He was able to climb the 300 vertical feet of The Pioneers Route (without a rope) in 3.25 minutes. The time stands as the Monkey’s fastest ascent.
Scott Bennett improving his speed solo ascent time on the Monkey, sans ropes.
Yosemite National Park is a majestic land rich in climbing history, a long Native American presence and marked as the birthplace of modern highlining as we know it today. For a long time it’s been preserved as a sacred place of grandeur and natural beauty, dominated by an abundance of extraordinary waterfalls, diverse wildlife and gigantic granite walls that erupt from the valley floor reaching for the heavens. Without a doubt, these glacial polished amphitheaters beckon to every rock climber and adventure seeker to test their courage and strength on the towering white rock above. Attempting to capture the scale and impressive qualities of El Cap (short for “The Captain”) and the rest of Yosemite’s environments is hard to convey in words, but the feeling and perspective of seeing the larger than life white cliffs for the first time will leave any visitor with a lingering sense of awe remembered for a lifetime. As millions of tourists flood into the park every year, the scene at Camp 4 and around Curry Village can leave the outdoorsman with a sense of claustrophobia and unease, but luckily the backcountry is only a short backpacking distance away. There the hustle and bustle of millions of tourons (common nomenclature for “tourists” and “morons”) can be avoided if you have a solid set of hiking legs. Leaving the crowds behind, along with the many domesticated Yogi bears trying to steal your PB&J sandwiches, is where true adventure can be found.
I’ve been frequenting different parts of Yosemite for the past 5 years, and it was during my first visit to the park when a new passion was sparked and my worldview was absolutely shaken. I think back at my first experiences looking up at Yosemite Falls as a significant catalyst in my life. It profoundly altered the creation of all future chapters in my path from henceforth. It’s sometimes difficult to define the moment, or origin, of such an impacting life change, but seeing Yosemite Falls from below (towering some 3,000 feet above the Valley floor) left me with a yearning for adventure which I couldn’t resist. Experiencing the powerful roar of the waterfalls near its base, while dumbfounded by the sight of humans casually walking above its crest on a piece of one-inch webbing, I was inspired and intrigued. I felt a pull, drive and desire to suddenly experience that sort of freedom for myself.
My previous year of life had been defined by a nomadic migration living out of my car with an irresistible obsession for rock climbing. After being introduced to ropes and technical climbing in college, while constantly watching films of young men and women traveling the world with a singular obession of going up, I was inspired to follow in their footsteps. Unlike many university graduates who haphazardly question their post-school life, I knew exactly what I wanted and more importantly I knew how to get there. Since discovering my vertical passion I started taking summer college courses and studying constantly to graduate from the University of Oregon as fast as possible. The moment I turned in my last homework assignment was the day I left my old structured life behind, with no regrets. I opted out of walking at graduation, not caring that I had finished in the top 1% of my class in the Romance Language department. I reorganized my life into a small Honda Element vehicle, with a custom sized bed in the back, to see the world from new heights. My journeys led me from one climbing destination to the next, beginning in Squamish, Canada, and heading south along the west-coast corridor to many world-class climbing meccas. I touched many cliffs and boulders around Smith Rock, Bishop, South Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Joshua Tree and other pocketed areas in new terrain. I simply followed the seasons chasing good weather and eventually ended up moving east toward Hueco Tanks State Park in Texas and then Flagstaff, Arizona. The year had been phenomenal and I had progressed from bouldering at a beginners level to sending V10 in some of the best climbing destinations in the country. My sport climbing abilities saw a spike in technical improvement, my gear placements were improving and my strength to weight ratio was exponentially on an upward trend, until IT happened…
Injury set in. I was bouldering in Arizona and heard the dreaded heart breaking sound that plagues the minds of active climbers. SNAP went the pulley in my middle finger, the swelling commenced quickly and tears seeped from my eyes near the base of the boulder. For the average person working a 9-5, this is not a common injury, but for climbers who put extreme amounts of physical strain on their fragile fingers, it’s unfortunately a relatively common occurrence. For a “dirtbag climber” living and breathing to to play on rocks, this can be a serious time of change and potential depression. After realizing I wouldn’t be climbing hard for at least another 6 months to year, I had to make new life decisions. Like all events which appear both tragic and liberating, there was a lesson to be learned here and life would go on. My path of simple living and obsessively dreaming about the next route had to shift in a new direction.
Russ Phetteplace sending the classic Lost Arrow Spire Highline, 3,000′ above the Valley floor.
Russ Phetteplace practicing yoga on the classic Lost Arrow Spire Highline, 3,000′ above the Valley floor.
Shortly afterward, I found myself backpacking for a week into the depths of the Grand where I hoped to find answers to new life questions. After some healthy introspection in the depths of the desert paradise, I decided to go back to Yosemite National Park. Shortly after arriving in the Valley I headed toward Yosemite Falls, I looked up and saw the most beautiful highline in the world being walked with total grace by Jerry Miszewski. In my previous climbing experiences I had already started casually slacklining in parks around Eugene, Oregon. It was around that same time when I was introduced to rock climbing outdoors at Smith Rock State Park, treating slacklining as a common rest day activity from the routine of cranking down on rock and torturing my tendons. By chance, I had also rigged and walked the classic Monkey Face Highline at Smith Rock after six-months of slackline practice. It was an incredible new challenge to my balance but the thrill wasn’t strong enough to supercede my climbing goals. I was absolutely terrified from the exposure below my body and was shaken by the mental focus needed to walk in balance on a highline back in Oregon, but the level of Jedi focus these highliners possessed dancing 3,000 feet above the Valley floor was on another level.
Rigging the classic Lost Arrow Spire Highline
Jason Lakey sizing up the Long Lost Arrow Spire Highline
With my finger severely injured and the reality of long recovery seeping in, I needed to find another way to keep my brain stimulated, my body moving and my soul happy. I decided then and there, at the base of the grandiose Yosemite Falls, that highlining would become my new life focus. Since that day, I’ve relentlessly decided to follow a path of global exploration, guided by my inner intuitions and balanced passion pursuits. It was inevitable that I would eventually buy a camera and attempt to capture this unique space, and so continues the constant challenge of finding the right angle and image to capture my heroes living awesome in nature. The act of rigging a highline and walking above the great abyss is an almost indescribable sensation. Through still imagery, filmmaking and storytelling I try my best to convey this natural beauty to the greater world. This lifestyle stimulates my senses and leads to extremely profound feelings which help define and challenge my character in a way I’ve never encountered before. Sometimes the walk on webbing is calm and meditative, while other moments its filled with fear and terror, shaking my total sanity and balance. It’s in these contrasting emotional bouts that we push our personal limitations of what is possible in the void. The slackline family which seeks out these adventurous pursuits is ironically a very grounded group, communally supportive of one another and totally blissed out collectively. My fellow highlining, climbing, BASE jumping and rigging companions are now more like a blood family to me. They understand my worldviews and meaning making of life. It is with them that I find acceptance and love.
Brian Mosbaugh taking a break on the Taft Point Highline with El Cap in the backdrop. Photo by Daniel Carrillo
Our dreams are filled with BIG goals that straddle what’s possible or impossible, and for this reason we’re pushed in new insightful directions learning something new and exciting everyday. We remain young, despite our growing grey hairs, and push forward like there is no tomorrow. The present flow of life is what matters most in this type of reality. Instead of stressing the importance of accumulating monetary wealth or collecting shiny objects, we willingly accept a simple way of life. We see the world as a living playground to cherish and take care of, knowing that it’s at greater and greater threat by our collective human impact. For this reason, we respect the wild places where we dwell, adventure and grow together. In chasing down these dreams of elevated adventure, constructing arbitary lines in space, jumping into the abyss and climbing large rocks for no apparent reason, I’m somehow reminded of my small size and become immediately humbled. I don’t exactly know why we do what we do, but a love for the outdoors and a universal feeling of being with family is what keeps me coming back for more…
Eric Rassmussen rigging the Long Lost Arrow Spire line
I’ve included some photos and a video of a highlining trip I took to Yosemite in 2010 and 2011 to accompany these words. These images are a tribute to how inspiring Yosemite National Park is and it’s also a tribute to those that have taught me so much along the way. I want to thank Scott Balcolm for setting a new standard of adventure by walking and establishing the Lost Arrow Spire Highline back in 1984. You did the world a favor on that day. I also want to thank Jerry Miszewski, Pierre Carrillo, Eric Rasmussen, Jeremy Louis, Julien Desforges, Hayley Ashburn, Russ Phetteplace, Damian Cooksey, Emily Sukiennik, Jan Galek, Faith Dickey, Jordan Tybon, Damian Czermak, Mical Korniewicz, Andy Lewis and SO MANY others who not only inspired me to find greater balance in my life as I was learning to walk a slackline but who also shared with me their wealth of knowledge in rigging and living gracefully against the grain of modern expectations. I hope these words and images will have somehow inspired others to follow their own dreams with passion. May everyone continue to inspire and be inspired!
~Brian Mosbaugh
Russ Phetteplace hanging out in the exposure during the rigging of the Yosemite Falls Highline
“What is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man’s breast with pride above that which any experience can bring to him? Discovery! To know that you are walking where none others have walked; that you are beholding what human eye has not seen before; that you are breathing a virgin atmosphere. To give birth to an idea — to discover a great thought — an intellectual nugget, right under the dust of a field that many a brain-plow had gone over before… To be the first — that is the idea. To do something, say something before anybody else — these are the things that confer a pleasure compared with which other pleasures are tame and commonplace… These are the men who have really lived — who have actually comprehended what pleasure is — who have crowded long lifetimes of ecstasy into a single moment.” ~Mark Twain
The day seemingly started like all others, nothing drastically different from the rest, aside from the lingering anxiety and excitement from the previous nights sleep. Escaping from my tent into the crisp Fall morning air I realized today was THE day, the highline was finally rigged and awaiting its first crossing… This feeling of mixed emotions, of both elation toward the prospect of success and the stress of confronting a deep challenge, is something I often struggle with when a big line is rigged and the showdown is moments away. “The Kingline” of Smith Rock State Park has, in short, been on my life’s “to do list” ever since I started climbing at Smith 5 years ago. As I saw the obvious rock features towering above the climbing mecca I knew my destiny had been sealed. Ever since that day I had envisioned the two points in space connected with an imaginary line with every passing day I entered the park, it was quite literally staring me down and haunting my dreams. Rising up 500′ above the Crooked River, which snakes its way around the sculpted volcanic rock of Smith, the gap appeared to initially be about 200′ apart but was later discovered to be around 180′ instead. This distance was certainly going to be a revealing test of my balance, mind and willpower to stay centered and on the line throughout. Would I stand the pressure or fall from fear of success or failure? The day had not fully started and I knew the answers weren’t far away…
Photo by Patrick O’Neill
In the end, it was on my third day of battling The Kingline that success was met and a dream was fulfilled. The feelings I have surrounding this drama are of pure happiness and a complimenting sense of relief. The first walk had gone just as I had imagined, a lot of struggle leading up to a sense of calm completion. After a couple days of walking to, and beyond, the half way point I knew it was possible to finish. This realization always entails two conflicting emotions which I patiently try to juggle with in pursuit of success. It allows me to understand that I am able to meet my challenges head on with hard work but simultaneously brings me out of the momentary focus of being in the moment and not anticipating the outcome of my efforts. With every attempt on the line I had to pull myself from the excitement of finishing the walk until I was back on firm rock ground atop the opposite tower. The struggle to stay calm minded, detached from expectation, and steady with each step is often in contrast to the invading commentary of the minds filtering monologue. Your mind knows you can walk the line but somehow convincing your body to do so is always a delayed experience. There is often an indescribable gap between the visualization of success and the actual achievement of it that has to be gently coerced into manifestation. I’ve come to know these penetrating voices in my mind as “the committee,” where I imagine the many personalities of myself bickering back and forth around a table, incessantly talking when silence is all that is needed. Each voice tries to dominate above the rest and all that comes from this is distraction. The real challenge in staying continually focused on the line involves mastering the ability to silence the ranting noises and staying in the moment of the present uninterrupted. This is the technique I have learned to push past my limits, fears and anxieties in all walks of life. To embrace the present and bask in its ever changing potential for new experiences.
Photo by Patrick O’Neill
The reflections I’m now left with at Smith Rock are a combination of amazement and psyche for the future projects ahead. After devoting a great deal of energy, money and time to the development of the present 19 highlines in the park I feel as though I can finally leave with a clear and happy conscience. My journeys now lead me and Ethan Holt toward Moab, Utah to revisit old friends and many gaps in space above the majestic red sandstone of this beautiful country. What will manifest from here on is yet to be determined, but big goals await completion and new terrain remains unexplored in South America! The appetite is hungry for more adventure as I remember to live in the moment, be patient with my dreams and be thankful for those which have been met and conquered. I have now walked The Kingline full-man (in both directions) and have witnessed many friends giving their best on its beastly length. Without the help of Ethan Holt, Christian Krr and many others this line would not have been possible to realize. I acknowledge and am incredibly thankful for the help and encouragement of friends and family around me who have led up to this exceptional experience. Without the team effort we are nothing, so onward and upward we will go.
~Brian Mosbaugh
Here’s an epic short clip, captured by Nick Braun, of my walks on The Kingline. This cinematic experience is brought to you by the local central Oregon company LineCam, a new and revolutionary filming technology destined toward a great future. Click HERE to explore news and other short films captured from this up and coming cinematic style. Please explore their website and make sure to show support by clicking the LIKE button on Facebook.
Also, you can follow the adventures and photographic work of Tyler Roemer by clicking HERE
Recently Ethan Holt and I were casted as the highlining/yoga talent for an Icebreaker’s (merino wool clothing) commercial at Smith Rock State Park. The line we were assigned to perform on was the original Monkey Face Highline, which at this point is an easy stroll in the park for both of us but is nonetheless a very special line in its own right. The history surrounding this highline is in many ways the birthplace of Ethan and I’s strong friendship as slackliners and is also the location of the first highline established at the park in the late 1980’s. I recall many years ago now, standing by the edge of the line offering encouraging words to Ethan as he was scared and intimidated by this line, trying to find the courage to take another step toward success. So much has happened since that day as many lines have been rigged and walked on both our parts. Ethan never ceases to amaze me as he is continually progressing in his balance and walking lines of greater lengths with absolute easy and calm meditation. This recorded event was our first experience filming for a commercial and was also very nostalgic since it was the first highline we both walked in our ever growing list of conquered highlines. The Monkey Line is by no means the hardest higline to walk at Smith Rock, as there are now 18 other lines here to measure yourself against, but it continues to be a classic that every slacker must experience at some point on his/her balanced path of life. I hope the message conveyed is both thoughtful and true to the slacklife and human spirit.
–Brian Mosbaugh
Feel free to follow the Icebreaker campaign of Explore Awesome on Facebook. CLICK HERE to view and “like” them if you’re supportive of the cause.
I've committed my life to the pursuit of world exploration and pushing the boundaries of human limits. I have a strong passion for climbing technical rock routes, BASE jumping in the mountains and walking lines of 1-inch webbing at varying heights. In this shared space I hope to convey the stories of inspiring outdoor communities and individuals who interact with nature adventurously.
Slackline Media 