Kriss Kyle takes on the dam.

Kriss Kyle is no stranger to seeking out unique terrain on two wheels – whether on a BMX or a mountain bike.

Having cut his teeth in the BMX scene at the iconic Unit 23 skatepark, his creative approach is instantly recognizable, regardless of wheel size. His latest project sees the Scotsman heading deep into the mountains of Scotland, Wales and England in search of genuinely unknown riding terrain. While you might expect a new singletrack edit, Kriss is actually hunting down vast, man-made concrete structures. In Kriss Kyle: Damn Big Dams, the bike visionary rides a selection of massive dams from the UK’s extensive water network, turning raw infrastructure into a playground on his Specialized Stumpjumper.

Kriss sums up the appeal perfectly:
“These sculptures are so high up in the mountains, with so much work and concrete that’s gone into them – they’re actually breathtaking. They’re pretty similar to a huge skatepark but too rough for BMX, which is why the mountain bike is perfect. It’s pretty much a skatepark for giants.”

 

The Search Mission: Concrete Hunting in the Mountains

The idea for the project grew out of the sheer number of dams scattered across the UK. Treating it like a proper exploration mission, Kriss spent hours on Google Maps, searching for structures that might be drained and rideable. Every mission was a gamble:

“It’s a whole buzz not knowing if it’s going to be rideable. When you get there and it is, it’s unreal – but quite often you arrive and it’s full of water.”

Out of roughly 30 dams he explored, only around a dozen worked – often requiring long hikes with the bike on his back to reach locations hidden deep in the hills.

Riding the Walls: Technicality Meets Scale
Riding steep, slick concrete walls brought a new level of risk. Kriss opted for a full-face helmet throughout the project, aware that grip could change from section to section:

“Sometimes it’s really grippy and sometimes it’s just like a sheet of ice — you never know what you’re going to get.”

The film highlights Kriss Kyle’s exceptional bike control, clearly visible in the way he approaches lines and tricks on features defined by pure scale. Massive foot plants in exposed zones, a clean flair on a quarter pipe he had mentally visualized long before dropping in, and a final, wind-affected gap over a rail with almost no runout pushes both rider and terrain to the limit. Filmed over 14 demanding days across Scotland, England and Wales, Damn Big Dams is a raw expression of precision, commitment and creativity.

A crucial role in making the project possible was played by George and Jake from Kyle’s long-time support crew at Monolith. Usually responsible for building ramps for his projects, they spent much of this mission sweeping and cleaning the concrete surfaces to make them rideable, while also managing safety on the most exposed lines – including the line that ended directly in a deep-water basin.<p/

Film &amp; Edit: Matty Lambert
Photos: Marcus Cole
Drone: Andrew Laurence
Ramp Built and Support Crew: Monolith – George Eccleston and Jake Walters