Roughly two dozen people attempted — and five people succeeded — to tightrope-walk a 1,600-foot path on a nylon highline next to the Golden Gate Bridge this past weekend, 75 feet above the ground in Marin County’s Kirby Cove.

Whatever you did this past weekend, it is not as interesting as what about two dozen people did up in Marin County’s Kirby Cove, about a third of a mile from the Golden Gate Bridge. As the Chronicle explains, those daredevils tightrope-walked a 1,600-foot-long nylon line that a few organizers set up, and allowed people to attempt the walk all weekend from Friday night through Sunday. It’s actually called highlining, and the video below shows the stunning scenery, and riveting suspense, of this endeavor.  

“Everyone was really stoked to see it,” Toby Calhoun, a highliner who helped set up these ropes and rigs, told the Chronicle. “I was getting lots of questions from campers and people at the beach. A lot of them assumed that because it was such a big project that there was a bigger purpose, or that we were doing an ad or something, but it was just a bunch of friends getting together to have a good time.”

Kirby Cove 09/06
byu/Lazanzapost insanfrancisco

So what happens if you fall? Most people did fall. The Chron reports that “about two dozen attempted to walk it,” but only five succeeded, and only two completed the entire 1,640-foot walk without falling. But those who attempted the walk were all attached with a waist harness and a leash, so one would only fall a few feet and then dangle safely in the air.

At that point, the tightrop-walker can either pull themselves back up and try to keep walking, or hand-pull themselves to safety at either the start or the finish line. And remember, this is up at the altitude of the Golden Gate Bridge itself, so walkers had to deal with some pretty blistering winds.  

Or fog, as co-organizer Moises Monterrubio encountered. “I couldn’t see more than 50 feet around me but I could hear the water under me and the big boats passing nearby,” Monterrubio told the Chronicle. “It was so cool.”

Monterrubio had set up this line once before in 2021, and he says it’s the longest highline path that can be created on any coast of North America. Organizers say they might pull this stunt again, though only experienced highliners are allowed to attempt the walk.

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Image: Lazanzapost via Reddit