Fort William Mountain Festival Launch

A couple of months ago The Fort William Mountain Festival asked me if I wanted to get involved with the festival. I said sure, naively thinking they would ask me to turn up during the week of the festival and collect tickets or something, but I began to think something was amiss when Mike Pescod asked me to come to the next committee meeting and before you know it I was on the committee and I’d been given the task of organising a massive slacklining competition. Oh dear. Never having stepped on a line, this may be quite a massive undertaking. So step forward Jon Ritson.

Once I heard that I was going to be organising this comp I quickly emailed Dave’s slacklining guru contact to find his address didn’t work anymore as he’d moved jobs. After a bit of underhanded cyber stalking (creepy, I know, but it worked) I tracked him down and he has very kindly been helping me out with the intricacies of a new and rapidly developing sport that I knew nothing about.

Jon and his friend Charlie also came up from the Lakes for the press launch of the festival on Tuesday. Driving rain did nothing to deter him though as he rather impressively managed to walk the line repeatedly on cue with a bank of photographers and film crews doing their level best to distract him. Is this the first highline in Scotland?

You wouldn’t believe the amount of cajoling it took to get him in that kilt. Never having worn one, he stepped out his van with it on back to front –it was very funny to this Scots Lass!

So the first British Slacklining Masters has been born, come along to Fort William on 23rd February and try it out – you never now, you might win something! Like £500! And I won’t make you walk across a waterfall….not unless you want to…

Check out the video: