Estonian aerial athlete Jaan Roose will attempt to cross a ۱۶۰-metre long highline suspended ۱۲۰ metres above central Seoul on Thursday.
Roose, a three-time slackline world champion, will step out on to a narrow polyester ribbon between the Koreana hotel and the Dong-A Media Center, near the capital city’s famous Gwanghwamun palace and square.
The ۳۴-year-old has made a name for himself slacklining dramatic urban environments, such as his ۱۸۵-metre high feat between Qatar’s Iconic Towers.
In ۲۰۲۴, he became the first person to slackline the strait of Messina between mainland Italy and Sicily, completing the ۳.۶km traverse despite a fall near the end, caught by his safety harness. Earlier this month, he covered ۱۴.۷km over ۱۲ hours on a line above the Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Large crowds in Seoul are expected to watch Roose walk the slackline – twice, at ۱pm and ۴pm local time – if the weather allows. The walk will be postponed if average wind speeds reach ۱۰m/s or gusts hit ۱۵m/s. Today’s forecast is sunny with light breezes.
Roose said a visit in ۲۰۲۲ to South Korea inspired his Gwanghwamun walk.
On that trip, Roose encountered jultagi, Korea’s traditional tightrope walking, which Unesco added to its list of intangible cultural heritage in ۲۰۱۱.
Unlike tightrope walking elsewhere, jultagi is as much comedy as acrobatics. The walker sings, jokes and dances on the rope, trading banter with a clown on the ground as musicians play.
