DOUBLE World Champion mountain-biker Gee Atherton has released another edition of his spectacular Ridgeline series.

The Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant resident is co-owner of two Machynlleth based business, Atherton Bikes and Dyfi Bike Park and creator of the Ridgeline series.

Gee’s daring rides have challenged every limiting belief of what is possible on a bike, but not without great cost.

In 2021 Ridgeline 3: The Knife-edge resulted in a horrific crash which put him out of action for almost two years.

Undeterred Gee was determined to return to creating the “Big Mountain” films he loves, travelling to the Dolomites in Italy for Ridgeline 4.

In this latest episode Gee and his crew re-define the series with a focus on behind the scenes and the physical and mental cost of capturing action edits such as these.

Ridgeline V: Resistance was filmed in the stunning surrounds of Engelberg-Titlis Switzerland and Gee chose the title because: “The mountain fought us every step of the way, testing our resolve and wearing us down with challenge after challenge.

“Hot then cold, wet, scared, hungry, exhausted and physically drained we’d suddenly be faced with an enormous obstacle.

“We are a tight knit crew and I feel like the mountains have shaped us, changed us, strengthened us… we’ve dug deeper than we’d have believed we could, even at the very pinnacle of competition there’s a place inside of you can rarely access. We all went there.”

Gee filmed the Ridgeline Series on board his own Atherton Bikes. The bikes are designed and built by Gee, his World Champion siblings Dan and Rachel and a small team of expert engineers in Machynlleth, and exported worldwide.

Gee started the series on board the A200, a downhill bike similar to the one he raced on the World Cup circuit but more recently on the A170, a bike specifically designed for these Big Mountain style environments, it is tough enough to withstand the extreme descents but slightly lighter and designed to be easier to pedal uphill.

Gee said: “From the start, the Ridgeline Series has been about taking mountain-biking to the limit… exploring what’s possible on a bike and creating the most stunning footage in the most amazing places around the world. I love that feeling of being on the very limit of how far we can go.

“I’m super proud of what we achieved in the Series so far, but I wanted to move beyond the adrenaline and glamour of a four minute edit. I wanted to show the reality behind those action highlights, the hard grind, the setbacks, and the absolute trust in my bike, my crew, and my equipment that are essential in the making of these films.

“I want to keep on pushing boundaries and this film gives an unvarnished insight into what that takes. Every single step felt like we’d picked a fight with forces way bigger than ourselves.

“People ask me how I forget or block out the injuries I’ve sustained on previous Ridgelines, but you never forget, I’m never without those injuries, in my mind and in my body … for me it’s about how you operate with them and learn to be ok and accept and carry them - this is who you are now. These extreme locations make all of us dig deep into a zone you can rarely access elsewhere.”

Every Ridgeline film has presented a new challenge, pushed the team that bit further, but moving out of Wales into Alpine terrains super-sized the challenges – instead of hiking up to Terren y Gesail 666m above  Dyfi Bike Park Gee and the crew faced 3,600m ascents with crumbling rockfaces and 600m sheer drops… every step they took the mountain resisted their efforts.

Ridgeline V was co-directed by Gee and his long-time friend and collaborator Dan Griffiths (Moonhead Media) a veteran of the entire Ridgeline series.

Rather than honing in on only spectacular riding shots they set about showing the whole process, eight days of physical and mental overdrive.

Gee said: “We’ve grown accustomed to fast-paced riding edits, with awesome skills in stunning settings but it’s always harder than it seems, every time we do these edits something unpredictable happens, I wanted to go beyond the wow-factor of those edited highlights to show the true cost of those 120 seconds or so.”

The film is the second in the series to feature the A170.

Gee added: “Without 100% trust in the bike these films would not exist.

“I needed something with raw power, precision, and reliability to tackle these extreme terrains. The A.170 checked all the boxes.”

It’s also the most intense and personal film to date revealing a side to Gee we’ve never seen before. Advised by Camera Operator and Lead Mountaineer, Brodie Hood, a hugely experienced action and adventure specialist, the team abandon the final 50m ascent to the summit and head back down the mountain.

Gee said: “It was so hard, absolutely gutting. We’d had two quite unproductive days because of the weather, but we’d found this spectacular peak and had scouted right up to 100m from the summit before it got dark.

“Next day we’d headed back up there, bike on our backs, gruelling hours of anaerobic climbs across this vast 45 degree slab, we were at all at our absolute limit.

“And then we saw it, this really tricky ridge, no anchors, overhangs, crumbly rock.

“I’ll admit I was in full turbo mode my default mode is always ‘Let’s get it done’.

“I kept walking back up to the difficult part and looking down the 600mm cliff edge, the rocks crumbling away in my hands, it was terrifying - such a slap in the face. I was so, so close to just picking up the bike and going for it, but even at time I kind of knew.”

Big thanks to the crew – Brodie Hood, Dan Griffiths/Moonhead Media, Jamie Robertson, Nico Turner and to Atherton Bikes, Dyfi Bike Park, the town of Engelberg, Titlis Cableways, Deuter, Red Bull and Prologo for their support.