Do You Have What It Takes to Slackline?

Branford resident Rosemary Latella watched as her two elementary-school-age children walked across a slackline, attempting to make the 10-foot trek without falling.

Her son Adam Latella said, despite mom’s worried look, “It’s actually kind of fun falling.”

“He’s my thrill seeker,” said Rosemary.

The was courtesy of and organized by store manager Tony DaSilva. Even surprising himself a little, DaSilva was pretty good at the tightrope-like feat.

Karyn Choromanski of Milford oversaw the walkers and considers herself pretty versed in the sport of slackline though she’s only been doing it three months. As a gymnast, she said there are some similarities in the traditional practice and the new fad.

The trick to staying up and walking across the two-inch line, she said, is fighting the urge to fall. “It’s a whole body thing,” she said, adding that slackline is a good core body exercise. Before demonstrating that she could nearly sit on the line and stand right back up – a serious skill – Choromanski said she actually spent eight hours straight one day practicing.

Traditionally, slacklines of varying difficulty, are tied to two trees and users practice the art outdoors; for the purpose of the Trailblazer demonstration, the slackline was set up about 10 feet apart with two stands. The store does not sell the stands but sells the Fun Line for beginners (pictured) as well as more advanced lines. The price of lines that run 36 to 98 feet varies from $80 to $100.

Though made popular in the last five years, according to Slacklines.com, the sport is an “ongoing innovation,” and its creation can not be pegged to one person or one time period. According to the website, the general accepted starting point of the activity came in the early 1980s when Scott Balcom and Chris Carpenter were introduced to slacklining in Yosemite Valley.

Lost Arrow Spire in the Valley is commonly known as the slacklining mecca.