The Moab Monkeys, a Utah-based group of athletes and filmmakers, have recently designed a contraption that will induce vertigo in even the most experienced of stuntmen. The 2,000 sq. ft. pentagon-shaped hammock, referred to as the Mothership Space Net Penthouse, sat suspended 400 feet above the Moab Desert, serving as the main attraction for an annual gathering over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thrill seekers – from slacker liners, to high liners to base jumpers – all congregated in Moab, Utah for the occasion. The city, known for its Mars-like land formations and cliffs, is the hometown of the Moab Monkeys and thus, provided the ideal location for the construction of the spider-web-like hammock.
The installation was the brainchild of Andy Lewis, an avid slackliner who once performed in a Super Bowl Halftime Show. Considered somewhat of an art piece, the Mothership Space Net Penthouse took nearly 14,000 feet of cordage to install. 50 people joined forces in a huge communal effort to hand-weave the design, which would take three days to complete.
Fortunately, “not one athlete was injured or maimed during the duration of such dangerous stunts,” according to Brain Mosbaugh, the photographer of the photo you see above. In fact, the contraption is strong enough to hold up to 15 people, offering adventurers – slackliners, base jumpers and highliners alike – a place to rest, take photos, high-line, and even jump off of (with a parachute).
However, in order to make it to the net, the daredevils had to first walk across one of the five different “legs” of the net – some of which extend up to 262 feet long. A void in the middle of the net also served as the single exit; to leave the structure, they had to dive through the hole and then land with their parachutes.
But the Moab Monkeys are no strangers to the extreme. When they aren’t hanging 400 feet above the deserts, you can find them performing daredevil acts elsewhere all over the world. They’ve traveled to places like Rio de Janeiro and the Austrian Alps, filming their extreme exploits in the process.
Check out a video of the contraption here.
For more information about the Moab Monkeys, click here.
