World record as tightrope walkers cross Swedish valley 600m up

Four German tightrope walkers have set a new world highlining distance record by crossing a 2.1 km-long valley in Swedish lapland on a line suspended at a height of 600 metres.

Reuters’ video footage showed a barefoot man sway and teeter as he delicately tiptoed across the line between two mountain peaks in a snow-capped valley.

“I just focused on being very slow, being extremely clean and just reaching the end,” said Quirin Herterich, who was first to cross the line before compatriots Lukas Irmler, Ruben Langer and Friedi Kuehne successfully followed.

“This is hard because it’s really exposed, it’s 600 metres high, it’s 2,150 metres and it’s really windy here sometimes,” said David Sjostrom, the project manager of the exploit.

It took the team two days to rig the line across the two Arctic Circle peaks which, at this time of year, bask in 24-hour sunlight.

“This place, Lapporten, is for me an iconic place and a very beautiful landmark… When I started looking at bigger projects I saw a picture of Lapporten… and just when I saw it, I know it had to be rigged and crossed,” Sjostrom added.