Friedi Kühne and Lukas Irmler have set a new world record in slacklining, the art of balancing on a tightrope. The two friends performed the balancing act between two hot air balloons at an altitude of 2500 meters.

The previous world record for the highest slackline was set by acrobat Rafael Bridi, who balanced over the crater of an active volcano in Praia Grande, Brazil, at 1900 meters.

Slackline athletes Kühne and Irmler thus achieved the goal of breaking the record, German Bayerischer Rundfunk reports. Since they both live in Bavaria, Germany, where there are no active volcanoes, the friends had to come up with an alternative solution.

Using two hot-air balloons, they planned to balance on a tightrope and thus reach a higher altitude than the previous record. However, the attempt was difficult to carry out and had to be postponed several times due to bad weather. The balloons were linked together from the start and ascended together to a height of 2500 meters, where they were then held still. Flying in formation was a huge challenge for the pilots, but they eventually succeeded.

On a slackline stretched between two flying hot air balloons at a height of 2,500 meters, the two Germans Friedi Kuehne and Lukas Irmler set a new world record. pic.twitter.com/8vHkHw1Skr

— CGTN Europe (@CGTNEurope) November 11, 2024

“Surreal”

To prepare for the world record, they created a unique training program, where they tried to simulate the movements the balloons would make during the balancing act. One of them balanced on a slackline while the other moved the line in different directions to mimic the changing positions of the balloons. The record is considered particularly difficult as the constant movement of the balloons means that the line is constantly in motion.

The line they balanced on was 25 meters long, and after only a few attempts, the two friends managed to fulfill their big dream: a world record in highline, recognized by the International Slackline Association (ISA).

– It feels amazing to have finally broken the world record. We’ve been excited about it for so long and to have finally done it now. It is actually a bit surreal, Kühne tells AP.

The friends have previously broken several world records in the sport. Among other things, they crossed the longest highline ever stretched: 2,130 meters at an altitude of over 600 meters, between the Lapporten mountains near Abisko in Sweden.