A series of incredible photographs show the moment three Inverness friends walked across a tightrope over a Highlands mountain.
Owen Hope, 25, was joined by Michael Ross, 30, and Lizzie Wood, 26 to document their climb of 3484ft-high An Teallach, in Wester Ross, earlier this month.
The trio are highlining enthusiasts; the extreme sport involves walking along a flat piece of rope called ‘webbing’, while tied in using a ‘leash’ attached via a titanium ring.
An Teallach a ‘beautiful place to be’
Owen, who works as a photographer, told The Press and Journal: “That photo is taken on the An Teallach bridge which is in the North-West Highlands.
“We’re all based in Inverness, we’re all mountain people and we just thought we’d go for it.
“An Teallach as a mountain is pretty famous in rigging culture – it’s iconic and a really impressive mountain and a beautiful place to be.
“We’ve been up there quite a bit.
“The rock type is such that you can rig safe highlines, it’s good, solid rock – it ticks all of the boxes.
“I’d describe it as type two fun – not much fun at the time, we carried a lot of gear – it’s uncomfortable – but good to look back on.
“We all want to be outside, we drive endorphins from it – so you can be rest assured we will be back up there again sometime.”
Owen’s trek up misty mountain
Owen also revealed the amount of planning that goes into their unusual hobby.
All three adventurers carried over 20kg of equipment and carried out stringent checks before the highline took place.
“Because it’s so much equipment and a time commitment, we don’t tend to just rig it blind,” he continued.
“One of us will go for a run up there during the week just to make sure that the conditions are good for the highline.
“It was pretty windy on the day for this particular one, the weather forecast was good.
“It was thick mist though, but it makes for cracking photographs.
“You go up the mountains to experience this part of the Highlands in a different way, but with this mist you might as well have been inside a ping-pong ball!
“But there’s something special about walking a highline with the thick mist all around, that was also a surreal experience.”
Is highlining dangerous?
The An Teallach highliner says preparation is the key to staying safe.
He added: “‘Don’t look down’ is the biggest misconception when it comes to highlining for me.
“When you’re high or slacklining and you’re all anchored in, your first couple of attempts might be full of adrenaline.
“But you can only do this if you are able to be calm – there’s no truth that there’s any fear to it.
“If you’re scared then you shouldn’t be out there – because it means that you are not prepared.
“If one us is scared then it makes me think that something has gone wrong somewhere.
“What is true, each of us understand the equipment and the risks, we understand the consequences and how to minimise them – there’s nothing different about us except our experience.”
You can also visit Owen’s website here, where he documents his other highlining adventures.
Conversation