Highliners in Vancouver: A Connected and Limitless Community

Shaun Haney came to Canada from Australia with a goal. He wanted to establish a new highline within two years while in graduate school for geology. Less than six months after he arrived in Vancouver, he met and exceeded his dream, establishing two new highlines in one weekend.

If you don’t know what highlining is, the sport involves walking on a thin, one-inch wide piece of webbing, tensioned between two anchor points. Highliners wear a harness with a climbing rope attached to the webbing, so they swing below the line when they fall.

For Matthieu, establishing new lines is one of his favourite aspects of the sport.

"You go somewhere that no one has ever been and create. It could be done wrong; it can be done right. So it's nice to just make it the best you can, explore your options, and make things happen. It's very satisfying," said Matthieu.

To determine where to bolt, Matthieu used a hammer and listened to the sound of the rock. A high-pitched "ting ting" means the rock is strong and has no air pockets. A low “tonk tonk” sound means the rock has air pockets and isn’t suitable for bolts.

Drilling into solid rock takes effort. Matthieu and Shaun took turns boring into granite. Before they could bolt, Matthieu realized he forgot some equipment needed for bolting. Evan Willson headed back to Squamish to get the missing tools. Shortly after, one of their drills started to lose power. Matthieu called Evan, who went and picked up another drill. Rigging is a team effort, and the communities' problem-solving ability is part of the sport.

After drilling three holes for one line, the team drilled three more holes for a second line that would be established the next morning.

While highlining is visually appealing, social, and physically demanding, it's also incredibly mental and emotional.

Jason Stephens explained the mental nature of the sport gracefully. One of his favourite stories to tell about his experience on the line is "the self-doubt story."

"While I'm walking, it's almost like there's a timer that goes off in my head and is like, 'Oh, you're due for a fall soon.' Like, I've been on for a certain amount of time, and it feels like that timer is running out," said Jason.

When he's doubting himself, he asks himself questions.

"I think to myself, 'How do you respond to these thoughts?' Right? Like, 'Do I want to analyze them? Do I want to go in on them? Do I want to continue thinking about the topic of self-doubt? Or do I want to replace them with self-love?' And so when a self-doubt thought would come up, I just say 'I love my doubt.' You know, like, I can just be friendly to myself."

This shift helps him stay on the line longer and continue progressing.

Evan Willson said he experiences a spectrum of emotions while highlining.

"Sometimes it is pure bliss and joy. And I can't even describe how happy I am. Other times it can be very frustrating, angry, tiring, exhausting. Overwhelming. But at the end of the day, I know it is always super happy and super fun and full of stoke. But sometimes I just get in my head and I put too many expectations on myself."

Both Evan and Jason have praise for the community and the work that goes into making the sport as safe as possible.

Evan said, "If you want to find yourself, and a community ... if you want to get out of your comfort zone ... then I'd say [try] highlining."

He went on to say that while highlining does seem "dangerous and super, super scary," the community is full of mentors willing to teach.

"Everyone's always stoked to have people learning how to do this safe. Because it's not just our lives, it's everyone else's lives when you're rigging."

As long as people ask questions, carry gear, bring stoke and food, they're welcomed into the community.

"It's always gonna be about the community. Because we're hanging out with everyone all day long. We're sharing laughs, sharing joy, sharing food. We tend to not hang out with other people, other than the highlining community. Just because it brings us all so much joy."

Jason said the community sets highlining apart from other sports.

"What's nice about the community is opposed to other athletic communities [is that] it's not competitive. You have to work as a team to rig. And then you also have to practice trust with your teammates, because often, you only rigged one anchor; you didn't see the other side. But you know the person that did rig that side is someone you truly trust, and you're literally trusting them with your life. That builds a connection. "

When asked how he felt about the project, Shaun said, "fantastic."

However, he went on to explain that "it doesn't feel like a personal achievement. My knee is not great. I'm not good enough to send these lines yet. But the support has been amazing from everyone who came and helped, and everyone who came to check out these new lines."

For Shaun, highlining is everything.

"The vast majority of my friends have come from this community ... I've spent the vast majority of my time exploring the outdoors with these people. They're just so full and giving with love and support and stoke."

While he's accomplished his goal, Shaun has more on the horizon. He hopes to establish, solo rig and send a line - all in one day.