Conflux 2018 — Pittsburgh’s Inaugural Urban Slackline Festival

Alex Wallace
Sep 1, 2018 · 6 min read

On the eve of June 30, slackliners along the East Coast hastily packed for the weekend’s adventure. The city of Pittsburgh centers around a confluence of waterways, which, over the natural history of the region, have shaped the geography into rolling green hills. Bridges and tunnels now characterize Pittsburgh and provide the fundamental infrastructure for a city that slacklining could call home. After over a year of hard work by members of the Pittsburgh slacklining community, the city’s first urban slacklining festival was just around the corner.

For years the city has been home to a passionate group of slacklining enthusiasts who explored the city with a keen eye for opportunity. As the community grew, they began to expand the horizons of where slacklining was possible in Pittsburgh. Recognizing the potential for collaboration with similarly minded outdoor organizations, the original grass-roots members incorporated into “Steel City Slackers” in March of 2017.

Steel City Slackers (SCS) is now the face of slacklining in Pittsburgh. The organization is centered around community building and spreading safe rigging knowledge. SCS coordinates outdoor stewardship efforts focused at revitalizing underutilized public space, hosts events for the local climbing gym ASCEND: Pittsburgh, leads slacklining nights at the Carnegie Science Center, and, most relevant to this article, spearheaded the planning of Pittsburgh’s first slackline festival: Conflux.

Invitations were sent out to slackliners all over the East Coast, drawing attendance from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia. Four of Pittsburgh’s top locations were scouted to host various types of slacklines. A guide was compiled to ensure everything runs smoothly for out-of-staters. Most importantly, free hoagie catering was secured from Lebo Subs.


June 30th: Conflux Day 1

The festival was to take place over the course of two days. Day one would feature three separate locations: highlining near Emerald View with stunning views of the skyline, waterlining over the Allegheny River, and parklining on Herrs Island. The beauty of the event was that the three locations were all within a 15 minute bike ride of each other, allowing festival goers to easily bounce between whichever location they chose. Out-of-towners were even able to rent bikes from Pittsburgh’s public bike share.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Coe. Special thanks to Marshall for attending this spot all day.

The “basecamp” for the day was market street pier where waterlines offered reprieve from the oppressive Pittsburgh heat. Here, two lines (Kill Bill and Feather, both rigged by Marshall) were set up at the pier over the water. Goofy grins adorned the happy-go-lucky festival goers as they climbed out of the water, remounted the slackline, and walked over the wiggly bridges until they inevitably splashed into the water to rinse and repeat.

Photo courtesy of Bronson Lockwood. Special thanks to Jeremy and Matt for rigging the Emerald View lines and to Chelsea for being the attendant.

A short bike ride away, two highlines were perched in Pittsburgh’s urban canopy of lush green trees. These lines, along Mount Washington, overlook Point State park where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River. A well positioned hammock or camp chair could keep the slackers beneath the shade of the lush green trees while they hung out by the anchors. Once they walked out on the line, the hot sun sucked the water out of their bodies, constantly requiring rehydration. Regardless of whether it was a seasoned slackliner, effortlessly walking the lines, or a first timer unable to mount the line, the thrill of exploring comfort zones energized people as they explored their relationship with the line.

Photo courtesy of Bronson Lockwood. Special thanks to Tyler for being the Washington’s Landing Attendant.

The third location hosting slackline happenings was Washington’s Landing on Herrs Island. Here slackers rigged parklines, hammocks, and space-nets to relax and get wiggly in the park. A 150' longline challenged seasoned slackers as they carefully inched across the webbing suspended in the air. Speakers played music while slackers sipped juice boxes in the shade courtesy of Adam. In true form, the slack community worked seamlessly to make this event come together. Individuals lent a helping hand left and right to make this day possible logistically.

In the evening, everyone met up at local restaurant incubator Federal Galley to enjoy some delicious eats. The food court style dining made it easy to accommodate the large group. Some slackers left dinner around dusk to bike to Emerald View. Back at the top of the city, the sunset cast beautiful colors over the skyline while slackers got some final steps in before it was time to de-rig.

July 1st: Conflux Day 2

Day two was structured differently than day one. Rather than host different sites to bounce around, three midlines would be rigged at Seldom Seen Greenway where the festival could all come together and slackline.

Photo courtesy of Bronson Lockwood.

Typical Pittsburgh terrain allows for a hybrid of trees and industrial steel to be used as anchors to rig three midlines. These shorter lines provide festival goers a day of midlining in the trees with friends. The unique spot allows for three people to walk on lines nearly parallel to each other, providing the unfamiliar experience of being suspended in the air next to people.

Photo courtesy of Bronson Lockwood. Special thanks to Jeremy, Bronson, and Adam for rigging the lines and Ben for rigging the spacenet.

Free sandwich catering arrived thanks to community partner Lebo Subs. The news of free subs spread like wildfire among the slackers, incurring cheers from the hungry hippies. Fiddle playing filled the air while some slackers dipped in the stream. Others walked high above, carefully balanced and focused, while occasional climbers populated the sport climbing routes beneath them.

The joy of spending time outside in the company of friends that feel like family is inspiring and rejuvenating. Exploring the city in new ways, playing like a child, and remembering what it’s like to feel boundless left everyone giving heartfelt goodbyes as Conflux came to and end.

Given the great success of the inaugural year, Steel City Slackers is excited to host Conflux 2019 with more information to come in the fall. If you would like to get involved with stewardship efforts spearheaded by Steel City Slackers, reach out to them through their website here.


This event would not have been possible without the tireless effort of outstanding community driven members of Steel City Slackers and the slackline community. Special thanks to the core members of SCS for everything they do for the community and the environment. Thanks to Wade for his vision, commitment, and hard-work that went into making Conflux a reality. Thanks to Rachel for her amazing work coordinating the event and working with the community to ensure everything works smoothly. Travis, for generously lending gear to make rigging possible. Shout out to Dean for bringing along his creative eye for photography and camera equipment to create great content for Steel City Slackers.

Alex Wallace

Written by

Recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh where I studied Mechanical Engineering. Currently living in a 2010 Honda Odyssey Mini Van life-ing it up

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