“The Knife Edge [the follow-up to Gee's 2020 video, The Ridge] was a hard project to film, but we managed it and I couldn’t believe how well we’d done. Then, literally during the last shot of the final day, I dropped in and landed awkwardly, and got kicked off this ridge.
“That flung me down a few hundred feet, and as I rag-dolled downhill, my body got pretty badly damaged, and I landed in a heap at the bottom, in bit of a state. I remember coming around, and I knew it was serious and not just a normal injury – not your average run-of-the-mill crash.
“To make matters worse, it was clear that we were in a pretty inaccessible spot. It was steep, difficult to get to and was going to take a whole extraction process to get me out of there. Plus, we were up against the clock. I was bleeding a lot, there were some bad breaks and my body was clearly not stable, so I needed medical help as soon as possible.
“As I drifted in and out of consciousness, the guys were doing a great job of trying to stabilise me. I was losing a lot of blood and struggling to get oxygen, and they managed to get Mountain Rescue to send a helicopter out. When they got there, they hovered for a bit, and then radioed down to say that they couldn’t reach us. They landed at the bottom and had to call for another helicopter to come with a winch.
"Eventually, they managed to strap me to a board and winch me up, and then drop me at the bottom and transfer me to the air ambulance. After that, it was a case of blood transfusions and all sorts of other equipment to stabilise me, while they rushed me to hospital.
“At the time I was just in this kind of survival mode, thinking, ‘I’m going to fight, no matter what’. I guess you have to trust the team around you, and the medics when they get to you – but, looking back, it was a closer shave than I thought.
“They said I was lucky to get through it, it was touch and go for a while. But you just do what you can to survive, and hope that luck is on your side. I made a mistake – it was rider error and shouldn’t have happened – and all I can do is learn from it.”
Words: Steve Thomas
Illustration: Kevin February
About Gee Atherton
As a multiple-time downhill world champion, World Cup winner and podium finisher at Red Bull Rampage, George 'Gee' Atherton stands as one of the finest MTB riders of his generation. Renowned for consistently pushing the boundaries of the sport, his latest endeavour, 'Ridgeline IV - The Dolomites', showcases his unparalleled skills as he fearlessly navigates precarious lines nestled deep within the picturesque Italian mountains.
