If you’re walking around the breezeway Wednesday afternoons, you may catch sight of someone ratcheting a band to two trees next to Colbourn Hall.
While this process may seem strange to some, the result is something called slacklining, a process similar to tightrope walking.
If the process of setting up doesn’t intrigue you, perhaps watching someone jump and flip off the line will change your mind.
The student setting the line up, Matthew Morin, has been doing this for over a year, and enjoys the activity, along with the interest it sparks in others.
“I always get new people talking to me, wanting to try and do it,” Morin said.
The slackline itself is under tension, and flexes with weight as the user moves on it. Think of it as trampoline meets tightrope.
“It’s a great little fun activity,” said Morin. “You can walk on it and do tricks.”
Morin has debated starting a club for the activity, but hesitated after realizing it would be difficult to manage his equipment separately from the gear he would need for the club.
To keep things simple, he just sets up his personal gear for fun, and lets anyone interested try it out.
“I come out with an informal group every Wednesday around 4 p.m. and people come out and have fun and hang out,” Morin said.
