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Utah Diary: The full story of Gee Atherton's Red Bull Rampage 2023
Gee Atherton had something special planned in Utah this year. Sadly, his comeback was cut short by a nasty crash on a huge drop. Here's how he prepared, how he's recovering and what we missed out on.
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Red Bull Rampage was first introduced to showcase the absolute pinnacle of freeride mountain biking talent on some of the world's most rugged and wild natural terrain.
The event combines downhill, slopestyle and big mountain riding on the otherworldly landscapes of Virgin in Southern Utah, USA.
Southern Utah's natural terrain lends itself perfectly to freeride
© Dan Griffiths
Re-watch Red Bull Rampage 2023 on Red Bull TV here. For the best viewing experience make sure you download the free Red Bull TV app for your TV or device.
Unlike downhill racing, it's not about how fast riders can get to the bottom of the mountain; instead, Red Bull Rampage encourages creativity, innovation and progression, setting itself apart from other freeride events in the process.
10 min
20 years of iconic freeriding
Get ready to celebrate as we reflect on 20 epic years of freeride mountain biking at Red Bull Rampage.
01
Pre-event: Gee's Red Bull Rampage story so far
This year's rider list saw a stacked field stretching across a range of disciplines and ages. But one name that particularly stood out, because he hadn't appeared at the event in over a decade, was that of MTB legend Gee Atherton.
Gee Atherton on site at Red Bull Rampage
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
I'm very excited to be back at Rampage and I feel like it fits well with what I've been doing recently
Atherton made his Red Bull Rampage debut in 2003, aged just 18 and fresh off the back of winning a silver medal at that year's Junior World Championships.
Though his first event in Utah didn't quite go to plan – a nasty crash put him in hospital – Atherton was not deterred. In 2004, he was back and put down a thrilling run to grab second place behind Kyle Strait.
2 min
Best of Red Bull Rampage 2004
See the highlights from year four at the world's premier freeride mountain bike contest.
In 2008, when the event returned from a brief hiatus for its fourth edition, the omens initially looked good. Atherton was in form and arrived with the rainbow stripes on his arm, having recently sealed his first downhill world champs title. However, another crash right before the finals resulted in a separated shoulder and put him out of the competition.
Atherton's iconic gap-to-wall ride at Red Bull Rampage 2010
© Sven Martin/Red Bull Content Pool
In 2010, Atherton again carried form into the event. He was the World Cup overall winner and he rode a stormer. His wall ride gap – pictured above – has become an iconic Rampage moment and helped him place second behind Cam Zink.
1 min
Red Bull Moments 2010 - Gee Atherton
Gee Atherton pulls a huge stepdown gap to wall ride at Red Bull Rampage 2010.
That's not to say the same feature would be so merciful next time around...
2012 brought one of Red Bull Rampage's most memorable moments. Unfortunately, not for the right reasons. Anybody familiar with the event will have seen Atherton's infamous cliff-face crash. After going off-line on his wall ride gap, he found himself a little too up close and personal with a rock face and that was the end of his run for the time being.
Atherton has had a rollercoaster history at the event, but despite this, in the times he has been able to keep things rubber-side down, he's always finished in second place. Currently, he's the event's 10th most successful rider, alongside Antoine Bizet.
October 2023 marked 20 years since Atherton first competed in Utah and 11 years since his last appearance. A lot had changed in the meantime.
On rotation: Atherton is back in Utah for his sixth appearance
© Dan Griffiths
In 2019, Atherton was due to compete when a crash in training meant he had to pull out. In recent years, he's steered his direction towards freeride and big mountain riding, so fans were excited to see how different his approach towards the event would be.
Atherton eyes up the perfect Rampage line
© Dan Griffiths
02
Week one: Build week
Gee hard at work on the mountainside
© Dan Griffiths
One of the most exciting parts of Red Bull Rampage, setting it apart from other freeride events, is that competitors dream up and create their own lines for competition. Riders arrive in Virgin, Utah, with two designated builders who put in long hours under the sun helping to craft their line in time for event day.
Heavy days for the crew
© Dan Griffiths
Building week is very hard. You can be in 35°C heat for 10 hours a day and it's punishing
There are four build days in the first week, during which no bike time is permitted. This time is spent vigorously trying to make as much progress as possible to have the best chance of a complete, polished line before event day.
In 2023, many lines remained from 2022 and some were even older than that. There are no rules to say you can't use sections from previous years and doing so can save a lot of build time, as it becomes more of repair job than starting from scratch.
There's nothing wrong with getting creative and putting your own spin on previous riders' work, but if you want to make a real impression on the fans and judges, there's much to say about getting creative and building something a little more outside the box.
Atherton built a line along the lesser-used right-hand side of the mountain
© Dan Griffiths
Red Bull Rampage judge Chris Lawrence says riders who, "make the best use of the mountain terrain out there will ultimately impress the judges the most." Much of Virgin's mountain terrain lends itself to freeride, but making the best use of it is a fine art that requires a lot of experience on the bike and with building, too.
Is that rideable? Let's find out...
© Dan Griffiths
Riders are limited to two members on their dig crew and any other outside assistance crafting their line will disqualify them. At the start of the week, each team is assigned 75 sandbags and sent out to scout their lines.
Riders can use tools, water, rocks and anything else found naturally on the mountain, but no power tools. The number of dig days and meager resources means that riders and their small teams have to work hard and smart to ensure their lines are finished in time. During scouting, it's vital teams don't bite off more than they can chew. It's a delicate balance, making things as spectacular and impressive as possible while remaining realistic with the time they have.
Despite not being allowed additional assistance, riders and their dig crew can collaborate with other teams to work on features, sharing the load and cutting down the time needed to bring their ideas to life. Typically, these discussions will be had during the scouting day, after which the teams are launched head-first into build week.
The desert heat is merciless and there's little time or energy for anything during the week besides eating, sleeping and digging. Most days begin at first light and stretch into the evening, and if the heavy work on the tools isn't enough to write you off, the sun and heat will sap your energy.
On day five there's a mandatory rest day, where the site is fully closed. After four 12-hour days under the ruthless Utah sun, nobody is complaining.
Digging for victory?
© Dan Griffiths
Rest day was incredible. I woke up at 7am and was so pleased that I could stay in bed - I didn't have to go and mattock rocks all day in the heat
03
Week two: Practice week
The mountain from the air: the start line is visible centre-left
© Dan Griffiths
Following Sunday's rest day (October 8), riders and their teams got back at it for week two. For most riders, at this stage there is still work to do on the lines, though a large chunk of what they've built in week one is now ready to ride.
Practice officially began on Monday, October 9. Riders use the time to work through their lines feature by feature. Given that the terrain is super gnarly, they don't typically session any more than they need to. Instead, it's a case of testing their lines, making sure they work and getting comfortable with them, before moving on to the next section.
Putting tyres to dirt for the first time can be intimidating
© Dan Griffiths
It's also a balancing act between fine-tuning features and bike time, whilst conserving energy ahead of finals. Most riders will go heavy on the build in the first week, while there's still a rest day and time to recover, and go easier the following week as they conserve their energy for finals.
Meet Gee Atherton's build crew:
A good dig crew goes far beyond a work ethic and a knowledge of how to dig.
On Atheron's build team this year were two lads from the Dyfi Bike Park dig crew back in Wales. Bence Kuli and Alf Raynor work at the bike park year-round and both have supported Atheron with his Ridgeline projects and the Red Bull Hardline builds over the last few years. They're also pretty handy on a bike themselves; experience that's vital when understanding how to craft a line that flows well.
Alf, Gee and Bence take a break in the shade
© Dan Griffiths
I've spent a lot of time on the bike in the run-up. I should have spent two weeks digging!
"When you're building stuff at this scale, you're building stuff on the edge of possibility," says Alf. "Having a second opinion you know you can trust makes a massive difference. It's not just a job - we have a genuine love for Gee and we're here as a team."
The crew arrived a week early with Atherton to acclimatise to the jetlag and spend some time working with the unfamiliar terrain. "It's entirely different from Dyfi, that's for sure," said Bence. "I took a little while to figure out how to work with the dirt in the quickest and most efficient way."
The Build Process
With the limited time the teams have, there's pressure to make the right decisions during scouting. If one feature doesn't work out it can jeopardise the entire line and leave a rider stuck halfway down the mountain.
After four long, hard days, the bulk of the work is out of the way and Atherton can then practise while the team finish the final features. "We tried to prioritise the big, energy-sapping stuff first, so we could give ourselves time to recover before riding week," said Atherton.
"The main features are done," says Bence. "The line just needs a bit of touching up, which will continue as the week goes on. Once Gee's ridden stuff, we'll have a much better idea of what needs to be done and changed, but for the most part, it'll be a case of getting things dialled."
All 75 sandbags were used, playing a massive role in structural support for jumps and landings, particularly on a mega-feature that caused a buzz on site. Nicknamed 'The Widow-Maker', it's a lander for a 60ft vertical drop and something that understandably swallowed up a lot of the crew's time.
Chipping away at the run-in to 'The Widow-Maker'
© Dan Griffiths
The work has provided some unfamiliar challenges for Alf and Bence.
"Back home, the ground is mostly wet," says Alf. "Here, you're fighting the sun. It's a learning curve, figuring out how to work with the dirt, what's good and bad, but we're definitely getting the hang of it."
Working on the side of cliff faces isn't easy either, but the on-site rope crew are available to get workers into their harnesses and up and where they need to be. That’s not to say every moment is rope-assisted, though. It's vital the crew keep their wits about them at all times, with cliffs and canyons around every corner.
04
The line: what might have been
Fine-tuning the contours of 'The Pirate Ship'
© Dan Griffiths
The line Atherton was due to ride could only have been his; it was fast, technical and full of big sends. Starting from the top, he dropped rider's right down a narrow ridgeline, before gapping up onto a huge piece of exposed cliff that's separate from the rest of the mountain. The gap up was impressive in its own right and the fall-off on either side of the knife-edge landing only added to its gnar factor.
Atherton was due to share 'The Pirate Ship' feature with Polish freeride boss Szymon Godziek and fellow Brit Brendan Fairclough. Sharing the their teams' time, energy and sandbags meant 'The Pirate Ship' could actually come to fruition. Otherwise, the level of work needed to make it happen would have been too much for one team.
Dropping off, it was then straight into a flat-out knife-edge ridge leading into a huge 65-foot step down, made wilder by the fact that the takeoff and landing didn't completely line up. It was also completely exposed and the landing required pinpoint precision.
The crew honing step down number three of five
© Dan Griffiths
Next up was a fast, rough pedal section across the top traverse, carrying him over to the furthest right side of the mountain - further along than any other line at 2023's event. Time on the ground was short-lived, though, as there was then a drop into a series of step-downs, one after the other, offering little time between for respite.
At this stage of the run, Atherton would have been thinking about the next feature, one that gained so much attention in practice week as one of the wildest and most spectacular on the hill. Unofficially named 'The Widow-Maker', this colossal 60ft vertical drop required a pinpoint-precision landing at the bottom of the cliff face. It would need every ounce of his considerable skill to pull it off.
'The Widow-Maker' in all its intimidating majesty
© Dan Griffiths
Injuries have always happened when I've rushed through things and not given myself time to build properly, or paid attention to details
Atherton and the crew certainly put a lot of time into this behemoth of a feature. The landing alone took the best part of three days to finish.
Nearing the bottom of his run, the fun wasn't over just yet. Right out of the drop, still at full speed, he would then be launched onto a lilypad, sending him right into a 70-foot step down - something he's become very familiar with on his big mountain projects over the last few years.
Ultimately, the line screamed Gee Atherton. It was fast, technical and boasted some huge features. With the bulk of the build out the way, the team carried on working hard to polish things off while he tested each feature one-by-one.
"Digging a line for Red Bull Rampage is very much an art, balancing a lot of different aspects," said Atherton. "Conserving energy, building a line that’s possible to ride and giving yourself time to actually complete it is very hard. Obviously, we have managed none of these things, and it’s been a brutal week, but we're loving every minute of it out here and I'm very lucky to have a strong team behind me."
05
Week three: Riding week, the crash and its aftermath
Day One
Soon enough, ride week came around and it was time to begin the daunting process of ticking off features.
There was one particular feature on Atherton's mind from the off, 'The Widow-Maker'. But that would wait for now. First, he would take on some of the 'easier', less intimidating features, getting to grips with his line and getting comfortable on the bike.
Even the "laidback" features on Gee's line were monsters
© Dan Griffiths
We came up with a plan on what would be good to hit first and we decided on the two middle step-downs. They're still gnarly, but easy to read and relatively safe
With the mountain being such an exposed environment, it's vital that there's minimal wind while you're on the bike. The windiest period of the day is usually after lunch, meaning most sessions start as early as possible, when the wind is at its calmest. You'll find most riders on the hill at dawn, trying to familiarise themselves with their lines.
When it comes to practise, it's a delicate balancing act for the riders. They need to get enough practice without exposing themselves to any more risk than is necessary. For most riders, once or twice through a feature is enough to know if they have it on lock. Many of them won't even complete a top-to-bottom run until finals day.
Atherton sends it between step-downs
© Dan Griffiths
Atherton's approach was calculated in this sense. He was relying on his decades of wisdom and prior experience on this course to figure out how best to play his cards. Starting on the two middle step-downs made the most sense as, although massive, they were easy to read and relatively safe options.
The first hits went smoothly, excluding a brief collision between the rider's groin and his rear tyre; painful, but nothing he couldn't walk away from. Next, it was onto the big step-down at the top - a sensible option given that it wasn't too dissimilar from those in his Ridgeline project. Although sizeable, was something Atherton knew he'd be comfortable with.
The top step-down was pretty enormous by itself
© Dan Griffiths
At this point, there weren't many other riders practising, which meant a lot of curious eyes gravitating towards Atherton's line, eager to get a glimpse of the action. He's no stranger to performance under pressure, but he tried to keep things low-key to minimise distraction. He knew it was time to keep his small team nearby for support and focus on the job at hand.
Later that morning, as anticipated, the wind came in, ending the day's practice. The features tested had worked well, leaving little to be amended, and after lunch the boys began the big job of building the landing for the final step down. Atherton had ticked-off a good chunk of his line, but 'The Widow-Maker' remained untamed.
When taking on things this big, you get to a point where you begin to question it and there's a lot at stake, so it helps to have people around that you can trust for a second opinion
Day Two
Enough to raise hairs on the back of your neck
© Dan Griffiths
When riding on the edge of what's possible, there will always be a higher degree of risk. Red Bull Rampage allows riders to manage that risk for themselves, deciding how far they're willing to push themselves and how big they want to go.
For Atherton, it's always been a case of going big and beyond what's been done before. 'The Widow-Maker' was built with these values in mind. To take things further than he – and possibly anybody else – had done with a vertical drop.
On Tuesday morning, there was tension in the air. After several sleepless nights, the haunting anticipation had reached a head and Atherton knew it was time to get it over with. After a warm-up on the step-downs, he headed down to the feature to peer cautiously over the edge. He did his best to gauge the wind, his optimum speed, trajectory and every other factor that would determine success or disaster.
Tuesday morning: Atherton on final prep for the landing
© Dan Griffiths
"We spent a lot of time looking at it and talking through it. Gee had asked a lot of other people for opinions, too. There was a lot of uncertainty, but we didn't leave a stone unturned," explained digger Alf Raynor.
You could hear a pin drop as Atherton entered his flow state. He was in such a deep focus studying his creation that he didn't notice how many people were watching in silent anticipation. After what felt like an eternity and one more mock run-in, he was satisfied that there was nothing left to consider. It was time.
Goggles on, a final wind check: "Three, two, one... dropping."
The critical moment...
© Dan Griffiths
Aftermath
"Sorry, boys," was the first sentence to come out of Atherton's mouth when he regained consciousness. From take-off to landing, he'd travelled 75 vertical feet (22m). A combination of being too deep and an unexpected gust of wind blowing him off-axis had meant the force on landing was just too much to hold on to.
Highsiding from mid-way down the landing, right to the bottom of the drop, Atherton lay motionless for a short while and there was a sigh of relief as he began to come around and confirm sensation in his extremities. After a thorough head-to-toe from the medical crew, they were confident there were no major breakages or injuries, but nobody would know for sure until the hospital scans had confirmed.
Despite the slam, Atherton remained upbeat
© Dan Griffiths
The position I landed in was not great to hold up a heavy hit. From there, I ripped across the landing and high-sided onto my head. It was about 75 feet vertical by the time I touched down
Scans at the hospital confirmed a few fractures to his vertebrae and skull. To this news, Atherton responded in true Gee fashion: "Oh, not too bad then." The injuries were bad, but a miracle considering the intensity of the crash. They'll only see him out of action for a couple of months.
Watching from the sidelines, event day was bittersweet for him. He was grateful to be walking about and watching the other riders nail their runs, but equally gutted and frustrated not to be up there riding himself.
Event day: Gee and Alf discuss what might have been
© Dan Griffiths
Red Bull Rampage 2023 had been an experience, even if it wasn't the outcome Atherton had hoped for. Despite the slam, he's already fired up and hungry to get back to Utah for redemption.
"I'm a bit sore, but what hurts most is missing the event, especially after the dig crew had put in such an effort on the line," said Atherton. "A huge thanks to the medical crew on site and Alf Raynor, Bence Kuli and Dan Griffiths for helping me create this beast. We'll be back."
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