It's not an uncommon sight on the University of Colorado campus: barefoot students, balanced a few feet off the ground, carefully putting one foot in front of the other as they cross flat ropes tied between two trees.

The sport's called slacklining, and it's pitting proponents -- the kind of avidly outdoorsy CU students who also scramble up rock faces in their spare time -- against safety-conscious campus officials.

"It's something that you get a little bit of a fever for," CU freshman Eric Soehngen said. "You get up there and it's difficult and you want to get better at it, so you don't stop.

"You go for a few hours and you just keep going until you figure it out."

Lately, though, CU police and housing officials have been stopping students from slacklining on campus, saying it's dangerous to the rope-walkers as well as the trees around which the cords often are tied. The enforcement has lead some students to open talks with CU in hopes of reaching a compromise.

At the moment, "the housing department has a rule against slacklining in or around the residence halls," said Cmdr. Brad Wiesley, of the CU Police Department, which has been asking campus slackliners to get down off their ropes.

Soehngen ran afoul of that rule earlier this week while rope-walking near Smith Hall.

"We found a couple of trees in front of Smith and we were starting to set up when a TA ran out and told us we would get in trouble for tying the line to the trees," said Soehngen, who instead re-tied his slacklining rope to metal posts at a nearby volleyball court.

Because of the recent bout of enforcement, some students have begun discussions with CU's Facilities Management department in an effort to find a way for slackliners to legally practice their sport on campus.

"With every new sport or new activity, it has to be understood before it is accepted," said Scott Rogers, a CU senior leading the charge to legitimize slacklining on campus. "This is an effort to inform the people who make the final decisions at the university exactly what slacklining is, how it benefits the students and the campus as a whole, and why it is a healthy and positive activity."

One possibility Rogers is pursuing is the creation of a university-sponsored slacklining club through the CU Recreation Center.

Wiesley, of the CU Police Department, said he's glad the slackliners are talking to campus leaders.

"It's to be applauded when people go through all of the right channels instead of just doing it," Wiesley said. "That's commendable."