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Danger man Heinz Zak could churn the strongest stomach with his mind-blistering highline balancing act.
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In jaw-dropping shows of bravery, the hyper-focused extreme climber casts a stunning image as he calmly tiptoes across a tiny inch-wide strip of material thousands of feet up on his highline.
Closer to ground – on his slackline – these breathtaking pictures show him hovering just a few feet from the surfaces of crisp alpine lakes that perfectly mirror his image.
Slacklining, and it’s more dangerous form of highlining thousands of feet up, differ from traditional tight-rope walking in that walkers teeter along a loosely anchored strip.
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For the past eight years, Austrian Heinz has toured the world looking for the perfect spots to do what he loves best.
Today he is regarded as a pioneer who led the sport’s development and currently booming growth in Europe.
But defying anyone who thinks he’s just another stuntman looking for the next rush, the 51-year-old, from Scharnitz, ironically says it’s all about finding peace and “losing himself”.
“What I do is not about adrenaline,” he said. “Walking a highline is my way. It’s just what I do.
“When I am up there I completely lose myself. If you think about anything else it could mean death. You have to be in the moment completely, thinking only about the next step. When I’m doing that, I find my inner self.”
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Daring Heinz’s romance with line walking began in the early 80’s on a climbing expedition to Yosemite National Park, California, USA. He and some friends discovered a slackline and started to practice
Since that first moment his love of line-walking has grown – along with his confidence – to knee-shaking new heights between peaks in some of the world’s most breathtaking climbing spots.
And even just a few feet from the ground, the sturdy pioneer has reached new limits by precariously tip-toeing across lengths never before achieved.
He walked what many believe is the longest slackline ever – an astonishing 173 metres last year in Austria .
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At the hairier end of the scale – on the highline – he also made history as the first European to complete a walk at Lost Arrow in Yosemite, a place that makes legends in his sport and Heinz’s highest ever. Unbelievably he perched over a chasm the same height as England’s highest peak, Skafell Pike, at a gusty 3000ft up.
To achieve these miracles at such dizzying altitude, Heinz puts all his faith in equipment that includes the two-millimetre thick polyester line.
“One problem is that when it is taught and taking my weight, the slightest snag on a rock could break the line,” he said.
Thankfully for girlfriend Bettina, 35, a camerawoman, a separate safety line is installed running parallel to the main strip and is attached to Heinz by a harness – just in case the unthinkable happens.
Super-fit Heinz stays in perfect shape but it’s days of mental preparation he values the most.
Like a bob-sleigh pilot who must know every twist and turn on his track to avoid death, Heinz runs through each attempt repeatedly in his mind before stepping out.
“When I attempt a walk at the edge of my limits I just have to think it through over and over before I I go up,” he said.
“You have to see yourself taking each step and reaching the end.”
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Heinz’s passion for strolling through danger on a narrow strip of fabric has taken him through Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, America and Italy.
After years of experience and dealing with torturous preparatory mind games, Heinz eventually redesigned the highline set-up after realising the equipment he used was far to dangerous.
Over-tightness in both lines meant they were too vulnerable to snapping and lacked an all-important slackness that acts as a shock-absorber if he tumbles off.
With trust in his new ‘loose’ system, Heinz has now truly overcome his original fears.
“I realise how stupid I was with the early designs now and how close I had been to dying. I went back to my training, found a different approach and now I am not scared any more.”
Words by Liam Miller
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