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One inch is the length of a blade of grass， a baby carrot， a toothpick. It is the 1）proverbial next to nothing.
But for 2）slackliners， this tiniest of measurements is the key to their sport.
First， a definition： Slacklining is not 3）tightrope walking. No offense to 4）Nik Wallenda and his recent 5）mammoth Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon crossings， but slacklining is a different discipline altogether. A tightrope， as the name implies， is a half-inch wire stretched 6）taut. There is no 7）give to the line， and the performer’s balance and center of gravity are 8）augmented by carrying a pole dozens of feet long.
Slacklining takes place on inch-wide stretchy webbing anchored across a gap.
Because it is 9）pliable， a slackline is responsive to the elements—in particular the wind and the movement of athletes as they walk across. While a tightrope just lies there， a slackline 10）oscillates， and walkers can end up clinging to a line that’s behaving like a jump rope whipped around by a sugar-fueled elementary school kid.
“Instead of controlling the line and walking it， you’re 11）along for the ride，” says Hayden Nickell， a 22-year-old professional slackliner from Nederland， Colorado. “You have to walk in these weird intervals. As the line goes up， you have moments where you can take eight steps. At the opposite， you’re out of control and you’re at the mercy of the line and the wind.”
Once 12）relegated to parks and beaches as a hobby of the 13）hippier-than-thou， slacklining is now branching out into professional disciplines： tricklining， where performers combine gymnastics and 14）choreography at competitions； urbanlining， which 15）eschews the chasms of nature for the canyons between buildings； and yogalining， which adds 16）asanas for those balancing on the line.
The most spectacular 17）incarnation， though， is highlining， where a slackline is 18）rigged hundreds of feet in the air， in awe-inspiring locations both natural and man-made—Yosemite National Park， Hell Roaring Canyon in Utah， the 19）Las Vegas Strip—bringing national attention to this 20）nascent 21）daredevil sport. Protected from falling by nothing more than a leash around the waist or ankle， slackliners constantly respond to the dynamic changes in balance underfoot.
“It’s like surfing，” Nickell says. “You wait for the good set to come in. You wait for the wind to die out and then you have a 15-to-20-minute window to go out there and do your thing. Then another set of wind will come in and you back off for a minute.” The wind gives the highline an 22）ominous sound， an 23）eerie plucked bass note as the webbing 24）reverberates in between its anchors. When a walker looks ahead on a slackline， the brain can only register a certain amount of height through its 45 degrees of 25）peripheral vision—at more than 100 feet in the air， it’s pretty much a wash， Nickell says. Going up higher—300， 400， 500 feet—doesn’t create a 26）perceptible difference. But that’s when the chattering monkeys in your head start up.
“In your mind， you’re thinking ‘instant death’as opposed to only being merely mangled at the bottom，” Nickell says. “The highline is a direct reflection of how you’re feeling on the inside. If you’re nervous， if you’re thinking about anything， all of a sudden the line is all f*cked up and you’re like， ‘Ohhhh no！’ ”
For the sport’s 27）adherents， it’s this blend of acute concentration and life-or-death risk that makes the pursuit of slacklining a near-spiritual endeavor. Andy Lewis， 27， has a résumé that should be the envy of any athlete in a 28）niche sport： He holds multiple slackline world records： In October 2013， he set the urban highlining world record by walking a 360-foot-long line 480 feet up at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. He’s been the star of numerous slackline videos in gorgeous locales—he lives in Moab， Utah—and he performed alongside Madonna during the halftime show at the 2012 Super Bowl.
But， honestly， he couldn’t care less about all that.
“Why can’t I call slacklining a religion？”he asks. “The lifestyle behind slacklining has all the metaphors： One step at a time. Keep in balance. Control your fate. It directly translates to life.”
Lewis has the word “Slacklife” tattooed on his arm and earned the nickname 29）Sketchy Andy from his more 30）adrenalinefueled endeavors， including 31）base jumping off slacklines and 32）free-solo highlining， where he doesn’t wear a protective leash as he walks across lines hundreds of feet up. Lewis believes that pushing the limits is the essence of slacklining， and as the sport continues to grow， he will conquer longer， higher and more dazzling lines to feed his soul—even if it terrifies the public.
“People don’t want to watch you do things like that，” Lewis says. “But it’s horrible that today in life， there’s no respect for skill anymore. People are too afraid to take risks nowadays.”
一英寸，是一片草叶的长度，也是一根小甘笋、一根牙签的长度。在众人的口中，这“一英寸”根本就等同“无物”。 然而，对于走扁带者来说，这最细小的计量单位正是这项运动的关键所在。
首先，我们来看一下定义：走扁带与走钢丝不同。这么说对尼克·瓦伦达和他最近穿越尼亚加拉大瀑布和大峡谷的壮举没有半点冒犯之意，但是走扁带遵循的是一套完全不同的规则。钢丝，顾名思义，就是一条半英寸宽、被拉紧了的金属丝。这根绳索没有任何弹性，表演者通过拿着一根几十英尺长的平衡杆来增加平衡力，放大重心。
走扁带则是在一条固定在一个间隙的两端、只有一英寸宽的具弹性的带子上进行的。
由于扁带具有柔韧性，因此会受环境因素影响——尤其是风及运动员走扁带时的动作。钢丝是乖乖地定在那里的，而扁带却会摆动，并可能最终导致走扁带者必须死死抓住带子，而它就像是饱食糖果的小学生乱甩的跳绳那样晃着。
“你无法通过控制这根带子来走完它，你只能顺应环境，”22岁的海登·尼克尔如是说，他是一名来自科罗拉多州尼德兰的职业走扁带者。“遇到这些奇怪的时段，你也得继续走。带子上升，你有足够往前走八步的时间。反之，你会失去控制，听‘带’、听‘风’由命了。”
走扁带曾一度被视为公园沙滩闲人的消遣，嬉皮一族自感优越的玩意儿，如今其正发展出不同的职业分支：花式走扁带（表演者将体操和舞蹈艺术融入竞赛当中）、城市走扁带（远离自然形成的鸿沟，选择楼宇之间的峡谷）和瑜伽走扁带（行走时加入各种瑜伽动作以在扁带上取得平衡）。
然而，最壮观的变式要数高空走扁带，扁带在令人惊叹的自然和人造地点中被安置在几百英尺高的空中——比如美国约塞米蒂国家公园、犹他州的“鬼啸谷”、拉斯维加斯商业街——为这个刚刚兴起的玩命运动带来了全国性的关注。走扁带者仅仅依靠系在腰间或脚踝的绳索防止跌落，不断应对着脚下动态变化着的平衡点。
“它就像冲浪一样，”尼克尔说。“你得等待适当的时机到来。等到风停了，你就能有15到20分钟的空档可以出去走扁带。接着，另一股风又将吹来，你又得停上一会了。”
风吹过来，扁带在两个固定点之间随风动荡，发出一种不详的声音，一种像弹拨贝斯一样的奇怪调子。当表演者看着前方的扁带时，他的大脑只能通过45度角的周边视觉感知一部分的高度——身处100多英尺的高空，那几乎是白茫茫一片，尼克尔说。上到更高的地方——300、400或者500英尺——基本没有太大区别。不过，在那个高度，你的脑袋也会开始上演“大闹天宫”了。
“在你的大脑里，你会想到‘即时死亡’，而不只是摔倒受伤，”尼克尔说。“高空扁带是你心底感受的直接反映。如果你感到紧张，如果你在想着什么事情，带子就会突然捣乱，那时你的下场只有‘啊——不要！’了。”
对于这项运动的追随者来说，正是这种高度专注和生死攸关的危险相结合的特性，让走扁带这种追求变得跟宗教体验般神圣。27岁的安迪·刘易斯拥有的履历足以让任何一位玩特色运动的运动员羡慕：他保持着多项走扁带的世界纪录：2013年10月，他走过了一条架设在拉斯维加斯曼德勒海湾上480英尺高空、长360英尺的扁带，创下了城市高空走扁带的世界纪录。他虽生活在犹他州的莫阿布，却是许多部取景于多个秀丽景点的走扁带视频中的明星；在2012年的超级碗大赛中，他还和麦当娜在中场休息表演中同台演出。
可是，坦白地说，他根本不在乎那些。
“为什么我不能把走扁带称为一种宗教信仰？”他问道。“走扁带背后的生活方式有着所有隐喻：一步一个脚印。保持平衡。掌握自己的命运。可以直接化为对生活的信念。”
刘易斯在自己的手臂上文上了“为扁带而生”几个字，被人称之为“二货安迪”，全因他那些更像是被肾上腺素刺激而做的壮举，包括在走扁带时做定点跳伞和无保护高空走扁带——即在走过位处几百英尺高空的扁带时，不佩戴任何保护绳索。刘易斯相信，挑战极限才是走扁带的精髓所在，而随着这项运动的发展壮大，他会征服更长、更高、更让人头晕目眩的扁带，以飨自己的灵魂——就算这会引起公众恐慌。
“人们不想看到你做这样的事情，”刘易斯说。“但是在今时今日的生活里，技艺不再受到尊重，真的很可怕。人们如今太害怕冒险了。”
But for 2）slackliners， this tiniest of measurements is the key to their sport.
First， a definition： Slacklining is not 3）tightrope walking. No offense to 4）Nik Wallenda and his recent 5）mammoth Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon crossings， but slacklining is a different discipline altogether. A tightrope， as the name implies， is a half-inch wire stretched 6）taut. There is no 7）give to the line， and the performer’s balance and center of gravity are 8）augmented by carrying a pole dozens of feet long.
Slacklining takes place on inch-wide stretchy webbing anchored across a gap.
Because it is 9）pliable， a slackline is responsive to the elements—in particular the wind and the movement of athletes as they walk across. While a tightrope just lies there， a slackline 10）oscillates， and walkers can end up clinging to a line that’s behaving like a jump rope whipped around by a sugar-fueled elementary school kid.
“Instead of controlling the line and walking it， you’re 11）along for the ride，” says Hayden Nickell， a 22-year-old professional slackliner from Nederland， Colorado. “You have to walk in these weird intervals. As the line goes up， you have moments where you can take eight steps. At the opposite， you’re out of control and you’re at the mercy of the line and the wind.”
Once 12）relegated to parks and beaches as a hobby of the 13）hippier-than-thou， slacklining is now branching out into professional disciplines： tricklining， where performers combine gymnastics and 14）choreography at competitions； urbanlining， which 15）eschews the chasms of nature for the canyons between buildings； and yogalining， which adds 16）asanas for those balancing on the line.
The most spectacular 17）incarnation， though， is highlining， where a slackline is 18）rigged hundreds of feet in the air， in awe-inspiring locations both natural and man-made—Yosemite National Park， Hell Roaring Canyon in Utah， the 19）Las Vegas Strip—bringing national attention to this 20）nascent 21）daredevil sport. Protected from falling by nothing more than a leash around the waist or ankle， slackliners constantly respond to the dynamic changes in balance underfoot.
“It’s like surfing，” Nickell says. “You wait for the good set to come in. You wait for the wind to die out and then you have a 15-to-20-minute window to go out there and do your thing. Then another set of wind will come in and you back off for a minute.” The wind gives the highline an 22）ominous sound， an 23）eerie plucked bass note as the webbing 24）reverberates in between its anchors. When a walker looks ahead on a slackline， the brain can only register a certain amount of height through its 45 degrees of 25）peripheral vision—at more than 100 feet in the air， it’s pretty much a wash， Nickell says. Going up higher—300， 400， 500 feet—doesn’t create a 26）perceptible difference. But that’s when the chattering monkeys in your head start up.
“In your mind， you’re thinking ‘instant death’as opposed to only being merely mangled at the bottom，” Nickell says. “The highline is a direct reflection of how you’re feeling on the inside. If you’re nervous， if you’re thinking about anything， all of a sudden the line is all f*cked up and you’re like， ‘Ohhhh no！’ ”
For the sport’s 27）adherents， it’s this blend of acute concentration and life-or-death risk that makes the pursuit of slacklining a near-spiritual endeavor. Andy Lewis， 27， has a résumé that should be the envy of any athlete in a 28）niche sport： He holds multiple slackline world records： In October 2013， he set the urban highlining world record by walking a 360-foot-long line 480 feet up at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. He’s been the star of numerous slackline videos in gorgeous locales—he lives in Moab， Utah—and he performed alongside Madonna during the halftime show at the 2012 Super Bowl.
But， honestly， he couldn’t care less about all that.
“Why can’t I call slacklining a religion？”he asks. “The lifestyle behind slacklining has all the metaphors： One step at a time. Keep in balance. Control your fate. It directly translates to life.”
Lewis has the word “Slacklife” tattooed on his arm and earned the nickname 29）Sketchy Andy from his more 30）adrenalinefueled endeavors， including 31）base jumping off slacklines and 32）free-solo highlining， where he doesn’t wear a protective leash as he walks across lines hundreds of feet up. Lewis believes that pushing the limits is the essence of slacklining， and as the sport continues to grow， he will conquer longer， higher and more dazzling lines to feed his soul—even if it terrifies the public.
“People don’t want to watch you do things like that，” Lewis says. “But it’s horrible that today in life， there’s no respect for skill anymore. People are too afraid to take risks nowadays.”
一英寸，是一片草叶的长度，也是一根小甘笋、一根牙签的长度。在众人的口中，这“一英寸”根本就等同“无物”。 然而，对于走扁带者来说，这最细小的计量单位正是这项运动的关键所在。
首先，我们来看一下定义：走扁带与走钢丝不同。这么说对尼克·瓦伦达和他最近穿越尼亚加拉大瀑布和大峡谷的壮举没有半点冒犯之意，但是走扁带遵循的是一套完全不同的规则。钢丝，顾名思义，就是一条半英寸宽、被拉紧了的金属丝。这根绳索没有任何弹性，表演者通过拿着一根几十英尺长的平衡杆来增加平衡力，放大重心。
走扁带则是在一条固定在一个间隙的两端、只有一英寸宽的具弹性的带子上进行的。
由于扁带具有柔韧性，因此会受环境因素影响——尤其是风及运动员走扁带时的动作。钢丝是乖乖地定在那里的，而扁带却会摆动，并可能最终导致走扁带者必须死死抓住带子，而它就像是饱食糖果的小学生乱甩的跳绳那样晃着。
“你无法通过控制这根带子来走完它，你只能顺应环境，”22岁的海登·尼克尔如是说，他是一名来自科罗拉多州尼德兰的职业走扁带者。“遇到这些奇怪的时段，你也得继续走。带子上升，你有足够往前走八步的时间。反之，你会失去控制，听‘带’、听‘风’由命了。”
走扁带曾一度被视为公园沙滩闲人的消遣，嬉皮一族自感优越的玩意儿，如今其正发展出不同的职业分支：花式走扁带（表演者将体操和舞蹈艺术融入竞赛当中）、城市走扁带（远离自然形成的鸿沟，选择楼宇之间的峡谷）和瑜伽走扁带（行走时加入各种瑜伽动作以在扁带上取得平衡）。
然而，最壮观的变式要数高空走扁带，扁带在令人惊叹的自然和人造地点中被安置在几百英尺高的空中——比如美国约塞米蒂国家公园、犹他州的“鬼啸谷”、拉斯维加斯商业街——为这个刚刚兴起的玩命运动带来了全国性的关注。走扁带者仅仅依靠系在腰间或脚踝的绳索防止跌落，不断应对着脚下动态变化着的平衡点。
“它就像冲浪一样，”尼克尔说。“你得等待适当的时机到来。等到风停了，你就能有15到20分钟的空档可以出去走扁带。接着，另一股风又将吹来，你又得停上一会了。”
风吹过来，扁带在两个固定点之间随风动荡，发出一种不详的声音，一种像弹拨贝斯一样的奇怪调子。当表演者看着前方的扁带时，他的大脑只能通过45度角的周边视觉感知一部分的高度——身处100多英尺的高空，那几乎是白茫茫一片，尼克尔说。上到更高的地方——300、400或者500英尺——基本没有太大区别。不过，在那个高度，你的脑袋也会开始上演“大闹天宫”了。
“在你的大脑里，你会想到‘即时死亡’，而不只是摔倒受伤，”尼克尔说。“高空扁带是你心底感受的直接反映。如果你感到紧张，如果你在想着什么事情，带子就会突然捣乱，那时你的下场只有‘啊——不要！’了。”
对于这项运动的追随者来说，正是这种高度专注和生死攸关的危险相结合的特性，让走扁带这种追求变得跟宗教体验般神圣。27岁的安迪·刘易斯拥有的履历足以让任何一位玩特色运动的运动员羡慕：他保持着多项走扁带的世界纪录：2013年10月，他走过了一条架设在拉斯维加斯曼德勒海湾上480英尺高空、长360英尺的扁带，创下了城市高空走扁带的世界纪录。他虽生活在犹他州的莫阿布，却是许多部取景于多个秀丽景点的走扁带视频中的明星；在2012年的超级碗大赛中，他还和麦当娜在中场休息表演中同台演出。
可是，坦白地说，他根本不在乎那些。
“为什么我不能把走扁带称为一种宗教信仰？”他问道。“走扁带背后的生活方式有着所有隐喻：一步一个脚印。保持平衡。掌握自己的命运。可以直接化为对生活的信念。”
刘易斯在自己的手臂上文上了“为扁带而生”几个字，被人称之为“二货安迪”，全因他那些更像是被肾上腺素刺激而做的壮举，包括在走扁带时做定点跳伞和无保护高空走扁带——即在走过位处几百英尺高空的扁带时，不佩戴任何保护绳索。刘易斯相信，挑战极限才是走扁带的精髓所在，而随着这项运动的发展壮大，他会征服更长、更高、更让人头晕目眩的扁带，以飨自己的灵魂——就算这会引起公众恐慌。
“人们不想看到你做这样的事情，”刘易斯说。“但是在今时今日的生活里，技艺不再受到尊重，真的很可怕。人们如今太害怕冒险了。”