HEWC Book

In competitive trickline, I got 2nd place to my best friend Alpha Mike, and lost my shit!
I tore my check in half, walked off the podium, poured water on the judges, and ran off
in tears. Embarrassing yourself, hurting your friends, and being voted 2nd hurt worse
that any of the injuries I’ve sustained, and takes longer to recover from... sometimes you
never recovering fully. But bar-none when I witnessed the body under the cliff and experienced
the death of my friend Daniel.. That was the most intense injury of my career. I
dealt with.. and am still dealing with that emotional wounding. I am asking myself if I feel
lucky to have my most serious injury be emotional. And I think I do. But man, I do miss
you Dan.
8. Who is your real life hero and why?
One of my real life heroes is Phillipe Petit, the Man on Wire, because he embraces
great risks with great style-- even if the risks include crossing the strict boundaries of
the system. I have never met him, but I appreciate his talents, honor his achievements,
and have been inspired by his storytelling, photographs, and movies. Especially from
his most famous mission of charging up and wire walking the World Trade Centers. I am
envious and a little jealous because now-a-days, you pull that kind of stunt and you go
to jail for years. The United States does not FUCK AROUND anymore, and the last people
who snuck onto the new world trade center and jumped off are looking at serious time.
But having explored the upper echelon of a balance sport of similar nature to wire walking
for over ten years, I am still in awe of the stunts he initiated 30+ some odd years ago.
And the fact that he did all his performances free solo, still blows my mind today. Kudos
Phillipe, thank you for your art. I hope to meet you one day, shake your hand, and thank
you for the inspiration as I see the crazy look in your eyes!
9. Do you have a favourite comic book or film hero and why?
One of my favorite hero/comic film’s was “The Mask.” Jim Carrey, plays a character
of normal guy, down on his luck, with a slogan he begrudgingly accepts, “Nice Guys Finish
Last.” I guess he isn’t really your average super hero, but when he finds this mask he
becomes this frigging ridiculous, off the wall, hilarious, dark but lovable badass that happens
to be one of my favorite comic/hero’s characters ever. I loved The Mask because
it allowed the wearer of the mask to embrace the power of their true character-- sometimes
inflating the negative characteristics of the wearer. I found the philosophy behind
the mask to be inspiring. They talk about people wearing masks, the face everyone shows
the world, when they are really different underneath. Its a metaphor for the barriers
people put up for themselves naturally in society. Basically, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Accepting your character and living to your full potential it one of the greatest challenges
everyone faces in life. It takes focus. Its just sometimes, you don’t have a mask to
focus your energy, so you have to practice focusing on your own! And training focus is
slacklines number one skill.