Crazy challenge: from Messina to Reggio Calabria on a 19mm cable over 200 meters above sea

An extraordinary challenge, an unprecedented test. Jaan Roose (pictured below by Gabriele Seghizzi), an Estonian slackliner, will cross the Strait of Messina walking on a ribbon just 1.9 cm wide, at a dizzying height of over 200 meters above sea level. Starting from July 2024 (the official date is dependent on weather conditions), the athlete will face a breathtaking route of over 3.5 kilometers, the distance that separates the Calabrian coast from the Sicilian one.

An incredible crossing that could not only break the world slackline record, surpassing the previous record by almost a kilometer (about 2.7 km), but will also represent an unprecedented feat, with a symbolic crossing distance greater than 30 football fields. Roose will start from Santa Trada (Villa San Giovanni), from a point on a pylon 265 meters high – a measurement higher than the tallest Italian skyscraper – and will try to reach Torre Faro (Messina) at a height of 230 meters.

The estimated time to accomplish this feat is about 3 hours, during which Roose will face a height difference of about 130 meters between the starting height and the one he will find in the central part, near Scilla and Cariddi. A symbolism almost mythical that underlines the extraordinariness of this challenge, evoking the eternal struggle of man against the limits of the impossible. “It’s a mix of fear and excitement, I feel like I’m pushing the challenge with myself to the limit – says Jaan – and from a mental point of view, I have to focus on what I’m doing at that moment. I have to minimize any distractions and keep going, trying to stay as clear-headed as possible, step by step.” Jaan Roose, three-time world champion in the discipline, is no stranger to these legendary feats.