Gee Atherton sits in his dressing room eating a carrot and listening to Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Rival. In his hand is the script for tonight’s show in Aberdeen, the most northerly stop of his sold-out 17-night ‘Hold Fast’ tour. He’s chilled but I can tell something’s on his mind.

“I’m waiting for an iron,” he says. Of course, what former World Champion and freerider would want a wrinkly shirt? “It’s so I can sort my clothes for the show,” he tells me. The venue manager appears, now with the missing iron tucked under his iron, before Gee gets down to the more mundane business of flattening out his shirt.

Gee Atherton on stage at his ‘Hold Fast’ tour in Aberdeen

It’s one of the more surreal moments from my time with Gee, but not totally out of character given that the last time mbr chatted he was eating an apple and calmly discussing racing Hardline with a broken femur. 

Riding with broken bones and the ever-present danger of death at Red Bull Hardline and his latest Ridgeline series must be much more daunting than stepping on stage though. Apparently not, Gee tells me the speaking is far scarier. 

Riding mad scree slopes like this for Ridgeline VI: Kazakhstan are less frightening than being in stage, Gee says

“Just because it’s so different, it’s well out of my comfort zone,” he says. “I mean I’m used to doing interviews and media stuff, but this is just me on a stage and of course, it’s nerve-wracking, wondering if the content will be well received. But it seems to be going OK, people seem to be enjoying the content. Although we’ve had a few people fainting at previous nights.

The night had started in much the same unorthodox way. I’d arrived at the Lemon Tree venue early, in freezing Aberdeen and found Gee unloading various Atherton bikes including Charlie Hatton’s World Championship downhill rig from Fort William 2023. He was also toting the all-new Alloy framed Atherton S.170. Gee greeted me warmly before roping me into helping manoeuvre the bikes into place on stage. Being Gee Atherton’s roadie is now on my palmarès of greatest-ever cycling journalist moments.

The Atherton S170, centre stage for one of the best enduro bikes of 2024

Once everything was set up and sound check done, Gee had headed off to his dressing room to prepare for Hold Fast, the one-man show where he talks through his remarkable career: the story of his riding life, his many infamous crashes and career-threatening and at times life-threatening injuries.

“People fainting in the injury section”

Before coming I’d heard people had fainted on other nights. And having been at Gee’s show in Paisley the night before the audience seemed pretty diverse. I ask Gee what he thought about the non-MTB people coming along and their reactions. 

“I think it is a combination of things, but that’s one of the best things about MTB, it reaches quite a wide audience, and the talks I have been doing are not too sport-focused, there’s lots of chat about growing up with Rachel and Dan (Atherton) family stuff, so it is still possible to listen in, even if you’re not a hardcore MTB fan,” he says.

Gee’s no stranger to injury, but for some people in the audience it proved too much and they fainted

“It’s a tricky one with people fainting, of course, the injury section is a big part of the talk, as it’s been a big part of my life,” Gee adds. “But it’s difficult to judge what’s ok to show, and what people will be happy with, we toned it down as much as we could without missing whole sections but it’s still caused quite a few people to feel rough or faint. Sorry to these people and hopefully it’s not ruined their evening too much. I’ve become a bit de-sensitised over time so maybe I showed too much.”

Having interviewed Gee before and not long after his massive Knife Edge crash I agreed with the de-sensitised point, but considering the severity of the crash and his Red Bull Rampage spill a year or so later, the graphic content could have shown a lot worse – but for people watching Knife Edge for the first time it’s a pretty stomach-churning watch, especially when Gee’s right there on stage talking about how life-threatening it was.

Gee Atherton builds line at Red Bull Rampage 2023, one that would put him out of action for the rest of the season | Red Bull Content Pool

How close did you get to riding Rampage this yearn I ask?

“Rampage is an awesome event, I love the danger element and riders taking on such progressive lines, hopefully, they keep steering it away from the slope scene and keep it natural. I think it needs to go more in the direction of the ungroomed, big mountain lines rather than things becoming too built. But it’s a tricky balance to strike. I’d have loved to be riding Rampage this year, but I wasn’t ready.”

And Hardline? You’re on the books for that…

“I can’t wait for Hardline Australia, I didn’t make it out there last year as was still laid up in the Halo – the Halo was the metal ring that screwed into my skull to keep my spine, neck and skull aligned after the massive Rampage crash, it was pretty hardcore. But the new Hardline looks like a fun track to ride, it’s very cool to see Hardline expand.”

Ronan Dunne participates at Red Bull Hardline in Maydena Bike Park, Australia on February 24th, 2024. // Dan Griffiths / Red Bull Content Pool

And what about the current crop of youngsters coming through?

“There are some rippers for sure like Ronan Dunne and Jackson Goldstone to name a few. The commitment they ride with, and no fear, it’s awesome to see them doing events like Red Bull Hardline alongside the World Cup downhill calendar.”

Gee was showcasing his latest Ridgeline Kazakhstan edit during his tour and having seen it in Paisley previously I asked him if he thought the visually stunning film was the best so far or just a natural progression for the series.

“Well, thanks, I’m very stoked about how it came out, the riding was almost a new style of riding for me, a combination of free ride and big mountain skiing. I think it’s our most progressive Ridgeline project so far, and if I had to pick a favourite this would be it.”

Foot out flat out, Gee Atherton’s latest Ridgeline VI: Kazakhstan

So how did you end up in Kazakhstan as a location? And what were the standout moments?

“We are constantly on the lookout, scouting, researching and hunting for not just new locations, but locations that are unique and different to where we’ve been before. I started looking into Kazakhstan and quickly realised this was an incredible spot, with so many beautiful untouched locations that were completely different to what we’d seen before. As well as a variety of terrain there.

“The standout moment for me was towards the end of the trip. We had been walking past the enormous peak for a few days in a row, to get to another location. The more we looked at this impossible unrideable face, the more I started to think there might be a line in it. So one morning we decided to take it on. The lads used drones to scout a line as best we could, one of them climbed around the back face with the bike and I scaled the front face, hunting for a line as I went up. I made it to the top having seen what I guessed would work as a line. I ran through it in my head at the top and pictured every meter of this line. The cameras started rolling and I dropped in. I knew I had one chance at hitting this line so I had to go as hard as I could at it. And completely blind, but it worked.”

We noticed you riding flat pedals in the new edit and wanted to know if there was a specific reason?

“A few things but mostly due to the gnarly riding and the sketchy location. Flat pedals and my Adidas Five Tens just made for a better combination than being clipped in. There was also plenty of hike-a-bike and climbing for this one, so it just made things easier.”

At this point, it was time for Gee to hit the stage and I took my place amongst the sold-out crowd and snapped Gee on stage. During the interval Gee mingled happily with the crowd posing for pictures, signing and happily answering questions much to the delight of his fans.

After the show was complete I had one more question. Before heading home to Edinburgh, I wondered what Gee thought about the genuine love people have for him and the audience comments about him retiring and staying safe.

“I appreciate everyone’s concern of course and understand no one likes seeing people get hurt, so I’m conscious of being as calculated as I can. Dropping into some of the bigger more blind lines in Kazakhstan, I made sure I had taken as much of the unknown danger out as possible. The more I can plan a line the less chance there is for something unexpected happening, and this was a location you wouldn’t want to crash in. As for retiring well, I’ve no plans yet, and a lot of riding still to do.”

Shooting with Gee Atherton for Ridgeline V in Switzerland.