This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)
In “The Slabs” the world-renowned street trials and mountain bike rider Danny MacAskill amazes us with riding we’ve never seen before. The Scotsman explores new extreme terrain back home in the legendary Dubh Slabs on the edge of the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye, one of the most remote of Scotland’s classic moderate climbing routes. Inspired by some of the world best climbers and their dedication Danny came up with the idea of hitting some rock slabs himself and takes us on an intense ride down the rocky and insanely steep slabs. Awesome drone and POV perspective filmed on GoPro only, offer a fascinating point of view experience.
Danny’s latest video, a We are Peny Media production directed by both Robbie Meade and Danny himself, shows Danny scrambling to just below the summit of Sgurr Dubh Beag / Little Black Peak (733m / 2,432ft.), one of the most technical sections of the Dubh Ridge, unroped with his bike on his back. From here the real challenge begins. Set against the magnificent backdrop of unrivalled mountain wilderness views, Danny navigates his way down an extremely technical one kilometre 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.
“It really felt so natural to be up on these faces on the edge of cliffs cycling down completely in control and fully trusting my brakes, my tires and the rest of my bike – and of course myself. It’s all about believing in your own skills and it was a cool experience out there and I really loved the feeling of it.”
Learn more about Danny’s inspiration, his approach to the slabs in the following interview:
Hi Danny, hope you are doing fine. Last year you went to the gym, now you are tackling a rock slab in a freeride mountaineering manner. Where did the inspiration for this project come from?
Danny: One of the sports that has really captured my imagination over the last few years is climbing and the dedication that these climbers put into certain routes. It’s amazing watching guys like Adam Ondra, Alex Honold, Julia Chanourdie, Margo Hayes and particularly Tommy Caldwell. I am really inspired by watching these climbers setting new routes and new grades in their sport. These girls and guys are dedicating years of their life to these routes.
How did you transfer this inspiration to the bike and how did you get this project started?
Danny: I thought it would be pretty cool to find some big slab of rock that obviously can’t be vertical, well at least not vertical for very long. The idea is basically climbing the rock and descending these big slabs. I’ve had some other projects on the line further afield in other countries that were based on the idea of tackling some rock faces but unfortunately because of Covid the plans changed and I had to start looking at home. I did a bit of a research and found the big Dubh Slabs right in the heart of the Cuillins where I filmed The Ridge back in 2014. This is a 500 metre slab of continuous rock. It’s a very remote part of Skye which is already quite a remote place. We managed to get hold of a local fisherman that would take us across by boat to the loch at the foot of the slabs. From there we had to walk a couple of miles inland and then there is this amazing face.
So how did you prepare and approach the face?
Danny: The Dubh Slabs are known as one the UK’s best scrambles/moderate climbs were you not necessarily have to use ropes, but you still feel quite exposed. It’s very stable and grippy rock but quite intimidating to walk up. I of course scouted the route previously. I actually rode to the area by e-bike, climbed up on foot and called out what I wanted to try when actually being on the rock with my bike. I had a rough idea of a route from top to bottom on the slabs.
Some parts look insanely steep. Can you describe how steep it really is?
Danny: There is one part in particular, the last 100m of vertical which on the first day was just not possible to ride. One big, long face of rock with no features to really work with. And if the bike would just be running or the tires losing it, it would end up really bad. I would say this last slab is maybe over 60 degrees, continuous with no real places to brake. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a funny feeling when you are on the rock. You literally feel gravity just pulling you down the rock and when the only thing is stopping you is your brakes you really feel how steep it is. My brakes and tires were right on the limit especially at this last slab, where I had to slightly traverse the face. Towards the end if you look closely, I have got two fingers on the brakes to try to keep myself under control.
Do you feel any fear at all when navigating down these rocks?
Danny: I felt a lot less fear doing this project than doing smaller tricks like going upside down with the trailer on the back in Danny Daycare or doing the front flip in Cascadia. I thought it felt really relaxed and comfortable. Feeling out the rock, feeling out my tires and brakes, what was possible and then just kind of letting it flow. Just trying to stay in control. It’s not like climbing with ropes. I am basically learning how to do this stuff but there is no safety involved – no rope. You make calculations as to what could happen if things go wrong, but it’s best maybe not to think about it too much, rather to think about the positives. There are some kind of slabs in there that have no runout at the bottom, once you go into them there is no way of stopping so you are fully trusting your brakes and tires.
Your original discipline is street trials, but we see you more and more on the mountain bike and e-bike. Which skills helped you most?
Danny: You’ve got to be a well-rounded rider and there’s a probably only a few folks that would look at riding this kind of stuff. I’ve been riding loads of mountain bike and I’ve done over 8,000km on my e-bike in 2020. I guess it is a combination of all the different kind of riding I have done over the years.
Music plays an important role to you. How do you choose the right track?
Danny: Music for my films is always so important to me. I would say it makes at least 50 percent of the viewing experience. I am really passionate about music and I must have looked through at least 10,000 tracks for this project. You want the music to fit the riding and emotions and ideally fit it into different sections.
Who was part of your crew?
Danny: I had an awesome crew who I worked with many times before.
Robbie Meade (We are Peny) and me as directors, Andrew Lawrence (FPV drone),
Duncan Shaw (Producer), Rory Semple (BTS filming), Dave Mackison (photography)
Last question: What’s so appealing about rock?
Danny: The cool thing about rock compared with dirt is that it doesn’t change, nobody built it, it’s sort of raw. For me personally it was a cool challenge and it’s something I would like to do more often.