A German highline walker broke two world records on Tuesday with an aerial crossing of the Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas while blindfolded.
Alexander Schulz, 30, began the tense 800-meter high crossing on the north side of the canyon near the community of El Triunfo at 8:00 a.m., slowly walking the 1,720-meter-long band in 4,080 steps.
When he arrived at the Los Chiapa viewpoint on the other side an hour and a quarter later, Governor Rutilio Escandón Cadenas was there to receive him.
Schulz is the sport’s standout figure and already held a long list of world records before his latest feat, which was organized by the state Tourism Ministry. He has broken records without a harness but he wore one for the Chiapas event.
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After achieving the feat, Schulz admitted to some nerves. “The past two weeks have been a roller coaster ride of emotions. Sleepless nights of stress, excitement, fears and doubts, throwbacks and again sleepless nights … But today in the morning we completed a project that we had planned … for over two years,” he wrote on his Instagram page.
On Facebook he wrote that the canyon crossing was the climax of his career.
The Bavarian daredevil isn’t an easy man to frighten. In December 2016, he broke highline records in urban surroundings in Mexico City, crossing between the Reforma Tower and the BBVA Bancomer Tower over Reforma Avenue at a height of 230 meters.
In April 2020, he crossed an active volcano on the south sea island of Tanna, Vanuatu.
Highline is a sport that tests the balance of its brave practitioners. Amateurs suspend a band between two anchor points, usually trees, and tighten it before jumping on and trying to walk across.
