Extreme sport of slacklining gaining foothold in Iran

A growing number of Iranians are embracing slacklining – a high-wire walk on a flat line of webbing strung between rocks or trees up to 60 metres above the ground.

Iranian Hamed Heidari walks across a slackline anchored between two rocks during practice in the mountains overlooking Tehran, Iran. He is one of a growing number of Iranians embracing the extreme sport. Vahid Salemi/AP PhotoShow less

TEHRAN // Kiavash Sharifi can hardly describe the feeling of tip-toeing across an abyss on a thin ribbon of webbing that bends ever so slightly downward.

The 22-year-old is one of a growing number of Iranians embracing the extreme sport of slacklining – a high-wire walk on a flat line of webbing strung between rocks or trees up to 60 metres above the ground. The webbing provides slightly more stability than a round cord, but is also bouncier.

“It is very exciting. I’m short on words when I want to describe how it feels when you are on the webbing, and how it feels when you manage to walk the whole line and reach the other end,” Mr Sharifi said. “When you are on the webbing you don’t notice anything else.”

He is part of Iran Slackline, a group of friends who have had to find their own footing in a country with no formal institutions for the sport. They must make much of their equipment by hand or acquire it abroad – including safety devices.

On a recent day the friends gathered in the mountains outside Tehran, with the capital skyline serving as a backdrop. They strung a 10m strip of webbing between two rocks 30m above ground.

Unfazed by the danger, they laughed and joked as they took turns inching across. One of them placed his hands on the line and lifted himself up with just his arms. Then he leaned back on the line as if using it as a hammock.

“When I’m walking on the highline I have a very good feeling. I feel free. I’m free from all preoccupations and it is very enjoyable,” said Mohammad Reza Abaee, 23, who is the most experienced of the group. High-altitude slacklining is known as highlining.

“My biggest dream is to do a base jump from the highline,” he said, referring to another extreme sport in which one jumps from a high-altitude stationary object and glides to the ground with a parachute or a wingsuit.

Mr Abaee, who was previously a rock climber, said he stumbled upon the sport of slacklining on the internet. He and some friends then went into the countryside and strung a rope between two trees. By his second attempt, he had made it across.

For 24-year-old Masoud Chenaghloo, it’s a journey that has just beginning. Another former rock climber, he only took up slacklining a few months ago.

“When I’m on the webbing ... my self-confidence is very high,” he said. “I’m looking down on everything from the top. I feel I have a separate world for myself and the rest of humanity is living in another world.”

* Associated Press