I do not mean to sound arrogant or mean but I am having trouble understanding what slacklining has anything to do with rockclimbing. Other than the fact that they require similar gear, why is there a forum for slacklining on a ROCKCLIMBING website.

Just curious and not at all bashing slacklining.

I do not mean to sound arrogant or mean but I am having trouble understanding what slacklining has anything to do with rockclimbing.

Oh, and since I of course can't resist this delicious bait, I'll tell you. ;)

Sure there's the petty reasons like core strength, balance, and gear usage.

But most of all, slacklining is a climber's sport. It was invented by climbers, and because it's so young, it is practiced primarily by climbers worldwide. Check out any climbing area's campgrounds in the evening and you're likely to see a slackline up somewhere. Climber festivals generally have at least one line around. Rest days are often spent working the line. It is rare that you will ever find a non-climber who has heard of the sport.

And then of course there's the age-old question:

How did that line get up there???? 8^)

http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=40094

If I am not mistaken that picture is of a highline stretching from Monkeyface at Smith, right? Who is the person in the picture, and did they eventually succeed in walking that? Much respect for anyone good enough to walk a line that long, and that high.

Slacklining uses some of the same gear but I think it is a totally different activity from rock climbing.

Climbing the rock to get there doesn't factor into it. If you climbed to get to a golf course, no one would say that golfing was related to rock climbing. It just happens to be done by rock climbers quite a bit but so does s**ting and that's not related to rock climbing either(except for that hard aid stuf where it is required!)

Dave

........It was invented by climbers, and because it's so young,.........

On the matter of improving your climbing ability I think ones time is better spent bouldering and climbing, indoors or out. You can always find someone who will claim slacklining, Twinkie eating, or even kite flying somehow boosted their climbing ability. I think taking up any 'training' regime can and will improve ones climbing because they become more focused and determined to improve

But most of all, slacklining is a climber's sport. It was invented by climbers

ever since my, daily routine was introduced to climbing,, as rock climbing has taking up more, and more of my life i have become to learn (at least)one thing that is crutial to climbing, and improvment of climbing... and that is FOCUS..

ITs all about focus,, and slacklinig is something that has no equal, nothing compairs to the level of commitment and focus factor that is required from walking a slackline...

when your eight feet above your last draw and pumped, the last thing you need for your physcy is doubt,,,,, or fear..


Highlining is the ultimate level of ,,,, commitment,, confidence,,,focus,,, having a clear(maybe even blank) physcy..

fear is paralyzing,,, you must be confident, and confidence is something slacklining,, at least in my view, is by far, the best thing to teach you that..


not to mention EVERY other aspect of salcklinig that is great for you mind body and soul

wtf means physcy?

It was invented by circus performers. It was renamed by climbers.

-Jay

I find that the strongest overlap with climbing is that climbing is largely about acurate placement and smooth transfer of weight.

"The Irwin Brothers (James and William) were from England and immigrated to the US in 1865 with their parents (parents may have been circus people as well?) William was born circa 1860. William Irwin later married Sarah Agnes Wilson of Buffalo, NY and were billed as "The American Tops". He worked on the trapeze, while balancing on his head and jugglng, while his wife suspended his trapeze from her mouth bit. As well, he worked on a slack wire with one end suspended from his wife's mouth bit."

I can't quite agree with this. Tightrope or highwire has been around for some time and is often a circus act. Slackline is fairly modern.
Highwire requires strong focus and balance but that is somewhat passive often with tools or aids. When rigging, one takes several steps to keep the line as stable as possible.
Slack line requires a very active balance as the line moves around a lot. During setup, lateral stability is not a high concern and tools are not generally part of the picture.

Just two weeks ago I helped rig a highwire for a circus. I tried their line and found it very much differant. Later I let their "artists" try a slackline and they thought I was crazy.

I find that the strongest overlap with climbing is that climbing is largely about acurate placement and smooth transfer of weight. Slackline is a good excercise of the same things.

I can see some similarity with slab climbing, especially if you don't use your hands.
-Jay

Not quite. Slacklining is similar to no-hand slab climbing in an earthquake, while your footholds are moving around violently.

My understanding was that the current "craze" originated around camp 4 about 30 years ago. This was confirmed to me by some carneys that I worked with.

Somewhat farther East is my understanding, then down from the NW.

I remember hearing about the wire stands. Their highline anchors are still there. We would just use a boulder pad for padding.

climbing -> webbing and biners -> slackline

That's the connection.