Posts tagged ‘Moab Monkeys’

May 17

Raging Through the Summer Heat

Often around this time of year I find it pretty difficult to stay indoors for too long, let alone commit energy to being on my computer regularly. Once the birds begin chirping, the sun shines high in the sky and the psyche becomes contagious amongst friends, sitting in front of a digital screen seems a daunting task when countless adventures beckon from outside. Despite procrastinating interweb updates, I assure you life has been extremely active and fruitful for the past many weeks. Since returning to U.S. soil from 5 weeks in the southern hemisphere, many projects have been accomplished in Moab as the Monkeys continue pushing the limits of extreme shenanigans. The high standard of desert adventure has expanded exponentially with a slew of new awesome projects going down! Amongst them; a new tower highline was established and walked (the 25th of its kind in Moab), an 80 meter rope swing was pioneered and jumped, the Colorado River was slacklined across during a spectacular white water rafting/climbing trip, a new revolutionary space net was invented for BASE jumping, tent lounging and other forms of chilling (see photos), and lastly I began working as the assistant cameraman in the making of a new climbing movie (with Chuck Fryberger Films). These examples represent the tip of the iceberg for all the Moab Monkeys, as we’ve recently been doing more professional shoots and televised performances abroad and in the states. In short, the PSYCHE dial has steadily been cranked up to 11, with few moments of rest between rigging and de-rigging projects constantly. The proud resume goes on but in keeping this post short and sweet, so as to get outside sooner than later, I’ve provide some visual evidence to explain what my words cannot… I only expect life to continue raging with this momentum through the coming hot months, as we all collectively plot and scheme new ways to push the limits of outdoor adventure. Stay tuned for new updates along the way, it’s sure to be a bumpy and exciting ride!

~Brian Mosbaugh

Screen Grab by Kyle Berkompas of Chuck Fryberger Films

Mar 25

Moab Monkeys in Brazil

Few words, more images, end to beginning…

Urban Jungle Highline: As the last week of our trip slowly comes to an end, the team was able to get permission to walk between two apartment buildings in downtown Niteroi as part of a Brazilian TV show. This projects was a test of creative rigging in an unfamiliar terrain of concrete structures and constant noise. The rooftop scenery from this line was incredible and represents, for many of us on the Moab Monkeys team, our first urban highline.

New addition to downtown Niteroi's scenery

New addition to downtown Niteroi’s urban scenery

18 stories above the concrete abyss

Marcio Cardoso getting the first Brazilian crossing of Niteroi’s new urban highline

Ezequiel Ruete taking in the noisy exposure of the urban setting

Improvised and creative rigging in the urban environment

Return to Tartaruga: The crew returned to walk Tartaruga Sinistra and we proudly established the first 3 walks of this 47 meter long beast. Many of the local Brazilians gave their best to it and will be returning soon with vengeance in mind.

Scott Rogers getting his send on the longest highline in Brazil, weighing in at 47 meters long and very exposed.

Allan Pinheiro walking amongst the clouds

Feb 28

Monkeys in Brazil Part 1: Of Spirits and Gravity

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.

~Brian Mosbaugh