Top Scottish rider Danny MacAskill has launched his latest feature video, Danny MacAskill – The Slabs.
Danny returns to the Isle of Skye to climb and ride down the legendary Dubh Slabs on the edge of the Cuillin mountains. The Dubhs are renowned as one of the most remote of Scotland’s classic moderate climbing routes, including some of the finest friction slabs.
The top rider, who was brought up on Skye, previously tackled the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Cuillin Ridge in 2014.
Danny’s latest video, a We are Peny Media production, shows the biking pro scrambling to just below the summit of Sgurr Dubh Beag / Little Black Peak (733m), one of the most technical sections of the Dubh Ridge, unroped, with his bike strapped to his back.
From here the test begins. Set against the magnificent backdrop of dramatic mountain views, Danny navigates his way down the technical 900 metre route, over a very steep ledge system of black “boiler-plated” Gabbro slabs, exposed steps and drop offs, buttresses and grassy clefts, to the shores of Loch Coruisk at sea level.
Danny said: ‘I was pretty nervous tackling a lot of the obstacles on the route. The most challenging part was definitely the final 200 metre slab vertical section, which on the first day was just not possible to ride.
“It was very exposed and had a very difficult run out. This made the grip, braking and balance very difficult. You literally feel gravity just pulling you down the rock and when the only thing stopping you is your brakes you really feel how steep it is.
“Luckily it all worked out and I managed to get off the slab onto the grass reasonably controlled.
‘As much as I enjoyed riding the Dubh Slabs, the most memorable emotion was the relief and satisfaction heading back over the loch on the boat after finishing the filming.
” I really hope everyone enjoys this video and we hope it inspires some fun bike adventures when we are allowed to properly explore Scotland again.’
It is more than a decade since Danny, 34, launched his breakthrough video “Inspired Bicycles – April 2009”, which included impressive stunts filmed at iconic locations across Edinburgh. It has racked up well more than 300,000,000 views on various YouTube platforms.
The Ridge has been watched at least 74,576,094 times on YouTube.
See The Slabs video: