Video: Danny MacAskill Breaks Down his Wee Day Out Log Slide

Jun 17, 2020 at 4:02
by James Smurthwaite  
Photo: Fred Murray /Red Bull

During lockdown, Danny MacAskill has not only amazed us with lots of different ways of using palettes in his front yard and stepping up his E-bike trials game on the new Santa Cruz Heckler, but the Scottish trials and mountain bike rider also took time to go through his archive, selecting his favorite, and hardest, tricks from the last ten years. The first episode in this series features the famous log-slide from his movie Wee Day Out.

bigquotesI’ve always wanted to do a log-slide on a mountain bike. I really like the idea of two wheels kind of sliding on stuff, slightly unnatural – just something I never seen anybody else do. Of course you are going to fail a lot. You will have lots of crashes and lots of frustration I suppose, but my main driver is knowing that I am trying to do something new, something that is my own idea and something that is really gonna make the whole film that we are working on come alive.—Danny MacAskill

But why did he send his mate Nash around the countryside for 3 months before filming? What was the hardest part of the whole trick? How many tubs of Vaseline did he use and what new problems did that bring up?

Check out the first episode and stay tuned for more, airing every Wednesday over the next few weeks on Danny’s YouTube channel:

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46 Comments
  • 61 0
 Jesus. Almost 400 (!!) attempts, four days going to the same place, crashes, tire beats, vaseline... Reminds us how focused and committed these guys are. Truly inspirational, not only in mtb, but in life, in general. Danny is a legend and seems such a nice person. Deserves all the glory.
  • 3 0
 Yes, I agree, or maybe he's got a case of clinical OCD...................
  • 2 1
 Tells me I need to crash more
  • 1 0
 @RayDolor: My OCD is kicking in for the use of 'palettes' instead of 'pallets' in the first line above.
  • 37 1
 Rubbing vaseline on wood... I wonder if they thought of any jokes while doing that.
  • 9 0
 Is that Aladdin's lamp in your pocket, or are you just happy to see men?


What do making coffee and a log slide have in common?--the consistency of the grind
  • 1 1
 Yeah.....it seemed vaguely pornographic..... So how many takes did they try in total? 1000?
  • 13 0
 He is one tough son of a gun to take a beating like that over and over and keep going....
  • 12 0
 Difference between Danny and myself:

My first attempt (and fall): I'm outta commission for a month.
Danny's 400th attempt: I can make it look better... let's try again.
  • 5 0
 @liv2mountainbike2: I agree, one of those falls & I'm hurt or I ride on and try something easier. No matter if you are a pro and know how to fall, after 400 attempts, that has to really hurt. This kind of dedication and "never say never" kind of attitude is what separates Danny from the rest of us.

However, I do have to wonder what the teller's expression was when someone asked for that much vaseline and said they needed it to perform some "never been done before tricks" deep in the woods?
  • 3 0
 @RowdyAirTime: deliverance song....
  • 1 0
 I've always said that what makes an action sport athlete good, be it MTB, BMX, skate, snow, etc., is the ability to crash with grace and keep trying tricks over and over. Insane balance and explosive muscle doesn't hurt either...
  • 6 0
 I love that he shares how many attempts it takes for him to do things, because I think it really gives perspective as to how hard he works. What a total badass!
  • 5 0
 This goes to show how anything comes with practice! "Practice makes perfect"
Thanks Danny, you're so inspirational, I love it!! Smile
  • 8 0
 I've been practicing how to ride like garbage for 30 yrs and I'm nailing it.
  • 6 0
 The man should be the official tester of body armor. Danny Mac approved body armor.
  • 4 0
 Absolutely incredible stuff.
  • 3 0
 The guy is committed... and should probably be committed. Man you guys made my day better just reminding me of this video!
  • 1 0
 I slide on logs every single time I ride them. Of course, it's always a prelude to a crash. But it makes sense to me that the last 4 attempts would be the successes. He finally found the elusive "sweet spot".
  • 3 0
 It should be illegal to "cancel" anything that Danny MacAskill has planned. Illegal with HUGE fines!
  • 3 0
 There was something invented called Wax it's pretty good for grinding
  • 3 0
 Nah, he's Scottish. We prefer to just bodge it..
  • 3 0
 4 of 400, with all 4 successes coming on attempts 397-400. Amazing.
  • 2 0
 I got worried when I started to read that headling... Danny Macaskill breaks.... oh thank jesus
  • 1 0
 If I tried that...for that many times...would Santa Cruz still warranty my frame? Mind you...my body, mind and spirit would be broken regardless....
  • 1 0
 Its a JRA warranty....
  • 1 0
 If at first you don't succeed: Try, try, again. But then quit. There's no use making a fool out of yourself (unless you're Danny!).
  • 1 0
 I think Dan has crashed and hit his big brain miuch too often. Plus the little brain likes pain way to much.
  • 1 0
 Reminds me of chris rock on comedians in cars getting coffee: dai.ly/x6ev8zw

Starting at 12:22.
  • 1 1
 Danny, your patience and your perseverance are the first of your skills. If only I`d have the tenth of that...
Good vibes and nice feelings through this video. Thanks
  • 1 0
 “Hope it inspires you guys to get out there and try some log slides yourself.” LOL !!!
  • 2 0
 Yeah. Like: I'm the most skilled pro you've ever seen and it took me 400 crashes to get this trick right. So why don't you try it yourself. ????
Still inspiring though. Reminds me not to give up if something doesn't work after 2 attempts.
  • 1 0
 Amazing. Does anyone know if he has a little bash guard to help with this?
  • 1 0
 Came out very clean, so all worth it !!
  • 1 0
 Raspberries! Haha!!! lol
  • 2 0
 my wife know it ...
  • 1 0
 Didn’t he mean, “don’t try this at home kids.”
  • 1 0
 Looks like the shores of Loch Morlich he's at there
  • 3 6
 When did the 50:01 guys start their log slides? Loose has been doing those for a while.

We already got a pretty good breakdown of the Gymnasium ghost ride-bike flip-remount so I'm interested to see what he does for that!
  • 6 0
 To be fair, Danny's doing more of a crank arm slide here, its a whole different kettle of fish than a tyre slide, in terms of difficulty.
  • 3 1
 @pbuser2299: And the log is 2 ft wide and 5 ft off the ground in Danny's case. I'm not bashing the trick or the claim of it's originality I'm just curious.
  • 1 0
 love the 50:01 crew but this is Danny's domain
  • 2 4
 Lol, alright yall. Love the toxicity. I just asked a question and then provided stoke about what Danny is doing thereafter. Never change, internet.
  • 1 1
 @RXN059: What the hell are you even crying about?! God damn snowflake.
  • 1 0
 @pbuser2299: it's how small?!?
  • 1 0
 Fantastic!! What a guy!







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