The Town of Banff is looking at ways to protect trees from damage caused by unchecked slacklining throughout town, including putting up poles in some locations for lines to be anchored to.
There are some internal talks between departments at Town Hall on appropriate locations for installing poles, but the recreation grounds is one area under consideration to give slackliners a better option than tying to trees.
Andreas Loutas, Banff’s urban forester, said its important to protect trees from getting damaged from recreational use like slacklining, noting poles would mean slackliners could anchor the rope to poles, not trees.
“Tree preservation is just as important as tree growth,” he said, noting there was a very damaged tree in Rotary Park due of slacklining.
“Definitely having appropriate, well marked areas for slacklining, I think, would be beneficial. The more the merrier, I’d say.”
Slacklining is a growing sport performed on nylon, polyester or hybrid webbing secured between two anchor points, usually trees, rocks or any artificial anchor point.
It’s believed climbers in Yosemite Valley, California, developed the activity during the late 1970s and early 1980s. When they weren’t climbing, they took flat nylon webbing and stretched it between two rocky outcroppings and walked and balanced on this webbing.
Slacklining is similar to tightrope walking; however, the main difference is that tightrope walking is performed with a wire or rope anchored very rigidly, instead of the dynamic experience that a slackline offers.
Nadine Setzer, the Town of Banff’s grounds supervisor, said she’s working with internal departments, including planning and development, to find appropriate spots to put in poles.
“This is an opportunity to say, ‘hey, you know what? We don’t want you doing this here, but we have a place for you to go,” she said.
“Slacklining in the U.S. has a huge following and we see more and more of it in town. With poles, we’ll see less damage to our trees and other infrastructure.”
Randall McKay, Banff’s planning and development manager, said the recreation grounds would be a good place to put slacklining poles, but he’s not as keen on Central Park.
“The thinking is Central Park is for passive recreational purposes, not active recreation. It’s a place of respite from Banff Avenue, off the main street,” he said. “It’s not set up for full-on recreational activities. There’s a bit of debate on that.”
