Danny MacAskill is ‘Doing the Dubhs’

Danny MacAskill launches new feature video, ‘Danny MacAskill – The Slabs’, on YouTube

Danny MacAskill has today, 28-01-21, launched a new feature video, Danny MacAskill – The Slabs, on his YouTube channel. For his latest extreme challenge Danny returns to the Isle of Skye to climb and ride down the legendary Dubh Slabs on the edge of the Cuillins, one of the most remote of Scotland’s classic moderate climbing routes with some of the finest friction slabs.

Make sure you witness this extraordinarily intense and nerve-wracking mountain bike ride and top POV and drone footage.

Danny MacAskill – The Slabs (#theslabs)

Danny’s latest video, a We are Peny Media production directed by both 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 his way 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 MacAskill, the world-renowned street trials and mountain bike rider and YouTube sensation from the Isle of Skye, 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.’

The 34-year-old Scot 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 300,000,000 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 74,576,094 times on YouTube!

Ends

Media contact:

Paddy Cuthbert | Littlehouse Media | E: [email protected] | M: +44 (0)7913 951717

Image attached: Danny MacAskill taking on the Dubh Slabs on the Isle of Skye. Please credit Dave Mackison

Further action and behind the scenes images (hi-res) can be downloaded from Dropbox. Please credit photographer – Dave Mackison. Please contact Paddy Cuthbert for the links.

A social media / media player teaser video, a broadcast news/interview cut and an audio news/interview cut are all available to download. Please contact Paddy Cuthbert for the links.

Notes to Editors:

(See below for more background to the project and quotes)

Film credits

Danny MacAskill – The Slabs

A Danny MacAskill Film

By Peny

Directed by Robbie Meade (We are Peny Media – https://www.wearepeny.com) 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

Background to the project

Danny launched his own YouTube channel in 2019 and continuously works on finding ways to creatively cross the boundaries of imagination and produce unique, breathtaking content.

Danny has always been a massive fan of rock climbers and in particular the American free climbers, Alex Honnold, who completed the first free solo ascent of the 2,900-foot Freerider route of El Capitan in 2017, and Tommy Caldwell, who together with Kevin Jorgeson, was the first to free climb the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in 2015.

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 (2020) when climbing with some school friends. Immediately he saw the potential of the terrain and riding obstacles on the face and knew he needed to come and tackle it for his next project.

2020 has obviously been a tough one in every respect. He had a few big projects planned for 2020 which had to be cancelled. When things opened up and travel was permitted again he and a small crew pulled things together for a two day shoot in September 2020 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, talked about the challenges of a project in such a remote area of Scotland: ‘Danny and I are always searching for exciting terrain and great backdrops for film projects. The biggest challenge of this shoot was access. Whilst the range is not on an island, the easiest and quickest way to get to the foot of the range is via local fishing boats. After the 20minute boat ride there is a 45minute walk to the foot of the Dubh Slabs. Once there we then had to scale a rock face with all our kit on this 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 9’s positioned on Danny’s helmet and chest.’

Social Media

Danny MacAskill

Website: http://www.dannymacaskill.co.uk/

Youtube: www.youtube.com/dannymacaskill

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DannyMacAskill

Instagram: www.instagram.com/danny_macaskill

Twitter: https://twitter.com/danny_macaskill

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@danny_macaskill

Drop and Roll Tour

Website: https://dropandrolltour.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dropandrollteam

Danny MacAskill Media Contact/Managing Agency: