Luke Shaheen never had a backyard trampoline growing up. But as an adult, he’s trying to build the world’s longest.
Shaheen is a managing partner with Crazy Ape Extreme Equipment. The trampoline manufacturer recently built a prototype that is 30.5-metres long. The group wants to double that to smash the world record.
“This is going to be a 200-foot trampoline, but it also performs like a professional trampoline,” Shaheen said.
Russia holds the current record. The “Fast Track” is a 51-metre-long trampoline, built as an art installation and alternative road in 2012, that stretches through one of Russia’s forests.
Saskatchewan’s plans for the record are a little different. The trampoline will be free-standing, which will allow the 61-metre design to be used in a variety of settings or for extreme sports.
“This isn’t like your big box store trampoline that’s somewhat bouncy. This thing’s a powerhouse,” Shaheen said.
Saskatchewan has a long history of being a “trampoline capital,” according to Shaheen. Farmers started handmaking trampolines in Herbert, Sask., in the 1970s.
“It was farmers looking for something to do in the winter and keeping their families having fun,” he said.
“That’s evolved over time. Quite a bit of our business is replacement parts for those trampolines that are still out there.”
The company is trying to keep that history alive.
Crazy Ape Extreme Equipment in Saskatchewan will attempt to build the world’s longest trampoline. (CTV News)
Crazy Ape manufactures trampoline parks that are shipped across North America. They also build indoor and outdoor trampolines for personal and professional use, and provide equipment for rock climbing walls, diving clubs and ski programs.
“It gives us this ability to kind of grow from just making a trampoline for someone’s backyard to actually building high-end training facilities for niche and specific skills,” said Andrew Sawatsky, the company’s manager of special projects.
They use computers to generate the design before a large CNC, or computer numerical control, machine marks and cuts the material, which is then sewn together. The entire process is done in-house.
“We kind of work on the adage here: move fast and break things. And we do a lot of breaking things here, but we move quickly,” Sawatsky said.
Their motto is the reason they were able to create a functional proof of concept within months of deciding to chase the world record.
“We started with our standard backyard trampoline, which is 10 by 17 feet, which is a free-standing trampoline. And we said, ‘Can we make it a little longer’?” Sawatsky said.
“We kept making the trampoline longer and longer and longer for it to still perform well, still bounce, and still be sturdy.”
There is no timeline for when the record-breaking trampoline will be completed. The company is looking for partners in the project, such as extreme sports groups, who may have a good use for it.