Walking on Air
It’s only been about four months since Matt Colvin began slacklining. Now, you can see him doing back flips off the 2-inch-thick rope. Colvin picked up the hobby when he was on vacation with friends and hasn’t been able to stop since.
At first glance, a slackline could be mistaken for a tightrope. However, the flat rope is a little thicker and you can usually find it set up a few feet off of the ground. The line can be set up pretty much anywhere, “all you really need is two trees,” the Montclair State undeclared freshman said. For the most part, you’ll pass him on the student center quad hovering in between two trees closer to Schmidt Hall.
At first, Colvin admitted that he was “really bad at it.” However, he wanted to get better at the trade so he bought one for himself and kept working at it. “I’m not afraid to fall,” Colvin said. The amateur slackliner can now not only walk across the line with ease but has mastered his own set of tricks.
Click Here to see the backflip for yourself -> https://vimeo.com/185414302
He can walk halfway across the rope, lay down and then prop himself back up. He can bounce himself from the ground to a standing position and for an always ‘in-awe’ reaction, he can back flip off of the rope onto the ground. However, he has bigger things in mind, “I want to learn how to land back on the rope after doing the back flip,” Colvin said.
He enjoyed what he was doing so much, he wanted to share it with his fellow students. Colvin sets up the slackline at least once a day when the weather’s nice hoping to attract students to come and try it out. Colvin is always willing to help out anyone who wants to attempt it. He’ll reach his hand into the air to give any newbies some stability as they inch their way across.
“Look at the tree in front of you, don’t look at the line — it moves too much” — this is the advice Colvin will tell you if you ask him for a turn. No socks — Colvin recommends you wear shoes or go bare foot when you try your luck on the slackline.
Senior John Reilly was one of the students that Colvin drew in. “For the past few weeks I saw the slack liner doing his thing and I was instantly hooked,” Reilly said. “I really wanted to try it for myself.” That’s just what he did — with Colvin’s help of course. Reilly admitted he was scared at first but, with Colvin’s help, was very encouraged. “I want to try it again and be able to walk across without his aid,” Reilly said.
Colvin doesn’t expect anyone to make it across on their first try. His hopes are simply that they want to try again. “You have one person out of the ten people who try it who want to come back the next day and want to learn more,” Colvin said — and there are already people coming back to learn more. “It’s cool seeing the faces come back,” he said.
Colvin wants to start a club next semester and that those interested students will come back and join. His plan is to incorporate other students on campus with unique talents — juggler, Ted Paz, and yo-yoer Max Samuels to name a few. Paz and Samuels have been showing off their skills around campus for over a year now, always willing to share their tips with students.
“It’s the idea of street performance,” Colvin said. “It’s juggling, yo-yoing, slacklining, devil sticks — just cool random talents that people enjoy watching.” Their hopes are to raise money through their performances and in turn donate it to their favorite charities at the end of the day.
Colvin is soaking up the last weeks of his time walking above the quad. He is still trying to find a place to set up the slackline inside before the weather gets too cold.
Until then, he’s working on turning his hobby into a club. For now, if you’re willing to muster up the courage to give slacklining a try, Colvin is more than willing to help you out. If you don’t see him on the quad, you’ll find him. Remember, all you need is two trees.
— This article was taken from The Montclarion.
