When setting off on a backpacking holiday to Europe, Blue Mountains-based photographer Aidan Williams and a few friends decided to take their passion along for the ride, packing their slackline kit for the journey.
The result is a European journey with a difference and, as you can see from the spectacular photos that results, Williams found a new perspective in some of the world’s most iconic places.
According to Williams, however, he hadn’t put much thought into joining the slacklining tour before it set off – he booked his one-way tickets just two weeks before leaving Australia in August this year.
“I decided to go spontaneously without really knowing what would come of it,” he recently told Caters News.
“I knew I would learn most from going out of my comfort zone and overcoming my fear of heights. It’s been non-stop, I haven’t had single day off, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“Some of the locations like Les Cosmiques took years of planning. It’s 3,800 metres above sea level, so it takes a lot of groundwork. That was a 15-hour day.”
Williams used the experience to photograph some of slacklining’s up-and-coming luminaries, with a number of slackline records broken along the way including the longest blind highline by Samuel Volery, from Switzerland, who walked a 570 metre line blindfolded and without falling in 45 minutes.
Accompanying Williams on the trip was fellow Australian Maximilien Penel, who highlands 3,840 metres above sea level at Les Cosmiques in France.
Perhaps the craziest part of the entire event is the fact that Williams himself has suffered from vertigo from an early age and continues to fight it every time he goes out slacklining
“It wasn’t easy overcoming a fear of heights, but being around such an amazing community really helps to push you out of your comfort zone,” said Williams.
“It’s one of the safest sports with the correct rigging and amongst experienced personnel definitely helped to ease doubts.”