In yet another test of physical challenge and mental fortitude, a mountain biker has crossed a 60-foot chasm nearly 400 feet off the ground on a slack line.
This year we’ve seen a guy ride a dirt bike down the face of a giant wave and a man walk across a slack line 1,000 feet up without a harness. But riding a mountain bike between two cliffs along a ribbon in the air? Now that’s something else.
The harrowing feet featured in the short film titled BALANCE was accomplished by Kenny Balaey. A four-time UCI World Champion, the Belgium mountain biker wasn’t too optimistic about the task at-hand when he first laid eyes on it.
“I could only think of one thing: hell no,” he tells RedBull.com about making the film.
It took roughly a year of training to get used to crossing a slack line on a mountain bike, beginning with riding the bike on a line just a few feet above the ground. From there, he gradually got more comfortable at greater heights.
“With proper belief in my abilities, and sheer focus and determination, I managed to succeed,” he said, calling it “without a doubt the hardest challenge I’ve ever faced.”
In case he did fall, Belaey was tethered to a safety line, so it’s not like he’s THAT crazy. Though he’s crazy enough in our book to make our special section on Pushing Limits.
