The nomadic trio, Sam Salwei, Jason Magness and Chelsey Gribbon, are the core of Team YogaSlackers. With their roots in climbing and yoga, they found a way to combine their love of expedition-style adventure and yoga practice. The racing team, which also includes yogic athletes,  Daniel Staudigel, Mark Lattanzi, Andy Magness, Paul Cassedy and Dan Norgard participates in several grueling adventure races each year. At first their penchant for stopping on a rain-slick mountain side to do yoga poses seemed odd. After they started to win adventure races, it seemed like a revolution. The YogaSlackers now number close to 15, including well known yoga teachers, acroyogis, and master slackliners Adi Carter and Paige Wyatt.   Together they organize yoga events, workshops and retreats, host adventure races and climbing competitions, teach the art of ‘slackline yoga’ (which brings on the origination of their team name) and share their experiences through blogging and videos. Their main goal is to bring awareness to the joy of human-powered endeavor, and the inherent connection between meditative movement and extreme effort. Please check back regularly for additional updates. For videos, photos and more information on the YogaSlackers, please click here or visit www.yogaslackers.com.

Cross Posted from TheJoyTripProject

The minute you cross the Ohio River into West Virginia everything seems to change. There’s an immediate influx of lush green as the topography begins to roll through the mountain state. Raised in California I was lead to believe that the only mountains worth a 700-mile drive span ranges well west of the Mississippi. With a dramatic landscape unfolding before my eyes with each passing mile I’ve since changed my mind.

Down the highway a bit further on you come across another bridge and enter into a world all its own. The New River Gorge is this little known wonder spot south of the Mason-Dixon. Here our tribe of climbers, local and national, has gathered to celebrate the spring season and our active lifestyle. The New River Rendezvous is an adventure festival held each year in Fayetteville. Registration closed a few days ago having reached capacity at 800 attendees.

Confederate flags on pick-up trucks not withstanding, this southern enclave is every bit as hospitable as custom demands, even more so. The day-use campsite at New River Gorge National Park was already packed when I arrived. Climbers from across the country set up tents in communion of their love for the life in the wild. Organized by the owners of the local gear shop, Waterstone Outdoors, The New River Rendezvous welcomes climbers and climbing enthusiasts of all abilities to come play, learn and experience this sport that’s every bit as challenging to do as it is wonderful to watch.

An old mining town Fayetteville has come alive with the growth of climbing and whitewater paddling. Waterstone Outdoors co-owner Kenny Parker said the community has flourished over recent years with a wave of new residents. “Fayetteville draws in like-minded people from all over who love the outdoors,” he said. “We’re kind of tucked way and not many people know we’re even here. It’s just a great place hide out and loose yourself.”

I’m pretty psyched to have found myself here. Events through the weekend so far have included a pig roast at Kenny’s house, a full day of climbing clinics, gear displays by the top outdoor brands in the industry, yoga classes and ongoing slackline demonstrations. Check out some of the images below or the the Joy Trip Project photo albums on Facebook Day1 , Day2 & Day3.

Special social media coverage of the New River Rendezvous comes courtesy of Osprey, prAna, Trango, Sterling Rope, Evolv, Chaco, the New River Alliance of Climbers and Waterstone Outdoors.

For more coverage check out DPM

Adi here back on the East Coast and so excited to be working with Brooklyn Boulders in NYC to offer the first Slackline Series course consisting of 3 two hour workshops.

You can vote for Dean in National Geographic Adventurer’s 1st Readers Choice Award at http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/best-of-adventure/readers-choice-award

<posted by the YogaSlackers>

On our LONG  20 hour drive to North Dakota from Denver,  Chelsey and I stopped for some much needed play time….

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Curious about walking on the line but a little intimidated to try? Stay tuned for future blog posts on how to walk on a slackline for beginners, from the YogaSlackers.

We noticed our most recent post on Dean’s freesolo at Taft Point <LINK> had a lot of readers concerned and a few skeptical. We asked Dean to share with us a little about his training on the line, and dug up a prior video clip from a video feature on Dean in the New York Times earlier last year. In his own words, here’s what Dean had to share:

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I rarely read blogs and am kind of an old fashioned guy who likes writing letters or talking to people face to face.  Most of the time I do literally live in a cave or under trees and forget that the public sees or cares about what I do.  It’s come to my attention that a few of the prAna blog readers are a bit concerned about me falling off of highlines while I’m solo walking.  Even though this last freesolo crossing at Taft Point was a distance record of 100 feet I assure you I was in total control.  In fact I soloed it five times in a row.  Here are a few ideas that might calm things down.  Usually I don’t divulge my secrets but maybe it’s helpful in this case.

For a long time now I’ve been interested in the martial arts.  I’m fascinated with the Aikido and strategy expert Miyamoto Musashi and have learned from his book, ‘Go Rin No Sho’ (A Book of Five Rings) and teachings over the years.  Though he lived in the 13th century his values and openness to new ideas drove him to the forefront of swordsmanship simply by disregarding others’ rules.  In his most famous dual he struck down a stronger opponent with a wooden oar that he spontaneously carved into a sword, simply because he wielded a longer blade. (more…)

Photographer Jeff Cunningham <LINK> sent us these shots on Dean’s most recent solo walk at Taft Point in Yosemite.

In Jeff’s, words, “it was a beautiful day in Yosemite. Dean had a high line set up there that he measured as somewhere between 99 to 100 feet. He had walked the line leashed a few times when I saw him untying from the tether. I figured he was just taking a break. Instead, he stepped up to the line and started walking it with confidence and determination. It’s hard to imagine what it must feel like walking across a rope with over a thousand feet of air below, but it was obvious to me that Dean was exactly where he was supposed to be…”