Take a deep breath. Ignore the depths below. Try to stand up... fall... again and again.

Finally I stand, my leg is shaking like a sewing machine, control it, breathe. I steady for a moment. Take a small step, breathe, breathe, another small step, breathe, and Noooo!... I lose it and fall again.

The the other end of the line is 60 feet away and the ground directly below me is only 60 feet away, but we are on top of a mountain, the land slopes steeply downward for a thousand feet or more. It is airy up here.

I think that I have walked a line just like this only a few feet off the ground, hundreds of times. Why should this be any different. It's all mental. I am protected by a safety harness and line. Nothing will happen if I fall. But falling isn't fun. The adrenaline gathers all at once and whoooshh I'm plummetting towards the earth. And then the safety catches me, but the line isn't static, it stretches as I fall further, and bounce and spin and go upside down. I pull myself back up to the line, balancing to sit and breathe and wait for the calmness so I can try again.



Here are the pictures of my first try.









My only time taking steps. And then the fall again.







Some photos of the slack masters.

Eric Rasmussen surfing



Jerry Miszewski surfing it up

Russell Phetteplace










The Setup












Thanks for looking