CAREFULLY tiptoeing almost 3000ft above Rio de Janeiro on a thin wire got a bit too much for this adrenaline junkie - so he decided to have a lie down.
Fearless Brian Mosbaugh is so used to the perilous heights he decided he deserved a short break and relaxed over the famous Brazilian city. Balancing his whole body on the wire, he lies completely horizontal on the precarious rope before getting back up and strolling across the rest of the highline at Pedra da Gavea.
Fellow daredevil Andy Lewis went one step further. He dangled almost 2,800ft above the ground attached to the line by only an ankle strap. The pair was joined by fellow Americans Hayley Ashburn and Scott Rogers who together call themselves the Moab Monkeys.
The group travel the world discovering new highlines and BASE jumps. Highlining is considered the pinnacle of the slacklining sport, in which people prove their balancing skills by walking across a polyester or nylon wire is fixed at two points.
Andy Lewis is a proponent of ‘free-solo’ slacklining, where no safety harness is worn. The mind-blowing feats of the group were captured by Mr Rogers, from Utah, US, who risks his own life while photographing the incredible moments of bravery.
He said: ‘On a scale of one to ten, highlining is actually pretty safe - but when you do it without a leash, or with only an ankle leash like Andy, the danger level can reach nine or higher. We’re very experienced so like to think the risk is fairly low but we all know the consequences are very high - instant death in the case of a fall freesoloing or with the ankle leash slipping off.’
He said Mr Lewis had to pull himself back onto the line after dangling upside down. He said: ‘To get back up from hanging on the leash Andy had to reach up, grab the leash, and climb up to the line which is pretty difficult and requires a lot of practice and upper body strength. But I have known these guys for years and they are the best out there - they have some amazing skills and the massive Brazilian slacklining community was loving every minute of it. It’s great to travel around the world and quite literally hang out with your friends meeting new people and watching how they react to you. These were some of the most spectacular surroundings we have seen and being so high above the city I doubt people could even see what we were getting up to.’–DM