Rob and John Parkin spent a few days with Gee and Rachel Atherton in Italy to see what they get up to pre season.

“1112 Miles south. That’s how far it is from Orpheus HQ in Durham to Finale Ligure in Northern Italy. You would think the hot air blowing off the Mediterranean would be enough to keep Finale warm, and by all accounts, it usually is. Not this time though, as we popped out of the Frejus Tunnel into a blizzard… 48 hours later we were still sitting about waiting for the snow to stop, with the locals’ frequent comments of “this never usually happens here” doing little to improve our mood. But hey, we are used to it. Experience has shown that the further you travel for a film shoot, and the more money it costs to get there, the worse the weather is when you arrive. Sods law really.
Luckily, things turned around in incredibly quick fashion, with blizzard turning into dry trails and sunshine literally overnight. The video below is the result of a few days hanging out with the Athertons in Italy, “training” apparently!
Special thanks to Finalefreeride.net for letting us stay with them when the Atherton’s apartment ended up with less space than required! Expect a full tour of Finale’s epic trail network later in the year, once the snow has well and truly melted.”

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