A new extreme sports record has been set at a dramatic location on the Isle of Skye.
The famous Black Cuillin Ridge was the scene where a team of the best British slackliners set the record for walking the highest altitude highline in the UK, at 3209 ft (978m).
The ridge is the highest peak of Skye. The goal was to span the 137ft wide gap above the Great Stone Chute between the ridge of Sgurr Alasdair and the peak of Sgurr Thearlaich.
A four-day weather window between April 27-30 gave the team the opportunity to scout, set up and successfully walk the line.
They then quickly took it down before rain and 62mph winds came in.
The team members were Skye man Matt Urquhart, Sarah Rixham, Benedict Russell-Smith, Joshua Leupolz, Jack Chandler, Jediah Doohan, Lewis Docherty and Charlotte Stait.
Ms Rixham said: “The traverse required technical rigging and a steel nerve from the highliners. The line had 3000ft of exposure, looking across the whole of the Cuillin range and the surrounding islands, with views of Ben Nevis even possible.
“The team were ecstatic about completing this awe-inspiring project dreamt up by local Matthew Urquhart who can see the Cuillin mountains from his family house.
“Good weather conditions, a strong team to haul 80kg (12.5 stone) of gear, and knowledge from experienced local climbers at Cioch Outdoor Clothing made this project possible. The team has other big plans for the UK mountains.”
The previous record was for 3,011ft, set in 2013 at Tryfan mountain in the Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia, Wales.
The gabbro rock at the Black Ridge is known for its brittle nature with parts of the ridge still falling off, therefore finding good rock and rigging the line in a safe and redundant manner was challenging. The highliners were very satisfied with their final anchors. They have more than a decade of rigging experience between them, but despite this there was still some loose rock falling away below the line at one point.
A huge amount of gear was required to be carried by the highliners up the notorious great stone chute, which many mountain guides climb only once before swearing to never ascend again.
The 1000ft scree slope is so loose that with each step with their heavy packs they slid back and started small rock slides.
