Tuesday afternoon I met four guys in walking on a web strap at Audubon Park's Butterfly section in New Orleans. You may not be familiar with this area because it is also known as "The Fly" at Audubon Park. I thought it was a neat story for PlanetNewOrleans.com so I went over and introduced myself. After just a few minutes, these guys were walking on straps that looked like they could be used as tie downs in the bed of a truck. Rock climbing equipment is exactly what it was, but to me it only looked really narrow and really hard.

These guys get together in a park and just hang out and watch each other walk across what seems to be a string strapped between two trees. They had actually run three straps across four trees to make a u-shape. They would climb on to the webbing barefoot and proceed across. There balance was magnificent and I was impressed at their willingness to take gravity on in a head to head challenge. This is what you do to practice rock climbing skills in Louisiana and specifically New Orleans. If I were ten years younger I would have given it a whack, but my brain overruled any desire to show my abilities or lack there of. Josh Moore, Oliver Doolin, Jeremy Martin, and Paul Les Bourgeois are the guys featured in the video clip. All four were of varying levels of skill in slack lining. They did admit that their skills were still developing. The guys told me that some people can even do 360’s and other tricks on a slack line.