Yosemite Climbing Rangers conduct a first ever “Highline” Patrol, as slacklining and highlining continue to rise in popularity in Yosemite Valley
Highliner Daniel Monterrubio starting his journey across the 861 meter highline. Daniel’s brother, Mo Monterrubio, was one of only two people to successfully walk the whole line without falling. Photo Credit: Chris Hutchinson.
Slacklining is the sport of walking a tensioned piece of flat rope (called webbing) that when strung up high above the ground between canyons or cliffs, is called “Highlining.” Yosemite is not only the birthplace of slacklining, but also home to the world’s first highline, a 55-foot gap spanning the void from the tip of Yosemite’s Lost Arrow Spire to the adjacent cliff face. Since the first walk of the Lost Arrow Spire Highline in July of 1985, highlining has continued to grow globally in popularity, and Yosemite has remained one of the best places in the world to practice the sport. With the recent rigging of California’s longest highline of 861 meters at Taft Point, Yosemite Climbing Rangers took the opportunity to visit the highline on two separate patrols, speaking with members of the highline community, learning about slackline rigging and equipment, and performing educational outreach in the form of informational talks and Q&A sessions to groups of curious visitors.
Despite its growth, highlining is still largely misunderstood by the public as overly risky or dangerous, even though it is one of the safest forms of slacklining and injury and fatality rates are strikingly low compared to rock climbing, which is a more socially accepted sport within Yosemite. Highliners are frequently seen speaking with park visitors at popular hiking and highlining areas such as Taft Point, often answering many questions from the public. One of the primary goals of the Highline Patrol was to provide some form of public outreach and education opportunities to curious visitors. Unlike rock climbing, which has interpretational programs such as Ask-A-Climber to educate the public and answer questions about the sport, highlining has limited opportunities for public education. Yosemite Climbing Ranger Christian Black took this opportunity during the patrol to speak with over 100 curious park visitors during four separate informational talks, providing education on highline rigging, safety, and answering a variety of visitor questions.
Yosemite Climbing Ranger Christian Black gives an educational program about highlining to a group of visitors at Taft Point during a highline patrol
The most popular questions asked by visitors were about the rigging and logistics of the highline, as well as the physical and mental requirements of the athletes walking them. For this particular project, the biggest logistical feat was getting the tagline, which is a smaller diameter rope used to cross the gap first before pulling across the slackline webbing, across the 861 meter gap. As the Climbing Rangers learned during their talks with the highliners, it took 5 full days of work rappelling into gullies and connecting sections of smaller taglines together before the team had a continuous line between the gap that they could use to pull the slackline webbing across. For the de-rig process, in order to keep the tagline from getting tangled and stuck in trees when they pulled it back in, the team used an innovative new technique using two helium-filled balloons to float the tagline off the ground so it could be reeled in without getting caught on anything on the way back. For an in-depth description of the complete rigging process, see the write up by local Yosemite highliner Ryan Sheridan here (link tbd).
Although sometimes misunderstood by the public, slackliners and highliners continue to try to remain in good standing with Yosemite National Park and other park visitors. The most common concerns brought up when speaking with members of the highline community was maintaining highline access and good relationships with the National Park Service. In the words of local California Highliner Emily May,
“We want to show NPS that we want to build a relationship and work together. Highline access in Yosemite is one of the most precious things to our community. We spent 5 days getting a tag line between our two anchors to respect their no drone policy. Perhaps NPS will be willing to open a conversation about access back to the Yosemite Falls highline.”
Highliner Kristen Gerkshkoff finding balance on California’s longest highline rigged at Taft Point. Photo credit: Chris Hutchinson
This sentiment comes after an Yosemite-imposed ban on all slacklines crossing watercourses or lakes, which went into effect in the summer of 2016. Since then, there has been an increased effort by members of the Yosemite highlining community to foster a working relationship with Rangers and Yosemite National Park. Amongst early efforts to work with the NPS, members of the rigging team contacted Yosemite Climbing Rangers before the Taft Point project to ask about any possible issues or aviation concerns about occupying the airspace in the gullies to the west of Taft Point. The team maintained contact with Climbing Rangers throughout the process, and let Rangers know when the line was fully de-rigged to open up airspace again.
In addition to communicating with park officials for the project, the team also communicated to Yosemite Climbing Rangers their efforts to keep modern highline rigging as low-impact as possible. In conjunction with many local Yosemite Highliners, Yosemite Climbing Rangers have come up with a list of best-ethics highline rigging for future slackliners and highliners wishing to highline or establish new lines within Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite National Park Best Practice Highline Rigging
–Thoughtful development– Minimal or no bolts, leaving as little trace as possible and prioritizing natural rigging when establishing new lines. Any bolts placed must be hand-drilled, power-drilling is not allowed. Glue-in bolts are acceptable hardware provided they are well-installed and neat.
–Hand-tagging – Taglines must be established without the use of drones. Drones are illegal to fly recreationally within Yosemite National Park, as they create an aviation hazard for the park Helicopter to fly.
–Anchor notes – Please leave a note attached to the anchor of highlines that will be rigged for multiple days or unattended overnight. Do not leave lines unattended during the day. Please include the following information in anchor notes:
-Contact info with name and phone number
-Dates the line will be up and de-rigged by
-A short clarification of what the highline is so that park visitors who encounter the line unattended do not tamper with equipment. A well-written example Anchor Note is pictured below, courtesy of local Yosemite Highliner Ryan Sheridan
–Abide by other Park Regulations – If camping near remote or wilderness-area highlines, please obtain a valid Wilderness Permit for the nearest trailhead, and follow Leave-No-Trace ethics and wilderness regulations. Camping in the frontcountry (in your vehicle, etc.) outside of designated campgrounds is not permitted inside the park. A bear-canister and proper food storage is required for overnight wilderness permits within Yosemite National Park.
–Communication is key!– For extremely large or high-profile projects, such as the recent California Record 861m Taft Point line, please contact Yosemite Climbing Rangers before the project so that we can ensure the proper avenues are notified and aware. Yosemite Climbing Rangers and other park officials greatly appreciate well-intentioned communication. We want to work together! Additionally, act courteously and be receptive to park visitors who may ask about highlining!
Yosemite Climbing Rangers look forward to working with highliners to build a community of communication and trust, much like the Yosemite Climbing Management program has sought to do with rock climbers of Yosemite Valley. Please feel free to contact Climbing Rangers anytime at yose_climbing@nps.gov.
Written by Christian Black