Meet Jaan Roose, The Man Who Walked 3.6 Km On A Slackline But Missed World Record By A Whisker

Most of us can’t even walk a few steps on a slackline without losing balance. However, for people like Jaan Roose, it’s no more than a cakewalk. Recently, the three-time world slacklining champion achieved another feat, covering 3.6 kilometres on a slackline.

To make matters even more phenomenal, his slackline was hooked from Italy to Sicily. Jaan Roose collaborated with Red Bull and built a slackline over the Strait of Messina, a narrow strait that passes between Southern Italy and Eastern Sicily. The slackline was strung across two old power line pylons. An eight-person team, including Roose, set it up securely.

He then crossed over two countries against a cinematic backdrop. In 2 hours and 57 minutes, he completed the walk by taking a total of 15,660 steps to carefully cover the distance. With this, he became the first person to successfully walk across Italy’s Strait of Messina by starting in Santa Trada in Calabria and ending in Torre Faro, Sicily.

A video of his epic slackline walk was shared by Red Bull on Instagram. It has already gathered over 12 lakh likes since it was shared on June 10.

Commenting on it, an Instagram user wrote, “Imagine the stories he will tell his grandkids like how ours told us they walked uphill both ways.” Another person wrote, “I said it once and I’ll say it again. Whatever you’ve done, Red Bull has done it 20 times better.” The most popular comment on the video reads, “The route our parents took to reach school.” Someone else remarked, “Just when I think Red Bull has done it all they do something even crazier.”

Even though Jaan Roose managed to complete his walk, one mistake prevented him from breaking the previous world record for the “longest slackline walk”. Just 80 meters before he reached the end, the 32-year-old slipped for a second. As per the Guinness World Record rules, the record breaker must complete the slackline walk without any fall.

After the walk, Jaan Roose told Red Bull, “I made history. I walked 3.6 km across the Strait of Messina! It was a long walk, full of surprises from start to finish. I had some difficulties, but the weather was good, I expected more wind.”