BY: JESSICA BEUKER
Moab, Utah, with its abundance of off-road trails, jagged mountains and rugged terrain, is a dream come true for extreme sports enthusiasts. Every year adventurers from around the world flood the city and take part in whitewater rafting, mountain biking, mountain unicycling, rock climbing, BASE jumping and highlining. This year the adrenaline junkies who belong to the BASE jumping and highlining groups came together to create a playground for extremists—a hand-knitted hammock, dangling in the middle of a canyon void, 400 feet above the rocky, desert ground.
The net, which was named the “Mothership Space Net Penthouse,” brought together athletes from two different worlds for the experience of a lifetime. The idea was dreamed up by avid slackliner Andy Lewis and made a reality through the work of 50 people over three days. They call themselves the Moab Monkeys, a diverse group of athletes and filmmakers who are dedicated to progressing the adventures of human flight, BASE jumping, rock climbing and highlining.
The design can hold up to 15 people at once. To get to the net each person had to walk across one of the five legs, some of which spanned 252 feet. Once they reached the net, they could relax and enjoy the stunning views before leaping from the hole in the middle of the net and landing safely with their parachutes.
The group will gather in the same city next year to try out something new and likely even more extreme. “In the end everyone was very thankful for the new relationships and community that came together because of something bigger than any one person,” wrote Moab Monkeys’ member Brian Mosbaugh on Slackline Media. “We all eagerly await next years’ gathering as history has shown the progression of these sports coming together to create quite the vertical circus of new achievements never before thought possible or conceived.”
To follow more of Moab Monkeys’ adventures check out their Instagram page here.
Sources: Slacklinemedia.com
All photos by Brian Mosbaugh
