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Fionn Griffiths has ridden right over the downhill scene with relative ease. After only three and a half years on a mountain bike, she's riding lines faster than the world's best, and with two consecutive silver medals at the World Championships, she's laughing. The Shrewsbury, England native is only 20 years old.

Fionn recently spent a week in Chamonix, France, and rode one of the steepest lines I've ever witnessed. She was standing at the top of a moraine, looking at a possible descent, when she laughed and without hesitation, rappelled in and blazed her own trail. But that's better left for her to tell...

MZ: What's your first memory of riding a bike?
I have a photograph at home. My brother has a little Raleigh Chopper and I've got a tricycle with no pedals. I was just scooting along using my feet. I was pretty young then.

MZ: How about your first downhill bike?
At first, I couldn't afford a proper downhill bike and I did my first couple of races on a hard tail. But my dad's an engineer and he designed a downhill bike for me on paper, sorted out the angles and then we went into the garage with it. The bike took about two weeks to build and I've still got it. It pivoted around the bottom bracket and as far as I'm aware, that's the only bike like that.

MZ: With some exceptions, England's terrain is relatively flat. How did you become a downhill mountain biker?
Well, we don't really have any big mountains in England, but we do have small short sections that are really, really steep and technical. All of your training is done by walking up and riding down, walking up and riding down. During races, sometimes you still have to walk up, other times they get a tractor and trailer and you all pile in the back and off you go up to the top of the hill. So basically, you learn to do the small sections and then when you get abroad, you put them together.

— Lucas Kane, MountainZone.com Correspondent
Lucas Kane, a freelance photo journalist, wandered the world for nearly a year in search of the perfect terrain, but it wasn't until he arrived in Chamonix, France, that he found a new appreciation for the word "steep" and the utmost respect for Mother Nature.