Slacklining
Brave Team Sets Highline Record in French Alps
Watch Pablo Signoret, Rafael Bridi and Guilherme Coury attempt the longest highline at 10,000 feet.
Pablo ‘The Kid’ Signoret hits record-breaking form
© Guilherme Coury
Lately it seems like another brave athlete is doing something cool on a slackline each week. But this one might take the cake (or at least a mountain of cupcakes). For one, you have an amazing performance bundled up with a unique place, a bona fide adventure and a beautiful video of perfect slacklining action. Here's the frosting on the cake: you’re welcomed into the minds of the athletes themselves.
Meet The Kid (Pablo Signoret), The Bandit (Rafael Bridi) and The Friend Who Had To Carry Everything (Guilherme Coury). They are the athletes who harnessed their courage and crossed a 656-foot-long highline, between two sharp peaks in the French Alps, 10,000 feet above sea level — setting a record for longest slackline at such heights. Watch the video below.
3 min
Watch this World Record: first alpine slackline
Watch this beautiful video of these guys setting a world record for highest slackline in French Alps
We’ve seen incredible accomplishments in slacklining before, but these guys had to factor in everything from dizzying heights to the staggering distance, dwindling supplies of oxygen, excessive levels of wind and remote location.
"The journey that this adventure represents was the main challenge," said Chauffour. "Crossing the highline wasn’t the big deal this time. The guys had to walk more than five days to reach the spot, carrying very heavy backpacks [55-90 pounds] to rig the highline."
In their bags they carried the slackline webbing, climbing gear, GoPros, a drone, extra layers of clothing and five days' worth of food. All of this to prove that this world record wasn’t necessarily about the destination but the adventure — although reaching the peak of Aiguille Dibona and crossing the 656-foot slackline was the whole aim of the project.
"If you ask Pablo and Rafael, they’ll tell you just go up to this place and you’ll understand (why they chose Dibona). This place is unique. It’s lost in the mountains, the Dibona is very different than all the other summits in the French Alps: very thin, steep, and huge. So, the place fits perfectly for a first alpine highline experience before the next projects."
So why attempt something of this magnitude? Good question — how else are you going to push the sport of slacklining if you don’t continuously push the bar higher and higher? For The Kid, The Bandit, and The Friend Who Had To Carry Everything, this is clearly just the beginning of something remarkable. That said, this trio are keeping their lips sealed about where their next adventure will take them.
"It’s a secret. Longer highlines, higher summits," said Chauffour. "The main goal is to enjoy it as much as possible and spend some great time with friends, rig awesome highlines in unique and beautiful places. And if it’s a record, it’s great but not the main purpose."
Pablo Signoret prepares to cross slackline
© Pierre Chauffour
Get your fill of incredible slacklining moments in some of the world's coolest places: This guy rode his bike across a slackline, this guy attempted to walk from boat to boat 88 feet off the sea and these friends did an awesome slackline gathering with so many lines you'll lose count.
