A group of slackers has appeared in the quad near Fayard Hall, drawing a few crowds and aiming to establish an official student organization dedicated to slacking.
“Me and my friend Emily rock climb on the weekends, and we were looking for a way to exercise when we couldn’t climb because our arms are dead,” said Alexander Davis, a junior engineering technology major. “I was looking online and saw that slacking is a major sport and it’s a lot of fun. I bought a slackline, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Slacking or slacklining, is similar to walking across a tightrope, except the rope is a nylon band that can be up to a few inches wide. Slacking can be traced as far back the mid seventies at camps in Yosemite, Calif.
“The story I’ve always heard is that it originated in northern California as a way for climbers to practice when they were tired or just couldn’t climb,” said Jesse Miller, a junior math major. “They started by throwing up some webbing, like we have here, and tried to walk on it. It just grew from there to what it is today.”
In Europe, where the sport has taken off, slacklining is taken far beyond simply walking across nylon webbing.
“They have world championships there; some of the videos on YouTube are insane,” said Davis. “You see people doing backflips on the line hundreds of feet in the air. Jesse can do a few tricks; I’m still working on that. Everyone starts as a beginner and we’re working together to get to that point.”
Davis and his group slack nylon slack lines anchored to the trees outside Fayard Hall about three feet off the ground. They do this every Tuesday and Thursday, so long as the weather is agreeable. Davis provides water and music for his friends and anyone who wants to try their hand at slacklining. Also, many of the lines used are his personal equipment.
“All of these webbings were used for industrial purposes originally, like towing cars,” said Davis.
Davis and Miller have begun the process of applying to be recognized as an official student group, which would help with organization and funding. They’re nervous about the application because they understand that, as with all sports, there is an inherent risk of injury. However, that risk has deterred passersbys from trying out the slackline.
“We’re working on getting recognized by the university, we have over the 10 people that we need,” said Davis. “We also need to find a sponsor that is willing to accept us. We know it’s dangerous and maybe an insurance liability, but it’s so much fun. So many people come up to us and wonder what’s going on.”
One of the newer slackers is Maurice Olson, a political science senior. Olson had no idea what slacklining was until last Thursday. After trying it and hearing about the slackers’ efforts to create an official group, he immediately wanted to sign up.
“I’ve seen these slackerlines a bunch a time over the last few weeks, but I’ve never had the time or the nerve to ask if I could play,” said Olson. “I had some time to kill, and it looked really fun and it is. They made it look easy, but that was misleading. It was way more difficult than I thought.”
But just because it was difficult doesn’t mean Olson is giving up. He plans on returning to practice as often as he can.
“I have a good type of aggravation going on,” Olson said.
According to freshman Tori Ingraffia, slacking works out many parts of the body and is healthy activity for the body.
“It works your legs, your arms and really everything,” said Ingraffia. “You have to tense up your abdomen to keep your hips steady. Every part of your body is involved.”
If the slackers become an officially recognized group, they plan on taking trips to Alabama and Mississippi for rock climbing trips, as well as their bi-weekly slacklining meetings on campus.
Even if the group is turned down, Davis said they would still meet in the quad as they have been. They are there without expressed university permission, though none have told them to stop so far.
“Campus police has come out here to watch and we’ve laughed and have had good times with them,” Davis said. “I can understand how this can be viewed as a risk, but we’re all adults here and we’re not amateurs, we know what we’re doing. We make sure we do everything in the safest way possible, and that no one skips class to be here. If I find out you’re supposed to be in class, I tell you to get off my line and don’t come back.”
Now the group’s official status is up in the air, but even if their efforts fall flat on their face, these slackers seem like they are here to stay.