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Danny MacAskill defies gravity in his X Games RealMTB entry
The Scottish trials wizard has conjured up something special for his submission to X Games' inaugural all-video mountain bike competition. Discover what inspired his film and find out how to vote.
This April, the iconic extreme sports event series X Games launched its inaugural all-video Real Mountain Bike contest. Following the same format as previous X Games Real video series, the competition challenges six athletes to produce a 90-second riding edit, with the winning entry decided by public vote.
DJ Brandt, Danny MacAskill, Veronique Sandler, Brandon Semenuk, Brage Vestavik, and Cam Zink were the riders chosen to compete in the format's mountain bike debut. Each has pieced together a film that shows mountain biking – in all its various guises – at its very best.
When you see a lineup that has the likes of Brandon Semenuk, Cam Zink, Brage [Vestavik], you know that there's no point in trying to send it, go big and play them at their own game
Shot in mid-Wales in the depths of winter, Danny MacAskill's entry combines some of his signature trials riding with good, old fashion British winter trails shredding – and the challenging conditions that comes with it.
Watch Danny's entry below, find out more about his inspiration for the edit and discover how to vote for your favourite
How did it feel to be picked to take part in the inaugural real MTB video competition?
I actually came into the competition kind of last-minute because Fabio Wibmer was originally planned to be part of the lineup but unfortunately he ended up breaking his foot.
That said, it was definitely a real honour to be picked to be in an X Games competition. I've been watching X Games on TV for years – all the skate, BMX, and everything else that is X Games. I know they have done mountain biking in the past, but it's cool to have it back in there. It was awesome to be part of it.
What was your inspiration behind the edit you put together?
Danny stuck to his trials-riding roots for his entry
© Dave Mackison
Lockdown meant Danny had to get creative close to home
© Dave Mackison
Danny rode his Santa Cruz 5010 for the edit
© Dave Macksion
You've got to play to your strengths. When you see a lineup that has the likes of Brandon Semenuk, Cam Zink, Brage [Vestavik], you know that there's no point in trying to send it, go big and play them at their own game. I tried to go down that more fun, slightly more technical riding that people know me for.
How did you settle on mid-Wales as a location?
Wet winter conditions made concrete features slippery
© Dave Mackison
I had moved out of my flat in Glasgow and gone down to mid-Wales because of the amazing mountain biking. It happened to be where my friend and filmer Robbie Meade is based, and I was renting a farmhouse down there when I got asked to be part of the X Games.
It was very much just looking close to home, and seeing what we could find. In fact, some of it was even shot in the garden
It was December-time when I got the call. I think a few of the riders had already had their parts finished by that point. I had a few other bits and pieces to do so we didn't actually start filming until mid-January and the deadline was the end of January, so it all ended up being very last minute.
The UK was also in a full lockdown at the time, which didn't really help matters. A lot of the stuff that was shot in my film was actually within about 500 metres of Robbie's house or where I was staying. Some of it was even the garden, in fact. It was very much just looking sort of close to home, and seeing what we could find.
Those restrictions didn’t seem to impact your creativity.
The Hippy Hop has become one of Danny's signature tricks
© Dave Mackison
It's easy to be constantly looking for the most exotic locations around the world. Given the chance – if we hadn't been in a lockdown and we were able to travel – there's a good chance I would have maybe gone and found a little warmer weather; filming a mountain bike part in mid-January in mid-Wales was definitely quite challenging. But if you look hard enough close to your doorstep then there's a lot to be done there.
What was the most difficult trick to film in the edit?
This was the first time Danny had attempted a Fufanu on a mountain bike
© Dave Mackison
One of the tricks I struggled with the most was the Fufanu, which is basically a BMX trick where you go off a ramp, and then tyre tap.
James from Revolution Bike Park built us a little set-up kind of last minute. The idea was I was going to go off this little ramp that we'd built, land on a dumper truck bucket, tap with the back wheel, and then jump off, twisting my body 180 and landing back in the ramp I took off from.
I'd never ever tried it before, the setup was quite big and scary, and it was very cold and wet
It's quite a straightforward-ish trick on the trials bike, because the trials bike is smaller, easier to manoeuvre and get into the right shapes. But it turned out to be a lot more difficult to pull on the mountain bike.
I'd never ever tried it before, the setup was quite big and scary, and it was very cold and wet as well. That took quite a few goes and we were definitely battling a bit with the Welsh winter at that point.
Were there any other difficulties with filming?
Danny didn't let a bit of snow get in the way of filming
© Dave Mackison
It was just that everything was kind of tight. The weather played a big role – one day we'd be waking up and there would be inches of snow on the ground and the next thing it would be melting. We just had to kind of go with it. Luckily, Robbie's office was right next to my house so we could pick away at it. I'm quite used to riding in the wet.
I can't complain about it too much though because Brage was filming in Norway in the snow and got along fine, as did Vero Sandler. She was also filming very close by. In fact, some of her setup was actually at Revolution Bike Park – it was quite funny to have both our parts being filmed so close together.
