The Tale of the Floating Log
This year at Breathe, I had the privilege of helping rig the Peak-to-Peak Slackline Park. The vision for this slackline park in the forest was threefold: there was to be a section dedicated solely to tubular webbing – Totally Tubular!, several steep & surfy rodeo lines – Ride ‘em Rodeo, and a traverse that would form the perimeter of the park. The traverse proved to be the crux of this creation.
The Traverse
The entrance to the park was flanked by two lines: On the east side was a shorty 7/16” green tubular line. On the west side was a fairly tight, short, Aero line. These two lines were the beginning or end of whichever direction one chose to walk the traverse.
To the east, the traverse zig-zagged through the forest with several 2" lines of varying lengths and tensions. There was then a loose Aero line & a loose Mantra Flight line.
On the west side, the traverse walked: the short & tight Aero line, a 2” line, to a loose e-line (marking the beginning of Totally Tubular!). There were then varying lengths & tensions of tubular webbings – ending with a short Rasta line.
Here, we found ourselves with a short gap we needed to connect to complete the traverse. Various solutions were proposed: We could just rig a few small lines & call it a traverse! We could extend the route further back into the forest. Neither of these solutions were all that satisfying.
In the process of constructing this slackline playground – we had cut down several small trees.
“What if we used one of these logs in the traverse?”
”What?! How?”
”Well, you could just lash the log between both trees and- voila!”
”Haha alright let’s try it out!”
And so we did. Cool!
Now remained just one small gap.
“What if we just lashed another log?”
”Ok! Uh oh- the log is too short.”
“Well- hmm... What if we connect the log with webbing to the trees?”
“Haha what?! Alright- let’s try it out!” And so we did. The floating log was discovered, the Traverse complete.
The synergy of the team in discovering this solution was a joy to witness. Isn’t it amazing what magic can be realized in well-functioning groups? What inspiring gems will this community discover in future years?
Peak-to-Peak was far from perfect. Sincere apologies to those weighing more than me who attempted the traverse- you would’ve bottomed out several times along the way. I’m sorry. I know it was a bummer. There’s vast room for improvement & growth!
Big thanks to everyone who helped rig PTP, all who stopped by, and everyone who helps create this spectacular space!
