Which is harder, slacklining or tightrope walking?

tightrope walking is probably equally difficult, but it's a much different technique that you'll have to learn

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Which is harder, slacklining or tightrope walking?

I'm a fairly accomplished slackliner, yet I've never been on a tightrope (which are usually made of cable, and tense). Has anyone done both and is able to compare the two?

Slack Rope Walking

I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd chime in. The different types of "rope walking" fall on continuum based on tension and amount of sway, both of which effect the balance techniques used.

At one end of the spectrum there is slackwire which is a static rope or cable that is literally slack--the suspended ends of the rope are often 5 feet higher than the point of the rope the person stands on. A slackwire has significant side to side swinging motion. The walker uses his lower body to shift the rope under his center of gravity.

At the other end of the continuum is tightwire. This is highly tensioned static rope or cable. Because it is highly tensioned, and, if a long enough, uses guy-wires to minimize side-to-side motion, the walker must keep his center of gravity over the line. Balancing on a tightwire involves far more upper body balancing than slackwire.

Slackline falls somewhere between the two. It isn't truly slack, but because of the stretch in the material it isn't as highly tensioned as a tightwire. That, plus a lack of guy wires, allows a slackline to sway as well as bounce. This side to side, but tensioned sway is often called "surf." A long line made with stretchy webbing will have a lot of surf and thus may required more lower-body balancing like slackwire, while a highly tensioned short line made of more static webbing will fall closer to the other end of the spectrum and require more upper body balancing.

There isn't really a way to compare difficulty, as Hank already pointed out, it's just a difference in technique and personal preference. I started on 1" and 2" slacklines and moved to freehand tightwire. The move to 1/2"was harder than I expected -- the 1/2" line was uncomfortable without shoes and I had to break myself of the habit of using my lower body too much.

Tightrope is much harder than slacklining becuase the rope is smaller when when tightroping. =)

Tightrope

I have done both and they are extremely dangerous and takes skill.

I assume tight ro pe