Red Fox Outdoors, a European sportswear brand that entered the U.S. markets in 2014 and opened a store in Boulder, CO’s Pearl Street Mall in July, added professional highliner Friedi Kühne as its newest brand ambassador.
By partnering with Friedi Kühne, Red Fox hopes to encourage others to take to the outdoors. But the brand was also careful to explain the risks of highlining.
Friedi Kühne shows off his skills. Photo courtesy of Red Fox Outdoor.
“Highlining is a particularly challenging sport that requires the true athleticism and determination embodied by the Red Fox Team,” the company wrote in announcing Kühne’s joining its team. “Kühne moves across the line, it swings and bounces with each step, making it particularly difficult to maintain a grip on the line. At heights of over 50 meters, a fall can be treacherous, despite the safety precautions. Kühne is truly an expert at his sport and fully represents the values of Red Fox Outdoors.”
Kühne has successfully walked across more than 300 highlines and was the first to ascend more than 40 new highline routes in 20 countries across the globe. His acumen in the sport has allowed him to express himself on the highline, creating new techniques and developing new tricks each year.
Each highline is made of tensioned, flat webbing, specifically engineered to support the weight of an athlete moving, swaying, and bouncing in the air. Unlike tightropes, highlines are suspended with much less tension, making the surface dynamic and capable of movement. Athletes first learn on a slackline, suspended only a few feet off the ground, prior to moving to a highline, where their mental and physical strengths are tested with each movement.
Friedi Kühne first set foot on a slackline in 2009 and has since perfected his technique, incorporating somersaults, jumps, and tricks at high elevations. He takes his passion for the outdoors and uses it in an extreme sport that pushes the human body to maintain absolute muscle control and balance. The mental strength required to cross a 20 meter line hovering over 50 meters from the ground takes absolute patience and calm.
