Slackline gear stolen, trashed at Smith Rock

Smith Rock is known for its mountain climbing community, but those who walk high on the slackline are being left hanging by vandals.

Chad Slavin works as a butcher at Primal Cuts in Bend. He lives outdoors, and has no car, but literally pays to enjoy slacklining.

Slacklining and highlinng are similar to tightrope walking. Smith Rock State Park allows those in the slackline and highline community to rig their lines for their activity. But a couple days ago, Slavin woke up to find his ropes damaged and equipment stolen, all in one night.

“We wake up on my birthday at October 24th, at like 7:30 just after sunrise and go up there and we look up and don’t see the slack lines anywhere. And we were like, ‘What’s going on?'” Slavin said Monday night.

“And we see down at the bottom, the bridge that crosses the river, at the trash cans there was a bunch of gear that was scraps they didn’t want, just in a big pile.”

One out of three ropes was left hanging, and a total or $1,600 worth of gear damaged or gone, he said.

Slavin said he leaves ropes and equipment up for beginners to play and enjoy, which leads him to believe who knows who may have done this.

“We believe that it was probably an angry climber or something like that, that didn’t like the lines being up there for so long,” he said. “They’re more on a ‘leave no trace’ ethics style.”

But Slavin said this is his passion, a form of meditation and adrenaline worth every cent he puts his paycheck toward.

“I put 90 percent of my money towards slacklining. and all the gear and stuff like that that goes towards the adventures,” Slavin said.

For now, Slavin’s adventures at Smith Rock will have to take a break.

Slavin has created a GoFundMe page to replace his damaged or stolen equipment for the entire slacklining community to enjoy: https://www.gofundme.com/u678ahc4