Frenchman Julien Roux achieved a feat by balancing on an aerial strap stretched between two hot air balloons at an altitude of 4,832 meters.
Originally from Lyon and adopted from Annecy, Julien Roux has just entered the Guinness Book of Records with an extremely spectacular feat. A 28-year-old athlete specializing in highlining (a practice consisting of walking on a tightrope strap at high altitude), the Frenchman set a new performance by crossing the highest highline in the world connecting two hot air balloons at a height of 4,255 meters high (height from the ground to the line), or 4,832 meters above sea level (from sea level), 27 meters higher than Mont Blanc, the roof of Europe!
This performance was carried out on Swiss territory, in the canton of Fribourg, at sunset, on November 15. The challenge ended with a parachute jump. “This project represents a culmination in the daily fight I wage to control my body and my mind in the face of this sensation. This achievement is much more than a technical feat. She embodies victory over my fears and the determination to follow through on my ideas”confided this complete athlete who turned to slackline and its aerial variation, highline, after a serious accident during a freestyle ski competition at the age of 18.
Paralyzed and having come close to death, the now Haut-Savoyard began a long rehabilitation with his new passion which notably allowed him to tame his vertigo. “As the highline is still young and developing, there is still a lot to accomplish. The pages of its history are still blank, ready to be written. Combined with other sporting disciplines, the possibilities become countless”explained the Frenchman ready to embark on new exploits.
