Local mountain-biker Gee Atherton has released the latest spectacular edit in the Ridgeline Series, filmed in Italy’s Dolomites.

“Since the first hour of the first build for the original Ridgeline film it’s been the dream to take this concept to the most amazing places around the world.

“The potential to find awesome, remote mountain ranges where we can test ourselves to the limit…to really explore what’s possible on a bike and how to film the most stunning footage … it’s been like a running commentary throughout the entire project.”

This film differs from its predecessors in that Gee (a double World Champion world famous for his daring) ventures outside of Wales for the first time in the series.

The film is about exploring with friends, an adventure into the mountains, where Gee would ride whatever they found, including some of the most unforgiving terrain of the series so far.

And there’s pedalling, even if it’s at racing speed and inches from a ravine.

Gee said that from the start he knew that he’d film this edit on board the Atherton AM.170, designed and built by Atherton Bikes (the company founded by Gee and his siblings) in Machynlleth.

“It’s tough enough to withstand being bounced off cliff walls as it is hauled up a cliff on a rope, lighter to hike up the mountain than my DH bike, it pedals super-well and is ‘enough bike’ to tackle every inch of the steep and rocky terrain.”

He was accompanied by ‘right hand man’ Jamie Robertson of Corwen and photographer Dan Griffiths from Llanfyllin.

Both have been with the project from the beginning but in such perilous terrain they also involved Brodie Hood a high altitude and adventure specialist. Brodie is one of the few filmers to fly drones to the top of Everest, an experienced climber and member of the Lochaber Mountain rescue team.

Weirdly one of the most difficult aspects for the team to manage was that throughout the long days on the mountain they started to become numb to the exposure and to lose that ‘life-preserving fear’.

On day one of filming Gee would inch his way along a super-exposed track but by day three he was sprinting as if there wasn’t an 800 foot drop just inches to his left.

As Gee put it: “Having Brodie with us kept us alive! But it also meant that we could say yes to things that we wouldn’t have tackled alone.

“There’s a sequence at the end of the film where I ride down a ridge at sunset – it’s absolutely stunning, but it was so steep and exposed and the potential consequences were huge.

“Dan and Jamie had both been with me for the Knife Edge filming and its aftermath so I could see that they were really torn about encouraging me to work near the edge of the cliff; but Brodie devised a harness system that meant that I could practise controlling my speed while he let out the tension until I got comfortable.

“The section of the film where I’m riding the slowest, picking my way down the ridge was actually the most demanding of all.”

He added: “Going to places that are bigger than us, where we have to perform at our absolute best is always cool – I think we’ve shown the potential to take this project global and I already can’t wait for what’s next.”

In association with Atherton Bikes, Red Bull, FSA and Prologo. www.athertonbikes.com/bike/enduro-170.html