This is the first time we are about something different than news coverage of our trip in USA. This is special situation caused by really unique movie we saw. This production is made by our fellow slackliners from Brazil. It is called "Equilibrium" and has some amazing slackline and highline footage in it. We really enjoyed the way it is made so that is the reason why we are sharing it on our blog. We can not wait to see full movie. Hopefully the crew from Brazil will serve us amazing and high quality material. Take a look!
MORE info about the movie down below:
The movie will be made by young Brazilian movie makers. The crew still needs to shoot some waterline footage, more trickline action and document another highline project. Allan Pinheiro, one of the involved athletes, says about the movie: "the purpose of this production is to show Brazilian slacklining through the art of cinematography".
Director: Paulo di Biasi and Bruno Villela Production: Ana Elisabeth, Clara Guimarães and Luiz Octavio Guimarães Dir Photography: Eduardo Pessôa Art: Mari Giudicelli Assistant Dir: Pedro Coqueiro Edition: Paulo di Biasi and Bruno Villela Athletes: Allan Pinheiro e Daniel Olho
The Spots:
Trickline - Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro Highline - The Devil´s Throat - Niterói, Rio de Janeiro
Lines:
Trickline - Jibline Gibbon (12m) Highline - Kailash tubular line (11 m length, 31 m height)
The Brazilian crew is still trying to get sponsorship to finish the work. They're hoping to release full movie till the end of January. Good luck! :)
The next day after the the drive to LA, the 12th of December, we went to the Santa Monica Beach to trickline and have fun together before Jordan took of to Tacoma. We knew we wouldn't trickline too long because he had the flight the same day. Fortunately the days are really short and it's getting dark pretty early anyway. This way we didn't have to check the time and stress about it.
We didn't trickline for too long but it was really nice. For Janek it was the first trickline session after he injured him self before Gibbon World Cup in Brixen (Italy) during International Mountain Summit. It was successful session even though none of didn't do anything super hardcore. We got some cool footage on our old-school video camera and Jordan took few photos.
Most important, it was nice to be warm, slacklining over the sand next to the ocean. We met some other slackliners. Few people tried slacklining for the first time in their life too.
Other cool thing we saw and tried was "Travelling Rings". It is really nice sport and it seems like this people are heaving fun in really similar way we do.
On of them, Dave Trager, slacklined a bit on our lines and invited us to try the rings.
He showed us the right technique and all three of us did few laps on it. It was really physical thing to do. We are psyched to come back to the beach and swing more on it. Thanks Dave! It is really nice free and fun feeling, the same as in tricklining.
After the trickline session Faith and Janek left Jordan on the airport. He will spend the Christmas with his family and his girlfriend Annalena. We will meet again in Joshua Tree for New Years.
(11-12th of December) Ludlow - Slackin' with the Ghosts
Once our adventures in Moab were finished, we loaded up our little Honda “Rambo” and began the 15+ hour drive to Los Angeles. We bade farewell to Brent and Canyon and thanked them for their hospitality; hoping to meet again in spring.
This year Faith chose a new route to avoid the mountainous Utah, so we drove south on the 191 into Arizona, taking the route through Flagstaff. On the way through southern Utah, we saw a couple highline spots. One was in Bluff, Utah, at a rest stop and tourist shop. A red spire sticking straight up!
The next was in Red Lake, unfortunately since Faith was driving and the boys were snoring next to her she was the only one to see the two spires, equal heights, standing erect right off the road! Maybe next year…
The car huffed and puffed a bit going up to Flagstaffs 7000 foot elevation, but like always we made it. The landscape had changed dramatically since Moab desert, the area we were in was filled with tall pine trees, standing dark and direct under the clear night sky. We were close to one of our future highline destinations; Sedona, but had to get Jordan to LA for his flight. After many hours of driving my eyelids began to feel heavy and Faith stopped to switch with Jordan. She fell asleep in the back, reminding him to wake her when they entered California so we could find the exit to our ghost town.
Somewhere off the I-40 we pulled off for the exit to Ludlow, on old Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. Jordan parked in a trucker’s lot next to a gas station and we all threw our sleeping mats down to pass out on the gravel. Five hours later the sun was high and we were sweating in our Deuter down sleeping bags! Besides the frequent trains passing through the night, there was not much else around.
"Rambo" waiting to drive us to LA (photo Faith Dickey)
The backdrop was small desert mountains, purple against the light blue sky. The highway seemed so busy compared to this place we were. Ludlow has a few residents who run the gas station, the Inn and the tire shop; however most of it is deteriorating and gutted buildings lying in the sun. Ludlow was once a mining town and frequented stop by the trains and travellers, however the mining died out and I-40 was built bypassing the town, which lead to it becoming the ghost town it remains today. There is an old café/dairy queen that has been burned from the inside out, an old Petrol station and an old Mechanics garage all in a row; graffiti all over and left filled with junk and old gas pumps.
Of course our plan was to rig a slackline. We set up a very loose threaded tubular line in order to prevent damaging the buildings. Janek laying down on the line (photo by Faith Dickey)
It was our first experiences in a ghost town, and while this one was not totally uninhabited, it is eerie to see urban decay and how small towns cannot survive without a highway, meanwhile cities are growing out of control.
On Thursday, the 9th of December, Somewhereelseland team left Terry's apartment for good.
Jordan sending Terry's 120' backyard line before going for some "real stuff" ;) (photo by Jan Gałek)
Our plan was to stop in Moab for the last time, walk as many lines as we could and than leave to Joshua Tree on the way stopping by in the ghost town to slackline and Los Angeles to visit our old friend Ric Phiegh.
We went to the new highline area. We are still debating about the name ... On the way we picked up hitch-hiker. His name was Jacob and he appeared to be really nice guy. Jacob stayed with us for two nights and watched us highlining.
We slept one night in a desert and spent another together night at Brent's house. The three of us are hoping he enjoyed time with us. Afterwards Jacob left with Brian in direction of Oregon.
We had arrived just before it got totally dark so we couldn't highline the same day. We met with Terry and his girlfriend, Ryan Matson and Heinz Zak. During this day Terry bolted and walked new 120' line called "The Beagle Has Landed". We also had two new lines ready for the FA's next day (130' and 40').
Next day Janek and Brian woke up first and started rigging 40' and 60'. Jordan and Faith got up soon after them and helped with finish rigging both lines.
Warming up next to the fire before sending 40' and 60' lines ... (photo by Jordan Tybon)
Janek got the FA of the 40' line and named it "Just a Quickie". After two full "shackle-leash" walks he sent the line free-solo FM. Faith cruised this line without the leash too.
Faith leash-less on "Just a Quickie" Highline (photo by Jordan Tybon)
... and finishing the FM send (photo by Jordan Tybon)
Brian walked the 40' one direction leash-less opening his free-solo highline career. Congrats buddy and stay focused ;)!
The next line was 60' long "Where Cowards Scare" Highline (FA by Jeremy Shive). The four of us send it without any problems but we have to admit that one way on it is pretty exposed. Jordan sent the line in a belt-loop swami and then with "shackle-leash", Janek walked it testing new leash from Andy (1 piece of rope which is used as the leas, ring and swami), Faith sent in a belt-loop swami and Brian after harness walk switched to a swami-belt.
Janek on the "Where Cowards Scare" Highline OS&FM (photo by Jordan Tybon)
After everyone walked both lines we took them down, rest for a moment and ate something. We couldn't rest too long though. The days are pretty short right now so we had to start rigging next two lines; 120' and 130'. Jordan together with Brian rigged 120' and Faith and Janek 130' new project. Both lines were not so simple to set up. On the 120' Jordan and Brian had to built super high A-frame from stones, sandbag and make all of it stable enough to hold the line in place. The 130' is bolted really weird. The bolts on the rigging side are placed far away from the edge because of the poor quality rock. On the other side we had to use wooden A-frame to make the line levelled. Both teams were getting tired but we got our lines up. After this rigging-marathon we "just" had to send both lines in a swami ... Somewhereelseland team members send both lines OS&FM in a swami. Brian sent both lines OS&FM in a harness.
All four lines were rigged with the Type-18 and dynamic rope as a back-up. To speed up the rigging process we left the lines taped together and move them from 40' and 60' to 120' and 130'.
We are happy about how it work out and our team work. We got our camp-site and the lines down before dark. Luckily the drive out of the area went smoothly and we didn't destroy our poor car.
It was a good practice. We think about it as a preparation before more serious highline projects when we will have to be as fast and efficient as much as possible.
We spent the night together at Brent's place hanging out together. Next day Brian and Jacob took off to Oregon. Somewhereelseland team stayed a bit longer in Moab resting and organizing things before the drive to Los Angeles ...
Finally our first movie from our trip is ready. Thanks to Jordan for all the work on the movie. It took a long time, we had many problems which we had to overcome. The first movie is about beginning of our journey and our slackline and highline adventures in Austin (TX). You can see footage from both urban highlines we did, 190m longline and slackline fundraiser. The rest of the footage is basically our lifestyle, stupid, random shit and dirtbaging ... Check this out and prepare your self for a lot of extras ;) ! Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
We want to say thanks to everyone who supported us and helped with videotaping. The second video from Moab (UT) will be released after Christmas. Wait for it!
First we visited again "Silt Road" highline location to finish rigging Jordan's 47m long highline project.
Faith ready to ROCK! (photo by Jordan Tybon)
Both anchors are placed on the extra large boulders sitting on the top of the wall. The line is pretty up high (about 30-40m).
Jordan got first ascent OS-OW&FM in a swami and called the line "God Loves Americans". Scandy walked the line OS&FM ball&chain style and Faith and Janek sent the line in the same style as Jordan.
Our rig was 2 pieces of Type-18 although we think we tensioned back-up too much. The line has 5 bolts per side (standard Terry's bolting style with direction bolts) and it is definitely the most wicked line out there!
Afterwards Jordan, Brian, Janek and Faith did 60' rope jump from the side of the highline. Our exit was barely above the line but because of that the swing was huge. It was scary and FUN as hell! We got some sweet footage, coming up soon.
Take a look on the GIF file from "God Loves Americans" Highline Jordan made:
At the morning next day we went together with Heinz Zak and Brian Mosbaugh to meet with other friends of us Andy Lewis, Terry Acomb, Ryan Matson, Mason Earle, Richard Webb, Canyon and Bayla Cain and their awesome dad Brent Cain at Fruit Bowl.
This spot is insanely deep canyon which offers lines from small to huge size. First day was the rigging day. At the same time we were rigging two highlines. Andy Lewis had crazy plan to set up 420' line with his 400' piece of Vectran. Unfortunately he didn't walk the line because of poor rigging. We are sure Andy will send this line. Just wait till he gets his new piece of webbing!
During that time our team was rigging 120' long line which is known from Dean's B.A.S.E. ascent (Potter walked this line with the B.A.S.E. rig on but B.A.S.E. jumped actually from the other line in Moab).
We have to admit the line offers beautiful exposure and it is pretty scary.
Take a look on Dean's B.A.S.E.line footage:
Between GGBY 3 highline gathering and our second trip to Moab Andy Lewis did second B.A.S.E. jump from the highline ever. In our opinion that was really bold to do on the highline which is rigged with 1" webbing and the back-up rope. Dean Potter's line was super tensioned rope Amsteel Blue which makes the exit much more stable and safe. You should see the second jump from Andy when the webbing shoots him down and for the split of second he is totally out of control. Scary shit! Check the video:
Besides that Terry and Faith walked "Wet Beaver" Highline (all of us sent it last year already) on new Terry's set-up (1" tubular on the top, Vectran & Amsteel Blue).
Take a look on the GIF file from "Wet Beaver" Highline Jordan made:
The next day we rigged rope swing attached to the 120' highline. First we dropped the haul bag from the middle of the guide line (we placed one bolt for it). The test went well and Brian was first to fall into the void.
After Brian's B-Day jump we decided to go bigger. Jordan, Janek, Faith and Mayson made next longer jump from the rock edge as the exit point. Mayson did some nice cartwheel on the way down.
Jordan jumped from the furthest exit point the same day. It was almost dark and it looked dangerous. Everything went fine and we were prepared for the next day big jumps. All three of us were totally dead after jugging 60-70m on the rope attached to the bouncing highline.
For the rigging we had highline set up (Type-18 + 9.8mm diameter dynamic rope back-up). For the rope swing we tensioned another dynamic and static rope underneath from separate anchors. In the middle of the line we placed Terry's Velcro-sleeve to protect the line.
During that day Andy and Richard B.A.S.E. jumped from a middle of the 420' highline (from hanging). It looked really awesome. Both guys opened a bit to the right but there was enough space to get out of it. Andy first idea was to stand up in the middle of the line, take few steps and jump. The line was way to hard and both of them exited from hanging.
On the last day we had to wake up early and do all the jump we wanted as soon as possible. We had to take down everything before 12 o'clock. We used some Andy's gear and he had to come to Boulder (CO) at that time.
Brian jumped first than Janek, Ryan and Heinz. At the end after all the cameras were on the position Jordan jumped clipped on his back (superman style) falling head down and doing some weird aerials on the way.
Our plan was to rig two other highlines after rope jumping. Eventually we decided to come back to Terry's and rest. Three last days consumed all the energy we had. Beforehand we went to eat some amazing dinner (steak with vegetables and mashed potatoes) cooked by Ryan. Thanks man, that was delicious! It is awesome to eat something like this in the restaurant with the view of Moab from the top of the hill. It doesn't happen to often in our dirtbag life (it could be one good meal per week). We came by for the second to Brent's house and rode back to Fruita (CO) where we are staying right now for two days working on the website, blog and videos during our rest-days.
Tomorrow, the 7th of December, we're going to rig and walk 90', 120' highline and Faith will hopefully put up FA of the 130' project. Than our plan is heading to Los Angeles to visit our friend Rick Phiegh and Joshua Tree and do some projects on the way. Stay tuned!
Somewhereelseland is a team of people driven by the same passion - slacklife. The team includes members Jordan Tybon [USA], Faith Dickey [USA], Jan Gałek [PL] and new member Jakub Hanuš [CZ], as we live, work and slackline together year round. Our team is based in Europe and USA, splitting our time between local projects while expanding our horizons all over the world. We travel frequently, searching for the most amazing projects we can find. You can learn about us, our philosophy, projects, and find photos on our website. On this blog we will be publishing fresh news and updates from our trips.
Stay tuned and SlackOn!
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