Golden Spire Highline Vid

Hayley, Taylor, Cassie and I walking the Golden Spire Highline in Golden colorado! Cassie sent her first highline this day.....and I jumped off of a highline for the first time (intentionally). Check it out! We had a blast playing around :) Thank you  Hayley for rigging!

Move to Moab

Mike and I just moved to Moab, Utah and are beyond thrilled to be here!!!! It is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been (EVER)....not just because of the landscape, but because of how much there is to do! So far we've gone for a hike with our buddy Ryan to "The Fins"....the picture to the right is where we went. Look @ all that highline potential!! Next time we're going to bring our gear and rig some lines ;-) I really want to get into bolting and establishing my own lines...as soon as I learn how to bolt properly, I'll be sure to post my lines!


We're living  with some friends Trish and Mari Sol. They are GREAT and they're house is beautiful. From the house, there's a view of an enormous Sandstone wall spanning all the way into town, and on the other side - the Lasal Mountains! Theres a horse on the property, two dogs and two cats....not including my dog. I'm pretty much in heaven here already. Below is a view of the mountains from the house, and Mikey chillen in the yard.

 

Mike and I are here for about one more day, and then we're heading back to the Denver area for the holidays. From there, I'm going to Orlando with the Gibbon Team for the SURF Show (an expo of all sorts of ski and snowboard gear...and also the Gibbon booth ;-) )....and then it's going to be super busy until March! I'm glad in a way because the weather isn't super amazing here in Moab for climbing and highlining....and when I get back, I hope its going to be warmer and sunnier! I can't wait to start Trad climbing regularly, and highlining whenever we want!! I'll write soon with more updates and I am busy with Gibbon events!

Here is a video of our recent slack sesh @ the park....Mikey, Me, Canyon (14 years old), Brent, Ryan, and our new roommate Trish :)

Where we live!!

Mike tricklining! Sheesh...

Lets talk about cute!!

View from our new place!

More trickline! As requested

Trickline sesh

Butt bounce combos :)

Myana and I

Me and my cuz.

Myana's Slackline Video

My cousin Myana is 8 years old. She has fallen in love with slacklining and has been practicing for months now. She says  she wants to be like me when she grows up, and this makes me feel like I've accomplished something in life!! That is the biggest and best compliment I could have ever gotten. I made her a video so that the world can know how great she is.  Take a look :)

Andy's song about Slackline!

A song Andy wrote about slackline that I absolutely LOVE. Check it out!

Moab Preview!

Here is a video that my new friend Julien Millot made of our Moab trip....just a little preview of what it was like to be in the desert highlining! Enjoy!


Moab Road Trip Part II : Lifestyle from Julien Millot on Vimeo.

2nd Birthday...1988

Thank God for Papay and his camera.....i now have SO many beautiful photos of my childhood. I am so grateful.

Sissy and Me

Gobble Gobble 2010

Another Thanksgiving in Moab and another unforgettable experience. 8 highlines all in the same location.....36 ft, 37 ft, 75 ft, 92 ft, 115 ft, 130 ft, 165 ft, and 200 ft! I sent all but the last 2....and beat my personal record by sending the 130 footer! What i really wanted was to send the 165 foot line, but couldnt seem to get into the right mindset. I would get about 4 steps and bail out. My legs are still bruised from all the line catches, but thats how i know i tried!

One thing i love about highline trips is challenging myself, but what i love even more is watching and encouraging others as they push themselves further than they have ever gone before. There were quite a few beginners this year and it was so rewarding to see them take it step by step, conquering their innate fear of falling. Only 2 beginners sent.....Davis and Charlie. The rest had trouble standing and walking but every single one got out onto the lines. I was particularly impressed with Taryn....she  took a pretty intense fall onto her leash but didnt let her fear get the best of her and remained calm the entire time. Cassie and Taylor also did a great job getting out there despite their fear!

Some accomplishments of the trip:

Brian Mosbaugh walked his personal record at 165 feet (full man)

Hayley Ashburn walked her personal record at 92 feet (and the line was wicked loose!)

Faith Dickey onsighted her longest line at 165 feet in a swami (full babe)

Andy Lewis free soloed his longest line at 130 feet (full man)

Hayden Nickell sent his longest highline at 130 feet

Jared Alden also sent 130 feet, his longest!

And my man Mike Payton walked his longest highline of 200 feet (full man)

If there are any accomplishments i forgot please let me know!! I want to include everyone.

It was a lot of fun hanging out by the campfire and getting to know everyone. I met some awesome highliners i hadnt met before (Thomas Sloss, Harlan, Tancrede, Julien, Mich, Charlie, Davis, Emily, and Nathan).

The weather was frigid, some nights it was below zero! Mike and i zipped our sleeping bags together so we were pretty warm....we woke up one morning to 3 inches of snow, our bags frozen to the tent and water dripping down onto our heads!

For Thanksgiving a few of us went into town to stay with friends Brent and Canyon.....everyone else stayed and watched Dylan slaughter a live turkey, clean it and cook it over the fire! Im sorry i missed that!

Brents Tree Nets!

Brightest Rainbow Ive Ever Seen

Mini East Coast Tour

Mike and i just finished a mini tour of the east coast that consisted of the Boston Ski Show, a demo at Funtastik Skate Shop in Mechanicsburg PA and two EMS demos.

The Ski Show was super busy and pretty exhausting but a ton of fun. It was Me, Mike, Hayden, Frankie, and Kate as the riders and Emilio and Jaime as well! We stayed with Emilios sister Febe in Tewksbury Mass. and had a great time getting to know her family. We are so grateful to have met her and her husband Leo, her daughter Nikki, and two sons Niko and Jake. They all came to the demo at least once as well. We did about 4 pro demos per day (showing off our skills and teachiing people what slackline is all about). The rest of the time was spent monitoring the lines, making sure everyone was being safe and answering questions. We almost sold out of lines!

The Funtastik Skate Shop demo was by far one of the best demos we have done. This was our second demo for this store and weve become great friends with the owner Aaron and his wife Birdie. They let us stay at their home and Birdies Mom cooked us a traditional PA dutch meal! We LOVED this event. It was for a high school PE program. We did a demo for about 5 classes and taught the kids how to walk the lines and showed them what is possible. Kids are my favorite to teach, especially high schoolers. They arent as afraid and a lot of them want to try tricks! There were a few people trying butt bounces and 360's ! Mike nailed 4 of 5 front flips and wowed everyone and there was this adorable 16 year old kid who asked for my number, haha!

The EMS demos were very slow - but the staff members were excited to learn and kept us company :)

Now were off to Moab for Thanksgiving to rage some highlines!! Its been a while since ive challenged myself on a long highline and i cant wait. Not only that, but there are going to be a lot of people trying highlines for their first time and this is one of my favorite things in the world - seeing people conquer their fear and get across. Eeeek!! My goals are to walk a 150-200 ft highline and at least attempt anything longer. I also want to jump off the highlines from the middle....i did this for the first time a few weeks ago and it was SO fun.

Anyway!! Ill post when i get back from Moab with a ton of epic photos. The people who i expect to walk their first highlines are:

Taylor Fultz, Dan Portik, Brent & Canyon Cain, and Taryn Edmonds. :) Ill be sure to include their progress in the next post!

My Dad 180s

Location : Address not available

my lifestyle

in boston for the ski show...the first day was CRAZY. SO many kids, so many people, eeek!! but it's so much fun watching people discover slackline for the first time. my favorite thing is showing kids what's possible and then watching them try the tricks and jumps. kids are the future of the sport, someday they're gonna be landing stuff we never even dreamed of. this is why i love my job!

getting to slackline with the guys all the time (mike, hayden, frankie, andy, etc) i get to learn SO much and try so much. there are so many things that I would NEVER have tried if I hadnt been encouraged to. for example, front flips! or butt bounce combos. i think my success in slackline can be attributed not only to my drive, but also the the guys (and the few girls) that i hang out with. so a BIG thanks to all of them. not only the guys, but on a rare occasion i get to slackline with women that are pushing the sport as well (like libby, faith, and hayley). this is SO much fun because i don't feel like the only girl in a group of guys anymore. we can swap tricks and ideas and actually be GIRLS. it's nice :) i cant wait to highline with faith and hayley in moab....less than a week til then!

so my life right now is pretty much, purely travel. every week i'm somewhere different slacklining at an event, a demo, or a competition. it's rare that we're in the same place for over a week. this is exciting but also exhausing at times! i am SO glad i get to have this opportunity and see the world before I get old; I am excited though to relax and get my own place. mike and i are going to rent a place in Moab where we can chill on our time off. moab is definitely the place that i want to live....theres SO much to do there, i dont think i could ever get bored. climbing, highlining, cliff jumping, mountain biking, hiking, running, skiing, arrow-head searching.....

anyway - i currently dont have a computer and therefore cant upload pictures (im using other peoples computers right now...). hopefully my computer will be fixed soon and i cant start posting pics again. ill post soon!

Ski Show Denver

Hi all! Just finished the Ski Show in Denver with the team (Mike, Hayden, Hayley, Dan, Frankie, & Chris). We all had an awesome time learning new tricks and getting people stoked on slackline! I leearned how to go onto my tippy toes, then down into a crouch still on tippy toes and also how to turn around! Its one of my new favorite tricks now. After the show, Mike Taylor and I went to a trampoline gym in Denver and worked out jumps, butt bounces and flips! I feel a lot more confident with fronts now. I cant wait to start landing on the line.

Mike and i are now headed to Boston for another ski show. Im excited to be on my home turf ( new england) and also try some flips. And hopefully see my fam!

Anyway! Gotta pack and such....tonight Hayley Mike and I are having a welcome back Andy dinner *he just got back from Italy where he won the first Slackline World Cup!*

Location : 981 11th St, Boulder, CO 80302,

Alexandria

Mike and his neice! Alexandria Payton :0)

Location : 1654-1686 30th St, Boulder, CO 80303,

Women of Slackline

I thought I would share a few videos of the top women in slacklining! (That I know of). I think it's SO important at the beginning of this sport, or any sport for that matter, that women push the envelope and set records in the female category. I believe that in order to push other women, women must stand apart and push EACHOTHER. This is in no way saying that we are less than men and therefore have to be in a separate category; I believe that women and men have different strengths, different weaknesses, and styles...so should be celebrated. Anyway! Below is a compilation of women's videos that I've seen from around the world (many of these girls are my good friends and have been an inspiration to me throughout my slackline career!)


Libby Sauter - USA



Hayley Ashburn and Myself - USA




Faith Dickey - USA

3.03 from vacaspurpuras on Vimeo.


Stephanie Siedel -Germany



Jelena and Ingrid - France


Elli Schulte - Germany


Taylor Fultz - USA


Carol Rangel - Brasil

as of late

i am currently in boulder, colorado staying at my friend hayley's apartment. hayley is a fellow slackliner and one of the only other good females in the sport! mike is busy packing up his things at his parents house as we plan on moving soon! hayley and i are planning on rigging a 500 ft. longline tomorrow to break the current women's world record longline send (given we send, and given we dont get kicked out of the park!). in boulder, we get kicked out almost every time we set up a longline....hopefully tomorrow luck will be on our side.

plans for the next month are pretty busy. first, we have the dever ski and snow show with the gibbon team....then, we fly to boston for another ski and snow show where we will then drive a van down to pennsylvania for another demo with our friends at funtastik skate shop! hopefully while in pennsylvania i will be able to visit my best friend jenelle, who just got married in july!! from there, back to boston, back to boulder and then to moab!!! in moab (my favorite place in the WORLD) we will highline with people from all over the US and abroad. i can't wait!! it's going to be a great place for people to highline for their first time, for the experienced to challenge themselves on long long highlines (anywhere from 100 feet to 300 feet! and maybe longer!). this is one event i look forward to each year, as the community grows more and more people come and the more people i get to meet!

in other news....my grandfather is slowly fading away as he is not in the best of health. for the last year, he has been suffering. all his life, he has been a handyman; always working on something, fixing someones window or door, or railing, or building toys for us....he could never sit still. since he has been sick, he hasnt been able to do anything but sit in a chair with an occasional trip to the bathroom. it as been the biggest challenge of his life, no being able to do what he loves or what makes him feel important. it's been hard for my everyone in the family to see him this way and as he's fading now, i am glad. i am glad that his suffering will end and that he will no longer feel useless in the world as he sits in his chair. i know that he is ready to go, and i am excited for whatever is to come for him after this life. he has been such a loving person in my life, there for every christmas and every birthday. there being his silly little self, cracking jokes and showing the world what hard work really is.

thanks for reading! i will update soon as this next chapter of my life continues.

How cute is my dog!

Location : La Costa Ave, Carlsbad, CA 92009,

Slackline - the worlds newest craze

Frankie, Mike and I are preparing for our America's Got Talent Audition on Sunday. We've been asked to audition by the producers because they've seen some slackline videos online. At first, we didn't want to do it....and I'll tell you why. One - slacklining is a sport, not an act. Two - we don't want to get up there and be labeled as a circus act (like people often do). Slacklining is a sport and a lifestyle, and we want to keep it that way. But, we realized that this is an amazing opportunity to expose millions of viewers to the sport and get the word out there! We don't plan on winning  (and don't think we would). We just  want to show the world what slackline is, and also demonstrate what's possible! Many people that slackline (and i'm not speaking for everyone) can only walk; and the reason for this is because they don't know what the next step is: Tricks! Slackline is similar to parkour, balance beam, and even tight rope walking, but it adds personal style and the attributes of a trampoline. It's bouncy, so you can trick, jump, and even flip! All in the comfort of your own backyard. It's a great challenge for anyone to try - kids, adults, even the elderly!

Keep a look out for us on the Ellen Show, and on America's Got Talent. I want to express why  we've chosen to go on these shows, and please know that we're not steering away from who we are and the lifestyles that we live. Mike and I are still dirtbag's at heart (meaning we love to be on the road, explore, get dirty, and spend most of our time outdoors). Thanks for reading!

Nor'Easter to San Diego!

Hi all! I'm here in San Diego working with Mike and Frankie Najera on our Slackline 101 film for Gibbon.....it's going to be fun :) The film will be for sale at REI, EMS, and other retailers that carry Gibbon Slacklines. Be sure to stay tuned, i'll post when it releases!

Below is a picture of my slackline toys ( I recently acquired, or went broke buying, the rest of my longline set-up!)

Since my last post, Mike and I have been to New Hampshire, Ohio, Colorado, and California.

In New Hampshire, we attended the Nor'Easter Climbing Event! It went really well, our slackline booth was the most popular by far. We got about 10+ people super stoked on slackline and are now following them on facebook and seeing their progress :)

After the Nor'Easter, we went to Pennsylvania to do a demo for  store called FUNTASTIK. It's a skate shop in Mechanicsburg. It was one of our best demos by far. Aaron and Birdie, the owners of the shop set it up so that we did a demo in front of 3 high school gym classes, that are now implementing slackline into their curriculum! the kids were super excited to learn, and very impressed by what we could do on the lines. Some of them were even trying butt bounces as i held their hand! (It took me a while to get the guts to try a butt bounce). We are going back to Funtastik next month to do some more demos - we are so excited to see our new friends Aaron and Birdie again and to teach some more kids to balance!

The Gearfest!

After PA, we headed to Dayton Ohio for the Gearfest. We met up with Team Riders Hayden and Brad and had a blast. The festival actually allowed us to set up a highline!! About 15 feet high and 90 feet  long. It ended up being my first semi free solo (meaning I walked it without a harness) AND Haydens first highline! It was super rad to walk highlines in front of a crowd. Everyone just stopped and stared.

Our set up for people to try :)

Hayden Nickell raging the line!

Then, Mike and I headed back to  Colorado and from Colorado we drove to Humboldt CA for the Humboldt Classic Slackline Competition! It's basically a bunch of hippies and stoners that live there (it was awesome!) It was so great to see everyone again (Jeremy, Andy, Hayley, Phoxx, Jono, Jerry, Susan, and many more!) Mike won first place in the Expert Division and Dan Portik came in second (SO proud! he's progressed so much since I saw him last). I won the women's division and Hayley came in second (I had a blast competing against Hayley, we're on very similar levels and she's such a great high spirted girl). Check out the video below for some footage!




After Humboldt, Mike, Jeremy and I drove down to Berkeley for a Gibbon DEMO at REI. On the way, we drove through the Redwoods!! So beautiful!!

It was a blast to slackline with Nick and Dan in  Berkeley (and Dan graciously let Mike and I crash at his house for a week). Below is a video from the Demo! You may witness some levitation....just sayin.




Now, we're in San Diego working on our Slackline 101 Film with Frankie. I'm psyched to get it done and have it available for sale! While were here, we  have also been invited to audition for Ameritca's Got Talent. I know, right!! We'll see how it turns out (we're not sure how we're going to make slackline into a real SHOW).

Stay tuned......Mike and I are going to appear on the Ellen Degeneres Show in November, AND America's Got Talent in 2011!!

SURF Show --> Pennsylvania

East coast touring these days with Mike. We started in Orlando FL where we worked the SURF Show with a bunch of the Gibbon Team (Hayden Nickell, Brad Schneider, Micki Ricchetti, & Chris Smith). It went really well! Sold out of all the slacklines and there was a constant crowd trying them out. Yayyy slackers!! I discovered this game called "Icing" where if you open something up and theres a Smirnoff Ice there you have to get down on one knee and chug it (apparently this is a 'bro's icing bro's' game in the words of Chris). Anyway, hysterical. See below.



Once the rest of the team left, Mike and I spent a day at Disney World! I got some fun pics with my GoPro cam of the day.

 

So now we are in Pennsylvania staying with our friends Jared and Bess. We havent seen them for about 3 or 4 months so I'm psyched! Their little girl Layla is 1 year old now :) Jared is going to continue on the tour with us until we reach the Nor'easter climbing festival in New Hampshire where we're gonna climb & slackline like crazy! Jared's been asked to photograph some of the professional climbers during the festival, so he's gonna get to watch some epic climbing for sure.

Anyway, all for now....

Surf Show Day 3 - Hangovers

v
The Gibbon Team is hungover at the Surf Show in Orlando....hehe.

Accidental portrait

Just bought myself a GoPro camera and while trying to figure it out i took a pretty cool shot of myself at the ampitheatre in boulder, co.

things since may

it's been since april or may since i've written!!! a lot has happened, and i am excited to write about it all.

me on my dad's home line!

first: mike and i were sent to the east coast for some gibbon touring AND we got to spend some time in new hampshire, climbing at rumney with our friends jared, bess, and their darling baby layla! the tour was fun - we got to drive from colorado -> pennsylvania all the way to maine - into canada, and then BACK to colorado. it was tons of driving, but some of the demos were GREAT - as well as our attempt to get into canada with an enterprise van full of slacklines and metal structures. we were treated like bandits! mike almost lost it (and he NEVER gets that way). needless to say, we made it into the country but were informed that if we didnt leave in one week, there would be a warrant our for our arrest. NICE.



after the tour, we climbed. and i have to say. that week is when i actually progessed the most, ever, in my climbing. we would climb all day, almost every day. jared and mike were also up for really hard climbs, so bess and i had to try them! i lead my first 5.10, with many more, AND one 5.11a. i felt fearless! it was also great to spend time with such awesome people, i hope to see them again soon (and layla!!). please  check out www.jaredphotography.com to see some of jareds work. you'll enjoy it, i promise.

after the tour, mike was shipped off to germany for slackline events and competitions. so, i was left on my own for the first time with no place to live and no plans. being a nomad and living that lifestyle with mike as a companion was one thing, but ALONE?!  it was one of the scariest things i ever had to face. just me and my dog. what to do? for the first couple of days. i stayed with my friend evan in boulder, co. he's a ginger (just had to put that in there). evan will always be the guy who took me for my first trad climb. and it was the beginning of my obsession with getting my own trad gear! (for those of you who don't know what trad climbing is - it means that there are no bolts in the rock for you to easily clip into. to trad climb, you need gear that will fit inn the natural cracks and features of the rock, so that if you fall, that gear will save you.). my first trad climb was a 5.7 in boulder canyon at a place called "the blobs". it was a blast!!!! i now have my own set of nuts and am saving up to buy my first cams. thanks evan!

after boulder, i continued on to moab, utah (pretty much my favorite, and the most beautiful place in the US). there, i stayed with my friends brent and canyon and got to climb, slackline, and goof off for a month! in moab, i lead my second trad climb, called "lucy in the sky over potash" and it's rated 5.10a. i climbed it a bunch of times on top-rope first to feel comfortable, and then lead it trad . so terrifying, yet so amazing at the same time. i spent most of my time climbing, hanging around the water holes with my dog, helping to weave the tree nets in brents yard (see photo below) and meeting awesome people @ free lunch (if you go to moab theres a free lunch provided for anyone, offered by volunteers: please attend free lunch, u will meet amazing folk guaranteed - including a gentleman who's live for 10 years without utilizing money AT ALL).

these are the tree nets - brent taught me out to 

weave, and i was addicted!

this is my friend ross, be-"laying"

and this is my beezer, playing in the water :)

when i would get sick of moab (which was hard to do) i would drive about an hour to terry's house in fruita colorado. there, he has a sanctuary of slacklines (longlines, highlines, 100 foot chains, you name it), not to mention the location is astounding. so, i would crash there for a few days, spend my alone time, and then trek back into moab for some more adventuring.

eventually, finally, after what it felt like a millenium: mike returned! i picked him up in salt lake city, where we stayed for the outdoor retailer show with the gibbon crew! such a blast - we got to meet all of the team members from across the country (neil, micki, hayden, brad, and new  employee in the office : glynde!) glynde is 48 years old. glynde throws back flips off of the slackline. also, he rides skateboards on his hands in the middle of the night....see video below.

http://www.facebook.com/emily.sukiennik?v=app_9953271133#!/video/video.php?v=521141367040&subj=1068669277


alas, mike and i are back to colorado where we park it for a few weeks, and then fly to san diego, ca for the action sports retailer show for gibbon. which was, a blast! we stayed in this GORGEOUS house with a pool, a hot tub, a sauna in one of the bathrooms....you  name it. we had fun at the house, and also rocked it at the show. we had a competition which gathered a crowd, and hayden nickell won! congrats to him. his prize: a brad new surf line, AND to compete against alpha mike (yes, my boyfriend mike). below are a few pics fro, the show (oh - and we were across from the miss reef 2011 photo gallery booth thingy- which we gibbonized).

no caption.

that's all for now. enjoy! :-)

Moab...coolest place ever!!

Hanging out in Moab, Utah ROCKS. It is definitely my new favorite place in the US!!! Mike and I have been doing a lot of highlining and climbing here, and are staying with friends Brent and Canyon (who have so graciously let us crash on their couch). We accompanied Andy Lewis as he rigged the World Record Highline of 330 feet and have been attempting the line until a few days ago. The line turned out to be WAY too heavy to walk!! The record was 28 steps, which is surprising considering Mike and Andy are two of the best highliners in the world. Here is a video that I made summarizing the trip :)




The line was really intimidating, super loose and super heavy. The boys tried so hard that they completely exhausted themselves both mentally and physically (you shoulda seen the bruises!!) I didn't really focus my energies on the world record line. Seeing the two of them fail really didn't give me much hope. So, I focused more on the 120 footer that would be my personal record if I walked it. This line had only been rigged once before by Dean Potter, who did a B.A.S.E jump off of it. Andy rigged the line and I avoided it for about a day. I didn't want to think about it until I was actually ready and standing up to walk. When I did....I was completely in the zone. I didn't want to fall. I didn't want to have to crawl back to the beginning and try 10 more times, so I pressed on as hard as I could. I lost my balance due to fear a couple of times but fought it, hard. In the middle I had the most trouble...I started to think about where I was, the exposure, the risk of falling and having to begin again; but, then I heard Andy's voice..." calm, relax em....breathe!!!". So, i did. I relaxed and I felt my entire body let go of all its tension.  I tried to hold that until the end....and when I got there I realized that I had on-sighted Dean Potter's B.A.S.E line. EEK!!! My biggest accomplishment yet. Not only was it my longest highline, but my longest on-sight. I was satisfied. I tried to walk back, but was completely distracted by the accomplishment so I let it go and basked in the glory of beating my personal record :)

Here is a photo of me on the line!

Some other accomplishments:

Ryan Matson walked his first highline ever, along with three others! (22 feet, 47 feet, 66 feet an 92 feet)

Justin Adkins also walked his first highline and all three of the others!

Libby Sauter and myself both walked our first highline in a swami belt (meaning no leg loops....so if you fall, it could potentially hurt quite a bit).

Hayley Ashburn sent her longest highline of 66 feet!

Andrew Tysinger sent the 66 footer after quite a bit of hesitation, or what we call "The Fear"

Taylor Fool did a tyrollean on a highline: her first highline experience!

Brent and Canyon Cain both did a Tyrollean and Canyon also did some intentional whippers (he threw his body out into the abyss)!

and MUCH more was accomplished during the trip.


We also did some climbing as well, which was fun for me because I haven't in such a long while! Brent and Canyon put up some routes for us and I was honestly amazed at Canyon's ability....he's 13 years old and leads 5.13 TRAD!!! Here are some shots:

Canyon Leading

 That's all for now!! Mike and I are off to the East Coast to do demos for Gibbon and to climb/highline as well! I'll be sure to update soon.

  Amazing sunset the other night....

Knee still hurts. Not good! I'm a bit concerned that it won't be healed in time for the trail, which would be a big bummer. Injuries are no fun!! It's so hard not to climb and slackline as usual. I feel so....trapped! I just want to move around, but I'm stuck sitting on my butt. I guess I should stop whining about it and be patient (patience is a virtue, right?).

Anyway, in better news....my last day at work is tomorrow and then I am going to Indianapolis for Gibbon to slackline with Jeremy. I'm gonna have to take it easy because of my knee, of course, but it should be fun! Then after that I start packing and moving out of my apartment. Eek!! A new chapter shall begin. Mike and I will head to Boulder, CO where his parents live....and we'll hang out around there for a little while and see how my knee progresses. From there, we'll figure out the next step. I've always wanted to check out Boulder, so I'm psyched about that! And of course seeing all the slackers that live there.

Hollywood and Santa Monica Beach Trip!

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I were sent down to Hollywood for a Television show called "The Doctors" on CBS. We were representing Gibbon Slacklines and were on the show to demonstrate and explain why slacklining is great for the body! I had never been on television before so it was a bit nerve racking at first. We had to do a rehearsal the day before the taping, which was very relaxed and kinda silly...."stand here, but don't stand there! don't stand too close to this guy...he needs his space. be sure to be excited. but don't talk too much. be brief!" I tried to obey all of the rules :) We made up a little slackline routine and Mike had to bow afterwards. SOOO not him! Anyway....it was quite the experience and I'm glad I got to go. It was cool to see what goes on behind the scenes! So many cameras, sooo many people with different jobs to do (lighting, maintenance, stand in's, audience that claps at certain times, people that give you the microphones, people that escort you to and from, make-up and hair stylists, etc). It was totally weird seeing myself on TV.....not sure I liked it. I had to wear gobs of make-up too which wasn't fun! Mike certainly didn't enjoy that part either.

After the show, we had the whole day to ourselves so we went to Muscle Beach in Santa Monica and hung out by the water, ate at "Bubba Gump Shrimp" just like in Forrest Gump (which we had watched the night before!), and slacklined over the sand. Met some really great people that day! I'm really glad I got to go and have that experience.

25 Random Things About Me! (This is what happens when it's slow at work...)

1) I am addicted to chapstick. I keep it by my bedside just in case I wake up in a fit of chapped lips.

2) I can walk highlines thousands of feet off the ground, but I cannot willfully jump off of things. It terrifies me!

3) I laugh hysterically when people fall down to the ground (and are alright, of course). Sometimes it get me in trouble :-P

4) I was the most bratty/selfish little girl you would ever meet (don't worry, I realized it, and I've changed).

5) I really don't like being around negative people.

6) Sometimes, I have the strangest urge to swim in extremely cold water.

7) I have an affinity to balancing (gosh, it's fun!).

8) I absolutely love dogs. I LOVE them. If I'm grouchy, show me a dog and I'll be instantly cured.

9) If I could live at any point in time, I would choose to live with the Native Americans. They truly lived life fully, and in a way that I would love to experience! No creature comforts.

10) I believe in many, many different kinds of love.

11) I'm terrified of childbirth.

12) I keep a box of letters that I've received throughout my life, from friends and family, and read them about once or twice a year. It truly refreshes me and helps me gain perspective on how much things have changed, and how much things will always change. It's also nice to reminisce!

13) I have recurring dreams that I can fly, but I only do it at night when no one can see me.

14) I think that happiness is a choice, and I've chosen it.

15) One of my favorite words is "Sneeze".

16) I'd like to experience as many new and different things as possible in my lifetime.

17) I've lived in 8 US states and hope to live in many more!

18) I was born with a large red birthmark on my left shin that looked exactly like a rose. People would ask WHY my Mom tattooed her daughter. The birthmark disappeared around age 3 or 4. Strange!

19) After all the sports I've participated in (pretty much every sport under the sun) I've NEVER broken a bone. Lucky me!

20) My Dad had me on ice hockey skates when I was 6 years old. Then when I was 7, I was the only girl on an all boys hockey team. Such a tom-boy!

21) When my sister was born, I suggested that she be named either "Booshoo or Clupup". They proceeded to name her "Malorie Kathleen" which didn't stick. They changed it later on to "Kristen Renee".

22) I think that society has created a very skewed view of life in general. 

23) The only thing I want to spend my money on is Gear and Travel!

24) My mother is the most loving, caring, and intuitive woman I have ever known. As Jenelle says, she is a kindred spirit.

25) I really hope the world doesn't end in 2012. I'm having too much fun!

Recent Turn of Events!

Instead of continuing on with life as planned, I've recently decided to hike the Appalachain Trail this Spring/Summer/Fall! How crazy is that? AlphaMike asked me to hike it with him, and my gut reaction was YES! So, why not? I'm a believer in following your gut, and I've always wanted to experience pure simplicity, freedom from society, absolute connection with nature, and living at it's most basic form. I'm beyond psyched for this experience.....but also quite nervous about the physical difficulty. I've always been an athlete, so I know I can do it. I guess I'm referring more to the mental struggle it will take to keep going for 2,178 miles. Eek!! This will be a life changing experience, no doubt about it. The cool thing about it, too, is that I'll end up in the northeast and I'll get to see my family! Yahooeeey!

Here is a picture/map of the trail. We're starting at the end of March/Beginning of April and it should take approximately 5 months. We're going South ---> North (well, so far that's the plan). More details to come!

It's been so long!!!

Recent Epiphanies!

* You must give in order to receive. I know this sounds cliche, but I truly believe this. I think the world works in mysterious ways and will give to you only after you give to others. Try it! It works! And it feels amazing.

* LET IT BE. Seriously, just do. You can't plan for the future because things are always changing! You can never predict what is going to come your way.....and isn't that fun?!?

* PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE. I know it's hard not to rush and want things right away, but the fun is in the wait!!! If you just accept that, you will experience pure joy. I know I have :)

* If you can't figure out the answer, just wait....it'll come. I've finally discovered that there IS such a thing as "just knowing"...I've always been skeptical of this feeling, but it does exist!!!

Anyway, those are a few things I wanted to share with the world because they have come to me at the perfect time. 

Here are a few pics from my recent travels!