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How Dan and Gee Atherton brought Red Bull Hardline British Columbia to life
Building a course this extreme takes more than a mountain. Dan and Gee Atherton explain the vision, the challenges and the thinking behind bringing Red Bull Hardline to Canada.
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Taking place from October 16–17, Red Bull Hardline British Columbia is not for the faint of heart. The latest iteration of the world's most extreme downhill mountain bike race, which has previously been held in Wales and Tasmania, the Cypress Mountain course has seen brothers Dan and Gee Atherton take their vision to new ground and new heights.
More than eight months since the last Hardline event in the Australian state of Tasmania, Hardline is finally back much to the delight of the Atherton brothers and the riders determined to showcase their talent on a brand new course.
“We had the Tasmania event in February, but nothing since then,” says Gee. “So it feels like we're we've just been waiting a long time for a Hardline event. I’m buzzing for it.”
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Behind the decision to take Red Bull Hardline to Canada
The first Red Bull Hardline event took place in Dyfi Valley in Wales back in 2014 and was held annually for more than a decade. Then, in 2024, a new chapter was ushered in with the addition of Red Bull Hardline Tasmania at the Maydena Bike Park. So why was British Columbia chosen to host a third course?
Dan Atherton at Red Bull Hardline 2014
© Duncan Philpott/Red Bull Content Pool
Dan says it comes back to the Red Bull Canada team, who first saw the potential for the area around Vancouver. “The whole team came out to see us at Hardline Wales in 2025, and they just had so much passion,” he remembers. “The crew was fully immersed in it, and we knew that if we built something there, it would be a success.”
Given the area's rich history of downhill racing, hosting Hardline in British Columbia felt like a no-brainer for the Atherton brothers, especially since the duo has spent so much time in the Canadian province. “That scene is massive,” says Gee. “Very early on in our careers, we were drawn to it and could recognise what a special place it was. It’s the home of mountain biking.”
A kicker into the fog
© Tyler Ravelle
You can't just pick up Hardline and shove it anywhere
It helps that, like the backwoods of Wales and Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, British Columbia is home to some spectacular scenery and lush green forests. If you’re going to race down a mountain, you may as well do it against a backdrop, right? “You can't just pick up Hardline and shove it anywhere,” says Gee. “It needs that stunning natural element to it.”
The other major bonus to holding the event in British Columbia is that while it has the same DNA as the other two locations, it offers something unique and will look very different from the courses in Wales and Tasmania.
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Picking the perfect location in British Columbia
As for nailing down a specific locale among the dense forests and lush coastlines of Western Canada, the brothers leaned on local knowledge, including legendary local riders like Jackson Goldstone. According to Dan, Goldstone and the riders who had grown up in the area were heavily involved in scouting and recommending the best areas for the event.
In the same way that the Athertons wanted to showcase Wales with the first edition of Hardline, it was important for the likes of Goldstone to bring a similarly massive-scale celebration to their home turf. “They came to us with some amazing locations,” says Dan. “It always impresses me how passionate the riders are about Hardline.”
In the end, the team settled on a few possible locations. Bureaucratic restrictions immediately ruled some out, as did a lack of available infrastructure. But the focus remained on finding a destination that had the right potential for building a gnarly course.
“There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into making Hardline happen, but we’ve always approached it with course and natural features front of mind,” says Gee. “We would never go somewhere just because it would work well logistically or timing-wise. It has to be about the track.”
Amongst the trees on Cypress Mountain
© Tyler Ravelle
There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into making Hardline happen, but we’ve always approached it with course and natural features front of mind
This approach lends a sense of integrity to the series. Retaining a pure focus on the best riding experience for athletes and fans is what’s seen Hardline stick around for a decade and counting, branching out to three continents in the process.
Instead of worrying about small logistical details, the brothers have two key questions when it comes to finding the perfect location: “Is this place the best place in the world for a Hardline course? And can we build one of the most incredible mountain bike races in the world here? If the answer isn't yes, we wouldn't be there. It’s always going to be track-led,” says Gee.
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Why Cypress Mountain is the right fit for Red Bull Hardline
The brothers eventually settled on Cypress Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park, just north of Vancouver. If it’s possible to feel love at first sight for a mountain, this was love at first sight. "Oh my God, the mountain's incredible!” enthuses Gee.
The brothers turned up in early 2025 to climb the mountain for the first time. They hiked up alone, meeting the local team on the rocky slopes of the 1,440-metre peak. What they saw took their breath away.
Dan and Gee Atherton have been involved with the British Columbia edition
© Tyler Ravelle
“It is a gnarly mountain,” says Gee. “You're overlooking the whole bay, and it just drops away below you with these outcrops of rock and trees, and these incredible undulations throughout the mountain.”
“It’s pretty unique,” agrees Dan. “Modern day mountain biking has evolved around that North Shore coast, so it was humbling for us to be to be up there and see it.”
Once they’d nailed down the location, the process of actually building the course and setting everything up moved quickly, with legendary mountain bike course builder Justin Wyper and his team of ten springing into action to help transform the mountainside dream into a downhill reality.
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Building the Red Bull Hardline BC course
With the Athertons overseeing from afar and occasionally dropping in, Viper led the creation of the course. Walking the track together, they let him take point on what would work. The brothers say some obvious elements jumped out and made them immediately excited. The key thing – as in previous Hardline courses – was to spot the natural features that lent themselves to becoming part of a downhill track.
Despite being guided by the land, it wasn’t an easy job, both in terms of the actual build and developing the flow of the course.
“We were eyeing up certain gaps into certain landings, but it evolves as you go,” explains Gee. “We would suggest something, and then Wyper would say, ‘Okay, well, we need to hold speed for this feature after this,’ and things like that, and you gradually build the track up in layers.”
Busy getting the track ready for Red Bull Hardline
© Tyler Ravelle
Checking out the drop...
© Tyler Ravelle
...and the landing
© Tyler Ravelle
Digging in
© Tyler Ravelle
Jackson Goldstone taking in the track
© Tyler Ravelle
The evolution continued throughout the build, with the team working until the very last moment to maximise its potential. Out came the pickaxes, saws and chainsaws, as tonnes of soil had to be shifted, wooden berms built and lines realised straight through patches of trees.
Not to mention huge drops with sniper landings surrounded by boulders and even more trees. What this means is a super physical track in which riders can expect lots of compressions and plenty of G-force.
The resulting course is not only technical and rocky, but off-camber too, meaning the ground slopes sideways, making the outer edge of a turn lower than the inside. In other words, the opposite of a traditional downhill track. It’s like the course has been turned inside out.
A standout feature is a long, off-camber rock slab – a corner which riders enter from the left. The most natural line might be to the right, down uneven and slick rock leading to a sculpted dirt berm. Alternatively, riders could choose to drop around four metres from a tall outcrop straight down into the berm. Both options are guaranteed to raise a cold sweat.
The rock slab will keep the riders on their guard
© Tyler Ravelle
And then there’s the lily pad feature leading into the final third of the course: a 30m gap, a nine-metre drop and a descent of 543m over roughly 2,000m. All of which amounts to a very tricky but exciting proposition for the riders looking to take it on.
As for what they’re excited about, Dan says that it is a course that rewards a rider’s ability to read the flow of the track. It isn’t about any one obstacle, but threading them all together in a race-winning run.
“The middle section is one to watch,” he says. “It’s one thing after another, back-to-back, multiple linked features. To hit one is impressive enough, but then as soon as you land, you're onto another drop, and then you're into a road gap. It’s so cool.”
Not only does this make for an incredibly innovative and challenging track for the riders, but it’s also still evolving, with race conditions and race day weather (whatever that will be) both adding a whole new dimension to the course.
“The cool thing with Hardline is that it's still very much about the racing,” says Gee. “The features are great, but they become different when you're hitting them fast and in whatever conditions there are on race day. At the end of the day, it’s a raw downhill mountain bike race, with the guys trying to scrub tenths of a second off their time, while also holding speed for the next feature. That’s what makes it so gnarly.”
As for how the BC course measures up with the other iterations, Gee explains: “I think it’s closer to Wales, where there’s a more technical aspect to the riding. Riders will have to be smart, control their speed and pull back a bit. They’re navigating massive elevation on a rocky and steep course, so it’s going to be challenging.”
Canadian rider Jackson Goldstone assessing the track
© Tyler Ravelle
In terms of riders they’re particularly excited to see tackle the course; they pick out Goldstone alongside Rónán Dunne and Charlie Hatton.
“There’s obviously a World Cup race element, with those guys coming straight here. They are going to be exciting to watch, but I like the wildcard element that comes with Hardline,” says Gee. “The most exciting elements are the riders you don’t necessarily see on World Cup podiums every weekend. Hardline is where they can come out of their shell and into their element.”
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Could Red Bull Hardline add a fourth location?
Could a new Red Bull Hardline location arrive in the years ahead?
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
With Red Bull Hardline British Columbia on the horizon and a hunger in the community for more events, the obvious question for the Atherton brothers is what comes next.
“When we started it, it was this little event in Wales,” says Dan. “Now there’s so much excitement and enthusiasm for Hardline.”
“There’s a massive amount of potential out there,” adds Gee. “There’s so much potential to the sport; the riders are stoked for it, the spectators are stoked for it, so who knows how far it can go.”
Red Bull Hardline British Columbia takes place on October 16-17. You can catch all the finals action LIVE on Red Bull TV on Saturday, October 17
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