Darrin Carter – The first Master of Highline – appears in, and on the cover of the second Gravity magazine May/June 1997.

When I say the first master of highline, I mean high slackline. While Scott Balcom, Adam Grosowsky and Jeff Ellington had all walked high slacklines by this time, it was Darrin Carter who took it to the next level. Darrin mastered the Lost Arrow Spire in 1995 by walking back and forth dozens of times during each walk that he did. He then walked the spire with no leash, and no pole (at last count 8 different times).

In many of the articles posted here the authors get close, but don’t always grasp the essence and accuracy of what they are writing about. This is more of an interview and I think it does shed light on What the Fock he was thinking.

I have posted the interview as it appeared but it was very hard to read so I have re-entered it here;

Major accomplishment: The unleashed walks at the Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite. No one has done it but me. I’ve done six walks unleashed, once twice in one day. Job: A carpenter. Training: I got into it as a climber, and began working on balance. I’m like a practice freak–my friends call me fanatical. If I’m not working, I go for four and five hours at a time, and every weekend. It’s a pyramid of practice with the pinnacle of a few hours cruising around in the sky. Favorite place to do your sport: Yosemite. The Spire is tailor-made for what we do with it. Worst Injury: I’ve only got scrapes and bruises from being banged up practicing in the park. If you wipe out (unleashed), you’re putty. The mistakes are super unforgiving. You just flat out can’t make any. What do you read: Dan Millman. He wrote The way of the peaceful warrior. It talks about preparation, which helps me. When you go unleashed, you have to deal with your own mortality so I’ve found his books really good. I read Homer, The Iliad. Favorite music: As I’ve gotten better at slacklining, I’ve had great times walking to bands like Santana. I like a lot of percussion. I always wear a walkman. At the Spire you’re close to 3,000 feet up. You’re looking down the second largest waterfall in the world, which makes thunder so loud it’s hair-raising. It’s surreal. I think of it like dance. It’s radical. Worst moment: The first time I tried slacklining, (the Lost Arrow Spire) I thought I was super prepared. My buddy has a big mouth and he was talking us up; we call it “stinking the place up” when people talk like that. I got up there and my legs locked up and I couldn’t move. It took me a year to train, and get my legs to move. Even though when you’re leashed, you’re not in that much danger, but it’s hard to tell yourself that. Every cell in your body doesn’t want to move, and your ego is the first thing to bail. Philosophy / quote: It’s something I have on my business card from Walt Whitman, “I’m as bad as the worst, but thank God I’m as good as the best” I also use another from Emily Dickinson, “Great spirit give me a heaven not as large as yours but large enough for me”. Rituals / superstitions: I have pants with a feather print I wear. A friend of mine had them made for me. No one can say, ’good luck’ when I walk—they have to say ‘break a leg.’ I also have a ritual where the air gods and I have a shot of tequila. I throw a shot of tequila into the air, and take one myself. I call it a bracer. But the air gods are your own demons. They’re not really out there; they’re in your brain. It’s super scary walking out into the void. For me, it’s like how someone must feel going to battle. You go to sleep knowing you might die. I actually wrote my mom a letter that would be delivered if I was dead. Years in the sport: More than 10. Influences: Scott Balcom, because he was the innovator of the sport. We saw some other guys doing it, but he took it to the Spire. Closest to death experience: It didn’t happen slacklining. Future: I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. I would love for people to want to do this. I’d like to be at the Spire with 20 other people. I’m talking with the leash. I don’t really recommend unleashed. The sport’s still demanding and aesthetically pleasing but really safe with a leash. No women have ever done it, and they have better balance and centers of gravity. I don’t understand why they don’t want to do it. Apologies / regrets: Slacklining has been like an Olympic sport for me. I’ve put a lot into it and given up a lot. My regrets would be the stuff I had to give up to get here, but it’s been worth it, so it’s only a little regret. Thanks: To my support team. They know who they are. They back me up and burn candles for me. In a way they voyeuristically do it with me.