Trial cycling sensation Danny MacAskill has just released a new video of his latest death-defying ride in the Cuillins on his native Skye.
Six years after ‘The Ridge’ attracted millions of views on YouTube, ‘The Slabs’ was uploaded last week and shows the 34-year-old climbing up to and then navigating his way down a 900 metre route on Sgurr Dubh Beag.
The descent took him 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.
At the start of this week the film had been watched over 1.78 million times.
Danny told the Free Press that he first learned about the ‘Dubh Slabs’ from John Smith and Matt Barratt of Skye Adventure. When he went off to do his own research he found surprisingly few photos of such a spectacular place.
He added: “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.”
While filming on the Slabs last September with the ‘We are Peny Media’ production company, directed by both Robbie Meade and Danny, they ended up filming another short piece set around the north Skye area which will come out later in the year.
He told the Free Press he is not sure what’s next.
He added: “I am semi homeless, because we gave up the flat in Glasgow. I am in Wales at the moment filming for a US TV show, X Games Real on MTV. There will be six different riders in the mountain bike section. This will air in the US in late spring.
“I am looking for a barn and some land to buy to make more videos, but the market is very quiet just now. I would love to build a house on Skye but I need to be close to airports at the moment so will probably look at somewhere in Stirlingshire/Perthshire.”
Danny, from Dunvegan, is widely known as one of the most entertaining content creators the world has to offer. More than 11 years after his breakthrough video ‘Inspired Bicycles – April 2009’, that included mind blowing stunts filmed at iconic locations across Edinburgh, was uploaded to the internet, this and his many other video projects have racked up well over 300 million views on various YouTube platforms. The Ridge (October 2014), Danny’s last feature video filmed on Skye, where he tackles the ‘Inaccessible Pinnacle’ on the Cuillin Ridge, has been watched at least 74.5 million times.
To watch his extraordinarily intense and nerve-wracking mountain bike ride go to Danny MacAskill’s YouTube channel; search #theslabs on social media or click on the Youtube link at the top of this article.