Skye daredevil Danny ‘Doing the Dubhs’ in new bike video
The latest video from Skye’s own daredevil bike legend Danny MacAskill, in which he tackles the island’s famous Dubh Slabs on the edge of the Cuillins, is already wowing his growing legion of fans.
Danny launched the new feature video, Danny MacAskill – The Slabs, on his YouTube channel last week.
The video, a We are Peny Media production directed by Robbie Meade and Danny, shows the biking professional 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 real test begins. Set against the magnificent backdrop of unrivalled mountain wilderness views, Danny navigates down the seriously 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 admitted to being 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.’
Danny has always been a massive fan of rock climbers, and in particular the American free climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell. Inspired by their achievements, he was keen to film another technical mountain challenge descending on his bike. He came across the Dubh Slabs last summer when climbing with school friends.
He immediately saw the potential of the terrain and knew he needed to come and tackle it for his next project.
When things opened up and travel was permitted again he and a small crew pulled things together for a two-day shoot in September on a much smaller scale than recent sponsored bigger budget projects.
Duncan Shaw, producer of Danny MacAskill – The Slabs, business partner and fellow street trials rider, said: ‘The biggest challenge of this shoot was access. The easiest and quickest way to get to the foot of the range is via local fishing boats. After the 20-minute boat ride, there is a 45-minute walk to the foot of the Dubh Slabs. Once there we had to scale a rock face with all our kit. This is a challenging climb that should be roped in sections.
‘The terrain was so steep it was near impossible to film Danny’s ride using traditional methods. Our main camera, GoPro Hero 9, was mounted on a custom Built FPV drone, with two additional POV GoPro Hero 9s positioned on Danny’s helmet and chest.’
Danny, 34, 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 was uploaded to the internet, this and his many other video projects have racked up well over 300 million views on various YouTube platforms.
View Danny MacAskill – The Slabs at outu.be/4Ym2F-tHdkk