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Before highliners can practise their sport, they need to find land and build themselves a line.
Highlining – an extreme sport akin to tightrope walking – starts with the “rigging” of a 25-millimetre-wide line between two elevated anchor points, such as cliffs or trees, spanning distances anywhere from 30 metres to a world-record-setting three kilometres long.
Aside from the inherent danger, highlining is no easy feat. First, highliners have to scout out their location. Then, on the intended day, they wake up at the crack of dawn, hike up a mountain or into a forest carrying backpacks loaded with gear, spend an hour or two setting up the highline – splitting the work between teams on each side of the line – then cram in as many sessions as possible. It’s hard work.
Writer Liz MacDonald started coming to Turpitude in October, 2022, and has since come to realize that highlining is a meditative practice for her.
So, when Jaap Suter invited people on a Facebook community group he’d never met to set up highlines on his property in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley in 2022, dozens of us showed up to turn his 0.4-hectare coastal forested land into a playground.
For two years, Suter’s year-round open-door policy has allowed strangers like me to spend days practising on permanently set-up highlines, some with a 25-metre drop, the equivalent of a six-storey building.
About 400 people have come and gone to his property, which we called the Turpitude, with Suter never asking for anything in return, other than cleaning up after ourselves. Strangely enough, he had no background in highlining when he made the invitation, but in a previous life, he pursued an even riskier sport – BASE jumping, or parachuting from high structures. And he remembers the community’s willingness to share and help each other.
The Turpitude welcomes beginner and skilled highliners, typically people in their 20s who come from across North America and Europe. If a highline is set up or used wrong, someone could die. All of the lines rigged here are put in place by people who know what they’re doing and are inspected periodically for wear and tear. Since there are usually multiple people at the Turpitude on any given day, everyone gets a buddy check before they practise to make sure their harness and leash, which are attached to the highline and will catch them if they fall, are properly secured.
Not only did Suter offer up his outdoor space, he opened the door to his home and kitchen for shared meals. We spend our days highlining, sweating in the sauna we built together and cold dipping in Lynn Creek, which runs through the property. And through it all, we have formed deeper connections within our community.
For Suter, an unexpected benefit has been the lesson that has emerged for his two sons.
“In a world that is increasingly paranoid and scared of each other, we’re raised to not trust other people. To have my boys grow up in a house where there’s been an incredible coming and going of people, they get to learn how amazing people are, that most people are good and decent human beings,” he said.
I had been highlining for a year when I came to the Turpitude in October, 2022. The sport married well with my athletic background as a competitive gymnast and tower diver. My first time there, I ascended the tree using a rope and harness and I made my way onto the line, my muscles shaking and my heart racing. But in the two years since, my fear has faded and highlining has become a meditative practice.
Shaun Haney, an Australian geologist and highliner, moved to Vancouver for his graduate degree and quickly got involved in the local highlining scene.
He and others spent many hours “working” on Suter’s property, weaving nets between trees and building a tree platform, deck and the sauna. “It’s these days at Turpitude that really feels like home to me, everyone coming together with a single goal for the day or weekend.”
Come this spring, Suter is selling the house, and the Turpitude will belong to someone else. I won’t forget the lessons I’ve learned here: A shared passion goes a long way to finding common ground between strangers, and fear of the unknown is often unfounded.
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