After Danny took his trials bike to the gym about a year ago, the Scotsman got on his mountain bike for his latest work and explored new terrain at home in the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye. Inspired by some of the world's best climbers and their passion, Danny came up with the idea of emulating them on his mountain bike and tackling the steepest rock slabs possible. Danny takes us on an impressive and nerve-wracking, insanely steep ride down into the valley. The breathtaking drone and POV perspectives, filmed exclusively with the GoPro, convey a fascinating co-pilot feeling.
Danny's latest video, a We are Peny production directed by both Robbie Meade and Danny, begins with Danny climbing unsecured with his bike on his back to just below the summit of Sgurr Dubh Beag / Little Black Peak (733m), one of the most technical sections of the Dubh Ridge. This is where the real challenge begins. Against the magnificent backdrop of unrivalled mountain wilderness, Danny navigates his way along an extremely technical one kilometre route over a system of steep ledges, overgrown gabbro slabs, exposed steps and precipices, pillars and grassy crevasses down to the shores of Loch Coruisk at sea level.
"It felt totally natural for me to stand on these rock faces on the edge of the abyss and ride down in complete control. I have complete confidence in my brakes, my tyres and the rest of my bike - and also in myself. The most important thing is to believe in your own abilities. It was a cool experience out there and I really enjoyed it."
Find out more about Danny's inspiration, his approach to the slabs, his bike setup and more in the following interview:
Hi Danny, I hope you're doing well. Last year you went to the gym, now you're tackling a rock slab in freeride mountaineering style. Where did the inspiration for this project come from?
Danny: One of the sports that has really captivated me in recent years is climbing and the passion that climbers put into their routes. It's incredible to watch climbers like Adam Ondra, Alex Honnold, Julia Chanourdie, Margo Hayes and especially Tommy Caldwell. It totally inspires me to watch these guys and girls create new routes and new grades in their sport. They dedicate several years of their lives to some routes.
How did you transfer this inspiration to your bike and how did you tackle this project?
Danny: I thought it would be pretty cool to find a big rock face, but unlike climbing walls, it obviously can't be vertical, at least not for very long. The idea was then to climb up the wall and then descend. I already had a few other projects in other countries based on the idea, but unfortunately the plans changed due to Covid and I looked around at home. I did a bit of research and found the big Dubh Slabs in the heart of the Cuillins, where I filmed "The Ridge" in 2014. It's a 500 metre long slab of more or less continuous rock. It's a very remote part of Skye, which is already a pretty remote place. We found a local fisherman who ferried us 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's this impressive cliff face.
How did you prepare, how did you approach the project?
Danny: Dubh Slabs is known as one of the best easy climbing areas in the UK, where you don't necessarily need to use ropes but still feel quite exposed. It's a very stable and grippy rock, but quite scary when you go up. Of course, I scouted out the route beforehand. I rode my e-bike to the area, climbed up on foot and decided what I wanted to try later when I got to the rock on my bike. So I had a rough idea of a line from top to bottom beforehand.
Some parts look incredibly steep. Can you describe how steep it really is?
Danny: There's one part in particular, the last 100 metres in altitude, that was simply impossible to ride on the first day. It's a big, long, almost smooth rock face where you can hardly find any grip. If you just let the bike run or the tyres start to slip, it would end really badly. I reckon this last section has maybe over 60 degrees of gradient, all the way down, with no places that really help with braking. It's hard to describe, but it's a strange feeling when you're standing in the middle of the wall and can literally feel gravity pulling you down the rock. When the only thing holding you is your brakes and you can feel how steep it is. My brakes and tyres were at their limit, especially on that last slab where I had to traverse the wall slightly. If you look closely towards the end, you can see that I have two fingers on the brakes to keep control.
Do you feel fear when you ride down these rocks?
Danny: I felt a lot less fear on this project than I did on smaller upside-down tricks, such as the barrel roll with the bike trailer in "Danny Daycare" or the front flip in "Cascadia". I felt really relaxed and very comfortable up there, feeling the rock, feeling my tyres and brakes, feeling what was possible and then just going with the flow. On the other hand, it was learning by doing, because I basically learnt how to approach things up there. Without protection - without a rope. Of course, I imagined what could happen if something went wrong, but perhaps it's best not to think about it too much, but rather to think about the positive things. There's a line there that has no outlet at the bottom. If you go in there, there's no going back, no way to stop, so you have to be all in and rely completely on your brakes and tyres.
Speaking of brakes and tyres. What was your setup for this project - any special modifications?
Danny: I rode my Santa Cruz 5010, which normally has 130 mm of travel. I toyed with the idea of riding a bike with more travel, but I feel very comfortable on the 5010 and didn't feel that the travel was important. The only modification I made to the 5010 was to fit a 160 mm travel fork at the front where a 140 mm travel fork is normally fitted.
As for the brakes, I used the Magura MT7 with a Magura MDR-P brake disc with 220 mm at the front and 200 mm at the rear, which makes the brakes very powerful on this small bike. I also had Magura Performance pads up front and used some prototype HC3 levers that were made for my trials bike and are slightly longer for even more power. I set these levers to the most powerful configuration - all in all the most powerful brake configuration you can have on a bike. I felt very comfortable riding with it. If anything really stands out, it's the brakes and the tyres.
Which tyres did you choose?
Danny: On the first day we were there, I had normal Continental Enduro tyres on, which are already very grippy on the rock. Some of the places I wanted to ride were very extreme and difficult to control on the bike. I couldn't ride some of the lines on the first day, I probably wouldn't have survived. We were already very happy with the film material, but the project wasn't quite what I had in mind, precisely because I really wanted to ride the entire line. For the second day, I got myself some Continental downhill tyres, which have a softer rubber compound. We hit the slabs again and this time I managed to ride the parts I was too scared of before.
Your original discipline is street trials, but we see you more and more often on mountain bikes and e-bikes. What skills have helped you the most?
Danny: You have to be a versatile rider and there are probably only a few people who would ride something like this. I've been doing a lot of mountain biking recently and have covered over 8,000km on my e-bike in 2020. I guess it's a combination of all the different types of biking I've done over the years.
We talked about the bike setup, what was your plan in terms of filming?
Danny: I wanted to make the descent on the slabs as visual as possible with lots of on-board perspectives so that people feel like they're up there with me. That's why I wanted to film the project exclusively with GoPros. I had a GoPro Hero 9 on my head and also a GoPro Hero Max on my chest and we had a GoPro Hero 9 on the race drone. We also had a Hero 9 on a pole, which we used for some of the shots.
You've been using GoPro cameras since 2012, how has the technology evolved?
Danny: The Hero 4 that we used for Cascadia did a great job back then. But the difference in quality today, the stabilisation and all the other features offer so many more possibilities. The Hero 9, which has just been launched, captures exactly what we see. It's really great to work with.
Music plays an important role for you. How do you choose the right track?
Danny: The right music for my films is always very important to me. I would say it makes up at least 50 per cent of a video. I'm really passionate about music and I must have listened to at least 10,000 tracks for this project. You want a track to fit the biking and the emotions and ideally have different parts and gradations.
Who was part of your crew?
Danny: I had a great crew that I've worked with a lot. Robbie Meade (We are Peny) and myself as director, Andrew Lawrence (FPV drone), Duncan Shaw (producer), Rory Semple (behind the scenes), Dave Mackison (photographer).
Last question: What is so appealing about a rock face?
Danny: The cool thing about the rock compared to dirt is that it doesn't change, nobody built it, it's raw. For me personally, it was a cool challenge and it's something I'd like to do more often.
Film credits:
Danny MacAskill - The Slabs
A Danny MacAskill Film By Peny
Directed by Robbie Meade (We are Peny Media) and Danny MacAskill
Produced by Duncan Shaw
Cinematography: Drone Operator - Andy Lawrence | Camera Operator - Robbie Meade | BTS Operator - Rory Semple
Photography: Dave Mackison
Post Production: Editor - Robbie Meade | Post Production Sound - Keith White Audio | Colourist - Max Callan | VFX - Tom Grice
Music: No Cars Go - Arcade Fire
Follow Danny:
Danny's Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/dannymacaskill
Danny's website: www.dannymacaskill.co.uk
Danny's Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/DannyMacAskill
Danny's Instagram profile: www.instagram.com/danny_macaskill
Danny's Twitter account: www.twitter.com/danny_macaskill
