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Love of slacklining Medford man works to bring attention to sport of slacklining By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 15, 2016 @ 12:01 am By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 15, 2016 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Willie Love ratchets a 2-inch strap between two poles in The Commons park blocks in downtown Medford and prepares to re-enter a brave, new and wobbly world that has consumed him the past three months, feeding his need to be extreme and be seen. "I like this spot because people rubberneck all the time," Love says. "Who doesn't like a little bit of attention?" He bounces on the strap, which builds tension under his weight and launches him skyward until he bounces on one foot over the concrete, and rubberneckers wait for the train wreck. Love twirls and walks and cranks out a few of the slacklining tricks he's learned during his quest to bring one of the nichiest of niche sports to the masses. "I'm the hype-master, trying to build a scene and get people stoked about it," says Love, 21, of Medford. "I like to do physically challenging things as a hobby, and I refuse not to let it become a career." Around for decades largely as a diversion for rock climbers between ascents, slacklining is a study in the art, power and grace of bouncing and balancing on straps of different lengths stretched over different locations. It's much like tightrope walking, except the taut wire is replaced by the two-inch strap ratcheted to different tensions to allow for varying amount of bouncing that tasks slackliners to match balance and strength. "It's like a form of meditation," says Matt Lambert, owner of Rogue Rock Gym in Medford and a 15-year slackline veteran. "It's good for concentration. It's good for your core and balance." Lambert's gym has sported a slackline since it opened 11 years ago, and many of the hundreds of gym members use it, he says. "But not many people come in just to slackline," Lambert says. "We don't really promote it. It's just an apparatus people play on and train on." Even slackliners have their subdivisions. Waterlining is slacklining over water and is considered a good way to try new tricks with little worry of injury. Highlining is slacklining with safety ropes high in the air between rock formations at places like Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon. Windlining brings aerodynamics into the equation. Tricklining and urban slacklining are done more in city parks between trees or posts. A contingent of local slackliners keep tabs on each other through their Jefferson State Slacklines Facebook page, posting when and where slacklines will be strung for training, trickery or just trying out. Posts list slackline dates and times anywhere from a line over Emigrant Lake to Ashland's Clay Street and Triangle parks. Occasionally a slackline graces Ficthner-Mainwaring Park in southeast Medford. And then there's Love. A physical extremist, he's gravitated to longboarding, mountain biking, rollerblading and taken rock-climbing classes in hopes of becoming a guide or instructor. He wife bought him a basic $80 slackliner starter kit for Christmas. "It came out of nowhere," he says. "I didn't even ask for it." Instantly it scratched Love's itch, and he's since devoted his days to improving his tricks and balance, often on the outdoor stage at The Commons, complete with its concrete landing zone and no safety net. Love says he's "pretty fluent" in chest- and butt-bounces — techniques to bounce onto one's feet to begin a particular feat. "Once it becomes easier, it becomes more exciting," Love says. The ease and excitement would be shared by more people if slacklining had a stage bigger than the one at The Commons, Love says. It needs exposure beyond YouTube videos and rubberneckers spying Love here or others elsewhere, and he's confident that exposure is just around the corner. "This is going to come on strong, and I'm going to be right there," Love says. Love is so convinced of it that the South Medford High School dropout quit his day job at the Rogue Air Trampoline Park this past week to put as much effort into positioning himself in the soon-to-be slackline industry here. But he's still sticking with his side-gig of painting school murals for cash. "I guess that's my safety net," he says. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 15, 2016 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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