Friedi Kühne Free Solo Highline World Record - 110 meter - Interview on a spacenet

Hey, I'm 3D Kune and I'm going to tell you how not to free solo. We're just going to completely win, man. Yeah, we're going to win. Alright, thanks for doing an interview with us. Sure, thanks for having me. So what did you just accomplish? I walked into the solo Highline World Record. And how long was it? 110 meters long, 200 meters high, and I couldn't access the 100 meters. So it wasn't a midline? No, it was definitely a very serious highline, which was at least twice as high as long, which is how you kind of look at it. Okay, it looked intense. Did you... where was this at? This was in Gauche, in Val d'Or, in southern France. Big cliffs with very easy access where you can move from side to side. And what crew were you with? Very good friends of mine. Pablo from France, one of my best friends. Super inspiring highliner, it was great to have him there. And another friend of mine from Germany, Firin. And just a big crew of super friendly, awesome French slackliners and climbers who spontaneously joined us. Was this a planned free solo or was it you felt good in the moment? I mean, it wasn't planned in the sense that we went to this place in order to do a free solo World Record. But definitely when I got there, I started planning the next couple of days. I told myself, okay, if I can cross this line for a couple of days, never fall, always be safe and feel like I'm in control of this line, then I can solo. So I definitely practiced for it for about two days, but I didn't plan out the whole trip months in advance. Okay. At any moment you were out there, did you ever have any doubts or any oh shit moments? I mean, it was definitely a hard line to walk, especially the end. I had some shaky moments, definitely didn't walk it without ever stopping. I had some moments where I had to stop, wait for the line to calm down. But I never had any like, oh my God moments. I definitely didn't think I was going to fall. If anything, I had a couple of moments where I was thinking, okay, if this fight, this struggle continues a lot longer, then I'm just going to catch or sit down. So I definitely got a little closer to my limit, but I didn't feel in danger or scared at any point. So is your style to always feel calm with every step and you'll just wait if you don't? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I struggle on high lines a lot like other people when it gets harder and there's a mental game going on, obviously, and then you feel some pressure. But I like to practice the high line enough to just be in control all the time and to just know that I can walk it. Have you ever had a catch pre-solo? I haven't caught on a pre-solo yet, ever. But that's not to say that the catch will still be spot on because I've caught on plenty of deep water pre-solos. But all the actual high lines, like the basically fall equals death high lines that I've pre-soloed, I never caught on them because I always walked them so many times that the walking was just so good. Did you suffer from sin anxiety knowing you were near the end? Because you knew what you were doing, you knew what it was going to be. It's hard to not get the whole sinning thought into your head. It's really hard to never think of that. There's always a little bit of pressure towards the end, but on that line, it was physically very demanding. I had to stay very calm, and I paid so much attention to my body and to the line, to my stance, to my arms, that I didn't have enough free thoughts and time to think about spending all that stuff. Overall, I was just very in the zone, in the flow. Which was harder, this line or the falls line you did last year? This line was a lot harder than the 72-meter that comes in falls, definitely. Just from the length, or because of where is that? Because the length isn't always the problem. I'd say no, for sure the length. In this case, the length. Eventually, big lines get easier again, but I think around 100 meters is pretty hard. I think it's one of the hardest lines. I always struggle on 100 meters, and I usually feel very comfortable on 200 meters. I haven't ascended 200 meters yet, but I can see the difference. When I found out you did the 100 meters range, I was like, damn, it almost seems like it'd be easier. I don't know if it'd be scary to do a 200, but the 100 is still what I'd consider one of the hardest highlines for free solo. I definitely had the mark, the 100, I definitely had that on my mind. It was important to me. It was just a wish, a longtime wish. I'd say it was a dream of mine to free solo a 100 meter plus highline. That line was perfect because of the spots, the exposure and everything. We had a 130 meter line right next to it, a little further out, but basically the same height, same exposure. But I was thinking like, hey, 110 meters is already 40 meters longer than the last record. We're just going to keep this other line for later. There's still other people, if they're angry, they might be pushing it. I like the 100 meter marker. It's a great achievement. What webbings did you have on there? Double Feather Pro, Mainline with Feather Pro and Backup with Feather Pro. My favorite low stretch webbing. I usually prefer high stretch, like nylon webbing over low stretch webbing any time. But Feather Pro is pretty good. It's got some stretch and it's lightweight. So I guess for that range, it's a rather easy, or generally speaking, it's a rather easy to control webbing. So it felt quite comfortable to use that way. And how tight was it? Was it just a hangover and a couple friends? I'd say it was complete average modern highline tension. Maybe two people pulling on a hangover a couple times and it sagged a little bit. Definitely tight enough to be able to walk off. It wasn't like rodeo line tension. We definitely used the hangover. And you liked the tension that was there or you just got used to it because you trained on that? I like tension lately. I don't want the lines to be crazy saggy. I really like to be able to walk off without having to drag myself uphill at the end of a highline. We didn't have a dyno, but I'd say it was for sure somewhere between 1.5 and 2 tons. None of us want you to do this, but do you have future plans and goals with freestyling? Not right now, no. We're very happy to hear that. It definitely started out as something in the moment for me, just for myself. It's going to stay that way. Obviously, some freestylers deserve to be filmed and to be seen. But overall, it's a very personal passion of mine. I'm quite satisfied right now. I mean, I still solo every once in a while. Recently with Andy and Spencer's smaller line. I'm not aiming to push the record in 10 years. But maybe it'll take someone else to push the record to then inspire me to think about it again. Yeah, that's how speed records on the nose are. It triggers other people to do big things. That's an amazing project you did and congratulations. Thanks a lot. Holy shit, man! Thanks for watching. Please don't be an idiot. Don't rig your first highline on your own. Don't freestolo in order to prove anything to anyone. Just freestolo for yourself if you have to do it. Fuck sending. Just have fun, stay safe and don't forget to subscribe.