Alex Mason started professionally slacklining in 2011, and has since racked up dozens of achievements competing everywhere from Salt Lake City to Austria. His biggest win this summer: First place at the Slackline World Championships in Vail, Colorado, at the GoPro Mountain Games.
Oh, and he鈥檚 16 years old. As he balances junior year of high school and competing with the Gibbon Slacklines Pro Team, we talked to him about life on the line.
国产吃瓜黑料: What have you been doing since the World Championships?
Alex Mason: I鈥檝e been traveling. I went to Germany for the [Globetrotter Slackline] WorldCup, but then I broke my arm. The new lines, the new prototypes they have, are really powerful, and I miscalculated and just fell from really high up. It wasn鈥檛 during competition or anything. I鈥檝e been training a little bit, trying to make sure I don鈥檛 lose any of the tricks I鈥檝e learned recently.
How do you slackline with a broken arm?
The cast is pretty light and you get used to it pretty quickly. I used to have a full arm cast, but I got it shortened so I can slackline a little bit. I only do half the tricks though, because I can鈥檛 chest bounce with my arm like this. But I can do a lot of flips and such.
Have you been working on new tricks?
I鈥檝e been thinking about stuff, but I haven鈥檛 really had a chance to try it with the broken arm. Except my doctor says that whatever I do, he鈥檒l fix it.
How did you get into slacklining?
There鈥檚 a rock climbing gym near my house that a guy named owns. He did a lot of stuff early on in slacklining, like he landed the first front flip on the line. He created a rock climbing gym and a slacklining gym in the same building, and a friend of mine invited me to go, and I did. From there I got better and better, and here I am today.
Did you have any interest in it before you figured out that you were good at it?
Not really. I couldn鈥檛 even walk the thing for like a month. I went [to the gym] originally to rock climb. And when I鈥檇 get tired from rock climbing, I just started slacklining a little bit. As I took more and more risks, I got better and better. Finally I started just coming to the gym to slackline.
How often were you slacklining, to get as good as you did?
I started practicing a lot really soon, once I realized it was really fun and I liked it. But in the beginning I wasn鈥檛 even trying to get good.
When did you decide you wanted to start competing?
I kind of started wanting to do that when I on the line. I was like the second youngest kid to do it, and Gibbon [Slacklines] noticed that, and they liked that. So I went to my first competition in Salt Lake City shortly after.
What win are you most proud of?
I鈥檓 definitely most proud of the World Championship in Vail. But pretty much every WorldCup I go to I get second. It would be nice to get first in the WorldCups.
Do you have any idea of what your chances are this year?
There are always gonna be new people who have gotten really good, and everybody鈥檚 always training really hard. The level only gets higher and higher, and I鈥檓 just trying to keep up. It鈥檚 always a surprise to me when I got to a World Cup because there鈥檚 always some kid who I鈥檝e never seen before who鈥檚 super good.
Seems like a lot of people coming into slacklining are pretty young.
I鈥檇 say so. I mean, younger kids definitely learn faster. And a lot of them are Brazilian too. Young Brazilians are really starting to dominate the sport. For some reason it鈥檚 really big in Brazil. I have no idea why.
So are you really famous in Brazil?
I was talking to one of my Brazilian friends, who moved from Brazil, and apparently they think we鈥檙e really famous. It鈥檚 funny.
Are there any slackliners who have taught you a lot?
Andy Lewis [ performing with Mason and Michael Payton] is definitely a big influence on my slacklining. He鈥檚 a really down to earth guy. He is super supportive, super nice. He taught me a lot of tricks when I first started.
And we grew up in the same place, pretty much. I had no idea who he was before, but he grew up like 10 miles from where I live. He helped build the gym where I first learned to slackline.
Do you have tricks that tend to give you a lot of trouble?
I mean everything鈥檚 pretty much scary to try for the first time. Some more than others. But backflips are really a big challenge for me. When I first started it wasn鈥檛 terrible, but I did one and shot like 12 feet off the line, and I almost broke my ankle really badly. I had to overcome that fear and start doing those again really recently.
How do you get in the midset to try again after a fall?
You try to stay really focused and kind of get the flip down and spot the line, and just keep on bailing and don鈥檛 go for the line at first. But once you have the flip down, so you could land on the line, you just throw it 鈥 and pray, really.
Would you say there are certain tricks that you鈥檝e just always been good at?
The trick I really like is a . It鈥檚 a butt bounce to a front flip to another butt bounce. I really love that trick, I do it all the time. I started doing more and more variations on it, and I think those are really cool. One of the big tricks I really want to do is a double butt flip. But I kind of need a foam pad to try that.
What does the double butt flip look like?
No one鈥檚 landed it yet. But it鈥檇 be a butt bounce, to a double front flip, to another butt bounce, is the idea.
Do you think you鈥檒l keep slacklining for a long time?
Yeah, definitely. I think I鈥檓 gonna try to compete as long as I can and see what happens. I guess there鈥檚 kind of an age [when people stop competing], like 30 is definitely the cut off. It鈥檚 hard. If you really do it for a really long time鈥攖here鈥檚 this one guy named who鈥檚 got, like, tissue damage and cartilage damage, and he broke his ribs. It鈥檚 hard on your body at times.
Do your parents worry about that?
They鈥檙e not worried yet.
How does it compare to the physical demands of rock climbing?
It requires a physical fitness level more like skateboarding, because it鈥檚 not constant physical strain on your muscles, and you don鈥檛 have to have an amazing strength-to-weight ratio or a massive ape index to do it. But to look good, to have good style, to get big air鈥攜ou kind of do have to have less fat. So you don鈥檛 need to be in the greatest shape to slackline, but it definitely does help.
Do you have any kind of training schedule to stay in shape?
Not really, I just try to have fun with it. If I know that I need to work some tricks, like certain tricks, I will train those until I have them, pretty much. To stay in shape I just try to rock climb as much as possible, and I ski in the winter.
Do people at school know what you鈥檙e doing?
I don鈥檛 really like to tell people. I鈥檓 kind of shy about that stuff, I guess. I mean my good friends definitely know what I do, and some other people do, but for the most part, not really.
Do you think it鈥檚 going to start becoming something people start recognizing?
I think eventually it鈥檒l go the way of skateboarding and all those other sports, maybe less so, but it鈥檒l definitely get more mainstream. It already kind of has. I mean, after the , with all that hype, it just got a lot bigger.
What is it about slacklining that keeps you hooked on it?
It鈥檚 a really good challenge. It鈥檚 really fun鈥攁ll the friends I made doing it, and all the people I met. I get to travel all the time. It鈥檚 a really good deal for me.