Bologna, 2 July 2022 – Tragedy on Lessini Mountains: a 36 year old from Bologna he died while he was practicing the highline. Man lost his life on the rocky ridge ‘Saw teeth‘di Ala, about 1,400 meters above sea level. It seems that the 36-year-old was practicing an extreme sport which consists of launch into the void secured to a ‘highline’ (a special tape stretched between two supports), to then swing like a pendulum.
For reasons yet to be ascertained, the 36-year-old is gone crashing into the rock face belowremaining hanging from a rope about 70 meters below the ‘highline’. His companions gave the alarm, shortly after 4 pm.
The operators of the Alpine and Speleological Rescue of Ala, transported to the place by helicopter. Once there, a helicopter rescue technician lowered the winch to the height of the man, recovering him. The attempts at resuscitation were useless: the doctor could not help but ascertain the death.
Four years ago another tragedy
On 30 June 2018, exactly four years ago and always on the rocky ridge Teeth of the Sega, another tragedy due to an extreme sport. The 30 year old Matteo Pancaldi, from Spilamberto (Modena), but resident in Bologna, fell while was going through a ravine its one rope suspended in the void. The young man, a chemist by profession, was engaged in the “slackline”.
What is the highline
L’highline is a subcategory of the slackline: it is a sling stretched to a considerable height, such as to force the practitioner to wear a harness tied to the same sling with a rope. The difficulty of this specialty lies in overcoming the fear of heights and being able to find the concentration necessary to run the sling. Highlines are usually mounted in the mountains between two rocks and are attached to some bolts, such as those used in bolting sport climbing routes. A backup rope is also mounted, joined by adhesive tape to the webbing (because it does not continually hit the slackline, annoying those who walk) and tied to separate anchors, which acts as additional insurance in the event of a failure of the material that holds the webbing taut. .