Daredevil cyclist Danny MacAskill’s amazing feats have given a boost to tourism in his native Skye.
More than 18million people have now seen his stunning film The Ridge, which was filmed on the island, and there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people wanting to visit – and perhaps try a spot of adventure for themselves.
Portree-based outdoor adventure company Skye Adventure offers people the freedom to explore a different side of Skye, whether by bagging a Munro, winter mountaineering, climbing the stunning sea cliffs, traversing the Cuillin ridge or going gorge walking, canyoning or coasteering.
Business partners Matt Barratt and John Smith became involved with The Ridge thanks to their extensive local knowledge and experience of mountain guiding in the Cuillins.
Earlier this year, they and a film crew made two recce visits to the ridge, mostly in bad weather, to scope out the safest ways for MacAskill to ride and climb, as well as ensuring the safety of accompanying camera operators.
The resulting film showed the daredevil taking a death-defying ride along the notorious Cuillins ridgeline and climbing – seemingly effortlessly – to the top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, with his mountain bike over his shoulder.
Mr Barratt, who has been climbing and mountaineering for more than 15 years, said: “I guide on the Inaccessible Pinnacle a lot and know exactly what it’s like getting up there. On this occasion, I sat on the top watching – I had the best seat in the house.
“Danny is from Skye and wants to promote and show off his spectacular homeland to everyone. We’ve had a pretty immediate response in terms of previous or existing clients getting in touch to say how much they enjoyed it and bookings have definitely picked up.
“Despite the weather being so poor, it was quite good for me to see how happy Danny was on the ridge in those conditions.
“That was his first time on the ridge and his first time climbing most of the peaks we did that day. I think that was a bit of an eye-opener for him, realising that riding the ridge from end to end wasn’t going to happen in the way he’d thought.”
Mr Barratt said the producers of The Ridge had managed to clear two weeks in July for the filming in Skye.
“They were lucky with the weather – particularly when filming the Inaccessible Pinnacle,” he said. “We set off walking up to that at 4.30am to get the best of the weather.
“I was really impressed with Danny. He did every single bit in the film several times so the camera operators could have a choice of the best shot. He made it look so easy on the ridge, but I know it must be very tough to carry out such a spectacular stunt and look so relaxed.”
MacAskill said: “I’d never been up there so it was a bit of an unknown. We scouted some locations along the ridge to see what could be ridden and then Stu started to organise everything after that.
“Skye is still very much my home. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to make a film and it has the perfect terrain for this one, so it was the ideal fit.”
VisitScotland regional director Scott Armstrong said: “This breathtaking film really sells Skye globally, with its panoramic views, amazing mountains and rugged beauty.
“Skye Adventure should be rightly proud for having played their part in this phenomenally popular short film.”