Slackline News October 2026: Cable Car Record, 6,251 Metres and Trouble in Mallorca

From now on, once a month we'll look back at what happened in the slackline world. Briefly summarised, with a link to the source and our take on it. We're kicking off with a pretty eventful October.

World record between two cable car cabins

In Tyrol, Florian Zoller walked a 144-metre highline rigged between two cable car cabins hanging freely in the air, almost 150 metres above the ground. The crossing took him around 15 minutes. That more than doubled the previous record in this discipline, and the International Slackline Association confirmed it at the end of October.

Our take: A highline between two anchors that move by themselves is a challenge of its own. Every movement of the cabins goes straight into the webbing. Hats off – also to the team that plans and secures a rig like that.

Source: Washington Post (video)

Altitude record in the Karakoram, with German involvement

Lukas Irmler and Antonia Rüede-Passul walked the first highline from the summit of Trango Tower in Pakistan, at 6,251 metres. The line was 21 metres long and is the highest ever walked in the Karakoram. To acclimatise, the two first climbed Great Trango Tower, and they reached the summit via the well-known route Eternal Flame. With this, Antonia Rüede-Passul holds the record for the highest highline ever walked by a woman, beating her own record of 5,860 metres set in Chile.

Our take: Regular readers already know Lukas Irmler – in 2020 he also rigged the 500-metre highline on the Wendelstein. Great to see German highliners still right at the top.

Source: Gripped Magazine

Mallorca: criticism of a highline in a nature reserve

In the Serra de Tramuntana on Mallorca, a highline was rigged at the rock needle Agulla des Frare, at around 1,200 metres on the slope of Puig Major. The environmental organisation GOB considers this a breach of the area's protection rules, as particularly sensitive habitats are found there. It warns of a trend spreading through social media and points to a base jump in March near a nesting osprey.

Our take: Whether the criticism is justified in this case, we can't judge from here. One thing is clear, though: our sport depends on being allowed to use spots. Where highlines cause trouble with nature conservation or local residents, bans follow quickly – and they hit everyone. That's why, since 2005, the same rule has applied for us as with tree protection in the park: find out beforehand whether an area is protected, respect breeding seasons, leave nothing behind. A good photo isn't worth losing a spot for everyone.

Source: Mallorca Magazin (German)

In brief

• Catching up on September: Estonian Jaan Roose set a world record by covering a total of 14.7 kilometres on a slackline high above Bratislava, 100 metres above the ground. Source: Estonian World
• Events in October: In Switzerland, the Work and Highline Days and the Swiss Highline Meeting took place in Käppeli near Gadmen, plus gatherings in Poland and Slovenia. Source: swiss-slackline.ch, slackguide.info

Got a story that belongs here? Write to us – we're happy to include reports from the community too.

Michael