Suspended Above Fear

Facing terrifying heights, slacklining and highlining champion Mia Noblet finds connection and peace within herself.

Douglas Noblet Jericho Truettett

On August 3, 2022, Mia Noblet and seven other fearless athletes broke the world record for the longest slackline walk and the longest highline, 8,943 feet long and 965 feet high respectively. Though she’s broken eight records, for Noblet, it’s not about the records but finding connection and peace. She says, “I think it teaches you how to recognize fear and know where it comes from and why it’s there.”

Noblet grew up in British Columbia where she participated in hiking, camping, and skiing in the outdoorsy town of Nelson. At age 8, she saw a Patagonia poster of Dean Potter, a well-known free climber, alpinist, base jumper, and highliner who passed away in 2015 due to a wingsuit flying accident. This sparked her interest in highlining. Growing up, she enjoyed figure and short-track speed skating but became tired of indoor sports. When she moved to Vancouver to pursue more skating, she met the local Squamish/Vancouver outdoor community, including Spencer Seabrooke.

“People like Spencer and others in my local community became people I looked up to and inspired me to highline even more,” says Noblet. “It’s quite a dangerous sport, and it takes a bit of time to trust the material, the gear, know how to use it, and to trust yourself.”

Participating in such a dangerous sport, fear can come in many forms. Fear can cause issues with the immune system, poor quality of sleep, obsessive-compulsive thoughts, and even dissociation from oneself. Noblet has grown very efficient at processing fear by immersing herself in highlining, distinguishing which emotions matter and which don’t to be fully aware of the current situation she’s in. Having this awareness can lead to a calm mind, and in turn lead to a clearer comprehension of one’s current experience, doing away with any unnecessary mental drama.

“It’s a quick process of identifying the fear, knowing why it’s there, and letting it go if it’s not necessary and not helping you in remaining safe, and then moving on. I think that process takes a lot longer when you first start,” says Noblet.

In a classical definition of fear and stress, fear is the emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat, whereas stress is the individual’s reaction to fear. Threatening stimuli activates a biological defensive mechanism, triggering physiological stress responses, including adrenaline being released throughout the body. This stress response is due to a challenge to the body’s homeostasis.

Homeostasis is the automated process by which an organism’s biological systems maintain stability, all working together while adjusting to the changing world. An essential part of homeostasis is that a human’s internal environment is held within a goal-seeking system, the same environ- ment in which our perception lies. This is why living a safe daily routine brings familiarity, making it easy to seek peace and happiness through predictability and routine.

Usually, it’s easiest to function with a routine, but breaking that routine can bring one back to the forefront of perception, allowing us to see with new eyes. Routine can be good for productivity, but staying inside and spending too much time on electronics is detrimental to stress levels and homeostasis.

“These little screens we carry around with us are absorbing part of our spirit or our soul, whatever you wanna call it, and it’s definitely more noticeable after spending a lot of time in nature,” says Noblet.

In a study in Mind, 95 percent of those interviewed said their mood improved after spending time outside, changing from depressed and stressed to calm and balanced. By taking that step into the unknown, people are more likely to step into a flow state. The hardest part is to find this equilibrium, being fully aware of one’s experience: as day-to-day life in the city can pull one more into survival mode.

“Dealing with fear on a daily basis functions on a similar level. Fear of failure, rejection, and death— these can all be overcome by centering oneself in the moment. The majority of the appeal to [slacklining] is becoming capable of putting that fear in the backseat. It’s definitely a challenge of being very present in the moment,” says Noblet.

Many people seem like they are in constant fight or flight mode, musing about the past and future, scrolling through endless feeds, watching a 24/7 stream of divisive news, or doing whatever makes one feel like they have a handle on what is happening within the modern world.

Noblet says, “highlining brings you to a place where you’re very centered, very present in that moment, and I think nowadays, with big highline projects, what I like the most is that presence that it brings you.”

For Noblet, peace comes with going out into nature and being mindful of life, moment by moment.

“Once you find something that you can spend hours doing with no one around, no phones, no pictures or nothing, you’re gonna find this sense of calm and quiet and you don’t need anything or anyone around you to do that thing because it just fulfills you for you.”