On 10 July, Estonian slackline athlete Jaan Roose made his way into the history books. While a bridge between Italy and Sicily isn’t a reality just yet, the man made his way between the mainland and the island on a slackline spanning the 3.6 kilometres of the Messina Strait.
Jaan Roose isn’t new to slacklining. The Estonian is a three-time slackline world champion and is also the only athlete to have ever completed a double backflip on a slackline. Previously, he completed the world’s longest single-building slackline in Qatar, while movie fanatics might have spotted him in Assassin’s Creed and Wonder Woman 1984. For his newest stunt, the crossing of the Messina Strait, Roose trained for six months with a team of eight people to help him complete his mission.
In order to cover the distance between the start and the end of his ‘walk’, the longest ever slackline, measuring exactly 3,646 metres in length, had to be constructed. The mainland city of Villa San Giovanni acted as the starting point, where the only 1.9-centimetre thick line was attached to the Santa Trada, a 265-metre high tower. At the other end of the line stood Sicily’s Torre Faro tower. In order to set up the slackline, a helicopter was used to carry a pilot rope to guide the slackline into place.
“The strait possesses historical and cultural significance going back for thousands of years, as well as incredible natural beauty. Combine that with variable weather conditions and strong marine currents, and it offered a unique and meaningful opportunity to push the limits of slacklining”, Roose commented about his choice for the Messina Strait.
“I feel ‘Jaantastic’, I am super happy, a bit tired and worn out. But guys, I made history! I walked 3.6 kilometres across the Strait of Messina! It was a long walk, full of surprises from start to finish, I had some difficulties, but the weather was good! I expected more wind”, Roose said after his walk.
Roose completed the entire journey in just under 3 hours (2 hours and 57 minutes) and thus practically broke the current Guinness World Record distance of 2,710 metres. While doing so, he withstood wind gusts reaching 38 kilometres per hour and temperatures up to 28 degrees Celsius. However, he won’t be able to actually make the Guinness World Records book as he fell in the last 80 metres. In order to validate a new slackline record, a complete crossing without a fall has to be carried out.
