One thing I’m very passionate about is promoting and pushing other girls in this sport. So I’ve organized the Girls Only Slackline Festival every year in Czech Republic. …For me the coolest thing about Girls Only Slackline Festival is that the girls who come there are there because they love the sport. There’s no other reason to be there. They just want to highline. They want to try their hardest and accomplish something.
~Faith Dickey1
~Faith Dickey1
About two years ago I stumbled across a video on a blog. When I started watching, it was just another highline video. Basically really cooler-than-me people, doing really awesome things. I'd done no more than vaguely fantasize about highlining—it was far beyond my skill, gear, technical expertise, and community ties. I had no idea, no inkling, as I watched that the video would eventually take me a third of the way around the world and to actually highlining myself.
The video was from a Girl's Only Slackline Festival hosted by That Slackline Girl, Faith Dickey. It wasn't until after, as I read the video's description, that my brain wheels started turning: a festival—a place where strangers and novices might be welcome to tag along. In the Czech Republic—I love the Czech Republic. Suddenly the thing became a golden-cloaked dream and a concrete goal.
At the time, a trip to Europe was beyond my resources. Knowing though that such a thing as a slackline festival existed led me to search out the All Girls Slackline Festival in Moab last year, a wonderful experience and my introduction to highlining.
Wanting still to work highlining, I watched for other such opportunities. Unfortunately none of the festivals in the States that I knew about worked with my schedule. So when a promotion at work provided a boost in my resources, I decided to take my courage in hand, hop on a plane, go a third of the way around the world, and try out highlining in my favorite foreign country.
Like so many journeys, this one began in the dark of early morning. Thirty hours, 6,000 miles (9.700 kilometers), and two new friends later, I arrived at the festival site—thanks to the combined navigating efforts of those new friends—as dusk was turning to dark. It wouldn't be until the next morning that I saw and appreciated the beauty we were surrounded by.
The dark, however, made the warmth of a house and the greetings of the other girls that much brighter. That weekend thirty female slackliners, from a dozen countries, conversing in more than half a dozen languages participated in the sixth annual Girls Only Slackline Festival (GOSF), hosted by Faith Dickey.
Our base camp was Autokemp Pod Císařem, a campground resort with tent sites and a pub as well as small huts and houses and rooms. The name of the place means “The Campground under the Emperor.” Since it wasn’t situated at the base of an “emperor” mountain as far I could see, the name didn’t make much sense to me. That is until one night when I realized that I’d eaten my meals and used the WIFI in the pub sitting underneath a framed bust of Emperor Franz Joseph.
Besides hanging out at the pub, our group completely took over a large building on the outskirts of the camp, which, incredibly, had nearly enough beds for all of us. The Autokemp took very good care of us. And after sleeping overnight in a plane, that fully horizontal bed was a wonderful sight that first night.
Daylight found me marveling in the verdant bowl of a U-shaped valley where the tiny settlement Ostrov and our campground are situated. Exposed cliffs and pinnacles rose out of the trees along both rims. It is terrain ready made for highlining, and much of it incredibly easy walking distance from our front door. The best one word description of the place I heard: magical. The rock formations, the forest definitely had the magic of fairytales, and also the magic of…possibilities, of real life dreams achieved.
The festival itself was fairly unstructured, except of course for Saturday night in the pub when we all gathered for group pictures and the passing out of swag—earned in a competition of bouldering the table (which attracted the interest of more than a few locals). During the day we split up, according to our interests, visiting the various highlines and the longline…and the pub for food and WIFI. Food, friends, fun, and a festival of slacklines…how could it not be an awesome experience?
Being surrounded by so many incredible women—who are also slackliners and highliners—was interesting, entertaining, even a little intimidating, and very much inspiring. Since I’ve been practicing on basic equipment, rubbing shoulders with experienced riggers was a treat; there is so much to learn. And now Faith, the event organizer, one of the best slackliners in the world, is someone I’ve actually met, not just someone I’ve seen in blog videos.
I had a fantastic time. So a big thanks to the Faith, Autokemp Pod Císařem, festival sponsors, riggers…and of course new friends.
Yes, yes I know you want to hear about my experience highlining (at least I assume you do). After struggling for weeks to find the words to describe my experience at the festival...I found I actually have a lot I want to put down in words. Several smaller posts rather than one gigantic one seemed like a good idea.
So, coming up next: my first highline!
The video was from a Girl's Only Slackline Festival hosted by That Slackline Girl, Faith Dickey. It wasn't until after, as I read the video's description, that my brain wheels started turning: a festival—a place where strangers and novices might be welcome to tag along. In the Czech Republic—I love the Czech Republic. Suddenly the thing became a golden-cloaked dream and a concrete goal.
At the time, a trip to Europe was beyond my resources. Knowing though that such a thing as a slackline festival existed led me to search out the All Girls Slackline Festival in Moab last year, a wonderful experience and my introduction to highlining.
Wanting still to work highlining, I watched for other such opportunities. Unfortunately none of the festivals in the States that I knew about worked with my schedule. So when a promotion at work provided a boost in my resources, I decided to take my courage in hand, hop on a plane, go a third of the way around the world, and try out highlining in my favorite foreign country.
Like so many journeys, this one began in the dark of early morning. Thirty hours, 6,000 miles (9.700 kilometers), and two new friends later, I arrived at the festival site—thanks to the combined navigating efforts of those new friends—as dusk was turning to dark. It wouldn't be until the next morning that I saw and appreciated the beauty we were surrounded by.
The dark, however, made the warmth of a house and the greetings of the other girls that much brighter. That weekend thirty female slackliners, from a dozen countries, conversing in more than half a dozen languages participated in the sixth annual Girls Only Slackline Festival (GOSF), hosted by Faith Dickey.
Our base camp was Autokemp Pod Císařem, a campground resort with tent sites and a pub as well as small huts and houses and rooms. The name of the place means “The Campground under the Emperor.” Since it wasn’t situated at the base of an “emperor” mountain as far I could see, the name didn’t make much sense to me. That is until one night when I realized that I’d eaten my meals and used the WIFI in the pub sitting underneath a framed bust of Emperor Franz Joseph.
Besides hanging out at the pub, our group completely took over a large building on the outskirts of the camp, which, incredibly, had nearly enough beds for all of us. The Autokemp took very good care of us. And after sleeping overnight in a plane, that fully horizontal bed was a wonderful sight that first night.
Daylight found me marveling in the verdant bowl of a U-shaped valley where the tiny settlement Ostrov and our campground are situated. Exposed cliffs and pinnacles rose out of the trees along both rims. It is terrain ready made for highlining, and much of it incredibly easy walking distance from our front door. The best one word description of the place I heard: magical. The rock formations, the forest definitely had the magic of fairytales, and also the magic of…possibilities, of real life dreams achieved.
The festival itself was fairly unstructured, except of course for Saturday night in the pub when we all gathered for group pictures and the passing out of swag—earned in a competition of bouldering the table (which attracted the interest of more than a few locals). During the day we split up, according to our interests, visiting the various highlines and the longline…and the pub for food and WIFI. Food, friends, fun, and a festival of slacklines…how could it not be an awesome experience?
Being surrounded by so many incredible women—who are also slackliners and highliners—was interesting, entertaining, even a little intimidating, and very much inspiring. Since I’ve been practicing on basic equipment, rubbing shoulders with experienced riggers was a treat; there is so much to learn. And now Faith, the event organizer, one of the best slackliners in the world, is someone I’ve actually met, not just someone I’ve seen in blog videos.
I had a fantastic time. So a big thanks to the Faith, Autokemp Pod Císařem, festival sponsors, riggers…and of course new friends.
Yes, yes I know you want to hear about my experience highlining (at least I assume you do). After struggling for weeks to find the words to describe my experience at the festival...I found I actually have a lot I want to put down in words. Several smaller posts rather than one gigantic one seemed like a good idea.
So, coming up next: my first highline!
1 Interview with Faith Dickey for the Girls Only Slackline Festival III. Video by kletterkiddie at https://vimeo.com/69651238.
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