Launch - 10 September 2024
Ridgeline V: Resistance
Gee Atherton and the crew re-define the Ridgeline riding series with the latest episode on board the A.170
Filmed in the stunning surroundings of Engelberg-Titlis, Switzerland
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 worldwide. 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 4-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 making these films. I want to keep on pushing boundaries and this film gives an unvarnished insight into what that takes.”
Every Ridgeline film has presented a new challenge, and 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 the Bike park Gee, Moonhead, Jamie, Brodie and Nico were facing 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, 8 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 glamour of those edited highlights and to show the true cost of those 120 seconds or so”.
It’s the most intense and personal to date and shows Gee as we’ve never seen him before. Advised by Camera Operator and Lead Mountaineer, Brodie Hood, a hugely experienced action and adventure specialist, The team abandoned the final 50m ascent to the summit and headed back down the mountain.
Atherton A.170
The film is the second in the series to feature the A170, Gee said “Without 100% trust in the bike these edits would not exist. I needed something with raw power, precision, and reliability to tackle these extreme terrains. The A.170 checked all the boxes, giving me the confidence to push the limits even further”.
Challenges
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. The 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 limit. And then we saw it, this 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 times I kind of knew.
Brodie said “Look, you might get up there but there’s a 50/50 chance you’re going to kill one of your crew, I want to take these guys home to their families ” He’s a pretty adventurous dude, he’s constantly charging ahead, fearless, never gets tired – so when he says “ don’t go” it’s sobering.”
As hard as it was to walk away from what could have been some of the best footage we'd ever captured, we had to face reality.
Thanks to the town of Engelberg, Titlis Cableways, Deuter, Red Bull and Prologo for their support.
More on the A.170...
- Available in 12 standard sizes + custom
- 3 Build options, plus frame only
- Custom build option - replicate Gee's bike or spec to suit your ride style: email: sales@athertonbikes.com
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The fourth film in the Ridgeline Series shifts from a huge DH build on the Mid-Wales slate to a natural setting with not a shovel or a mattock in sight.
Gee said “Wanting to ride Hardline this year was a big driver for me during the recovery process and I have been aiming at it for a long time, but I knew it would be difficult. It was always going to be hard to be ready in time but I knew I was up to the challenge, I wanted to be part of the crew testing what we had designed.
