he walks 4,255 meters above the void and breaks the world highline record

Originally from Lyon and adopted from Annecy, Julien Roux broke the world record for highlining, an extreme sport which consists of walking on a cable stretched at high altitude, on November 15 in Switzerland. The tightrope walker walked on a slackline perched 4,255 meters above the ground.

It’s a childhood dream come true. At the age of 28, Julien Roux broke the world record for highline, this extreme sport which consists of walking on a stretched strap at high altitude.

Generally carried out between two mountains, the young man used extra imagination to establish this record, since he walked above the void between two hot air balloons.

I like challenges, and this was one of the best of my life.

Until now, the record was held by two Germans with 2,500 meters in height, from ground to line. A performance largely exceeded since the original Lyonnais walked on a strap held at 4,255 meters above the ground (4,832 meters above sea level, or 25 meters more than Mont Blanc), in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland.

In 2022, Julien Roux had already broken a world record for strap length (2,710 meters, for 2h54 of walking in balance), in Auvergne.

This new highline world record has just been confirmed by the ISA (International Slackline Association) and the Guinness World Record.

Annecy by adoption, Julien Roux has always been a lover of mountain sports (climbing, mountaineering, paragliding, etc.). But at the age of 18, he came close to death and paralysis during a serious accident. during a freestyle ski competition.

“I suffered a triple fracture of my femur with a ruptured cruciate ligament and internal bleeding. The doctors said it was very likely that I would never walk like I used to again. But fortunately, I remained determined, and here it is that one of my physiotherapists told me that a good exercise for my rehabilitation would be slacklining”namely walking on an elastic strap using the body as a balancer, unlike tightrope walking, which uses a pole to balance.

I worked a lot on my breathing and my heart rate to control my vertigo.

The digital designer, who also trained as a rope access technician, quickly developed a passion for this discipline. After only a year of practice on the ground, he decided to try highlining, the high altitude version of slacklining. “Basically, I’m afraid of heights. But I absolutely wanted to have a photo to show my grandchildren to prove to them that I did something exceptional. So I had to find rituals to tame, little by little, my vertigo, even if I know that it will always stay with me.”

Financed almost entirely out of his own pocket, this project, which was notably inspired by the animated film Up theretook him two years of preparation. “With the team, we had to anticipate all the climatic hazards, since it is -12°C up there, but also the potential technical problems with the hot air balloons, the cable, or even the oxygen”he explains.

“Once up there, I was so focused and on adrenaline that I forgot my fear. For a moment, I said to myself, ‘You’re on the highest line in the world, that’s a chance, you have to enjoy it!’, so I took a break in the middle of the journey to admire the view and the sunset”. But the athlete does not intend to stop there, since he already intends to beat his own record in the months to come.