dalbeattie – the slab's a bit steep

Been round the hard rock trail today. Good fun. I’d heard about the slab being steep but thought it couldn’t be that bad…. My word it’s steep. Went down first run though with only a moderate amount of back end skittering…. the audience at the bottom didn’t help though!

Good fun.

PS: if you were the lads whose mate went down with the go pro just before me, did you get me on camera?

Never ridden Dalbeattie slab, but I did experienced the East face of Shutlingsloe last night and that was a right giggle. 🙂

Just be glad you have not seen Ayer’s Rock at Laggan yet…

(Picture not mine, and 😉 )

Those conifers in background are growing at a strange angle 😉

The thing I really like about the slab is the total lack of runout- it’s just reach bottom, stop/turn instantly or hit trees. Bangin.

It never gets any easier either

I’ve only ever done the ‘half-Slab’- there’s a wee outcrop half way down, to the right.

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I was disappointed that this photo doesn’t give a correct impression of what it feels like at all

dont the slab there didn’t think it was that great didn’t slip once…. decided to do the route on the left over rocks and root’s more fun! , laggan ayres rock is fun cause you can push it harder!

Love Dalbeattie. I find the approach to the top of the slab hardest, very easy to stall with the front wheel in one of the dips on a hard tail. Not tried yet on my full susser.

Have you been to Kirroughtree Chris? The red there is superb.

That’s not the slab I know. What’s that blue stuff in the background?

Just be glad you have not seen Ayer’s Rock at Laggan yet…

Laggans Ayres Rock is not even close to being as steep or as awkward to ride than Dalbeatties slab ..that photo is very deceiving

C’mon STW what going on here

And the lad what did he think of it and how was his kneck 😉

He loved it. Trailer got bounced about a bit but he was fine after I’d righted him at the bottom. Not been to kirroughtree yet….. There’s still a few days though

That looks pretty steep and pretty high – anyone know what angle it’s at?

I chickened out of the slab on my visit there only last week. The picture above doesn’t do it justice. 🙂

And yes, I am a mincer!

IMO the slab at Dalbeattie is harder now than it used to be. When first opened, it was cleaned with a pressure washer, and was fresh granite, and super grippy.

Now the trees around the slab have grown, cutting out the sunlight and reducing any wind, allowing more slime to grow on it. On top of that there’s a build up of rubber from “skidders”, making it significantly harder than it used to be.

I think twice, and don’t worry about needing to prove anything…

Ayers Rock is steeper and bigger than The Slab but it has an easier run in and out. The Chute off McMoab is worse (or better) than both imo.

I went there a few years ago and fell off about a third of the way down having spd issues, slid the rest of the way down on my arse. Thoroughly peed off i didn’t bother going back up for another go. Always regretted that. 🙄

@Troutwrestler- can’t agree. I hadn’t ridden it for about 7 years, and rode it about a month ago. The only thing I noticed was that the trees had changed the feel of the place, but the rock was just as grippy. Still worth checking out lines before you commit to the slab, but after that it’s just ‘headgames’. Fun, fun.

Last time I rode it I was having brake issues, master cyclinder was defective so randomly when I’d try the brakes nothing would happen and you’d have to pump it like mad, **** that I am thought I’d go for it anyway, didn’t fall but bloody hell I shot down that thing, absolutely cacked myself! Ended up crashing 3 times after that due to the brakes, good times….

The terrible twins after the slab can be a bit tricky too!

@GavinB – A month ago! Try February when the wetness is back.

mcmoab up 😯

Ayres rock at Laggan

That’s ace bruneeep!

There’s a ‘drop’ out to the right of the Slab’s exit- can’t remember exactly how far but maybe 2 or 300 yards? Always catches me out.

I thought the hardest bit of the slab at Dalbeattie was getting started over the lip. The rest was just avoiding the drop off the left side if i recall?

Ridden it a couple of times but took some girding of the loins. Guess there’s nothing to it as far as skill goes – it’s all in the heid. Looks precipitous when you’re at the top of it, baws-shrinkingly so. Quite a rush when you first shoot down.

I think it’s a lot harder because the trail is so easy, so all of a sudden you’re faced with the qualifier and the slab, which are levels above what you’ve been riding thus far (the top twin is also tricky). If you were riding real gnadgery stuff all day and you hit the slab it would prob seem a lot tamer.

i think the lip is what makes it difficult, if you could just roll over the edge wouldn’t feel half as committing

Bottled the Slab & The Qualifier….

Useless.

Terrible twins are steeper surely?

Yeah, steeper and the first slope doesn’t really have much of a transition at the bottom.

I find Ayres the easiest of them and Dalbeatties main slab the trickiest as you can’t just roll over the top. Dropped over the first twin once to find someone on the halfway ledge, which was close call.

I will admit that when I was at Dalbeattie I bottled the slab 🙁 but think I rode the qualifier. In my defence it was a wet weekday in December, I was riding alone, mine was the only car in the car park and I didn’t see another soul while riding that day. Also fully rigid. My calculations based on probability/severity of things going wrong and how long I might need to wait before anyone found mes suggested that discretion was the better part of valour 😆

Cheers, Rich

love the slab! testament to the ingenious trail builder over the border.
I if remember rightly there is a cheeky rock drop on the skills loop, you needed to get up high and ride some ladders then it drops off to the right with a little step halfway down.

Ridden Ayres,Twins,half Slab, Qualifier but nothing compares to riding that chute upwards!! 😯 😀

Yeah you’re right. I did that after – there was a bit where you had to ride across the face of a slab at a very steep angle too. Fine once is realised my tyres would actually hold traction. I think the only thing I didn’t like about the trail was a couple of the flower second which then took you round a blind berm and into a perfectly placed wheel grabbing rock. Maybe it’s just me being rubbish

Dalbeattie is on next year’s family holiday trip ooop north. I’ve been looking at a few youtube vids of the slab and other features, I’ll have to make mind up at top I think, I don’t think I’d have any problem riding it, but I’ll be on my own so I’ll have to see, looks easy enough though.

Went to Kirroughtree this summer and bottled the chute for the same reasons as others. Not that hard to ride, but I was there at 7 oclock on a weekday morning, no other cars at the car park and didn’t see another rider all day. If something freaky had happened god know how long it would have been before someone found me. No phone signal either.