The 14th Red Bull Rampage went down in glorious fashion – first and foremost, no major injuries were sustained despite some crashes. Miraculously, finals day happened to be the least windy day of the week and gusts were less of a factor than in many years past. Follow along for a photo story of how the day went.
Before heading up the hill, Cam Zink had a bit of family time and hung out with his wife and daughter.
Tom Van Steenbergen strapping up for the ride of his life.
Brett Rheeder takes on last look at a jump that was not only a nightmare to build, but super difficult to ride, with loads of exposure.
Cam Zink was the first rider to drop in. Unfortunately he bobbled in both runs and didn’t get to 360 this massive drop at the bottom. A straight air will have to do until next year.
Bienvenido Aguado found and built an interesting line and rode pretty well all week. Unfortunately a bobble took him out on run one and an early crash dashed his chances in run two.
Carson Storch was the first to put down a seriously good run and may have been judged slightly harshly due to going early. He greased a massive 360 at the bottom of the hill.
When Carson went to improve his score in the second run, he unfortunately over-rotated on that same 360 and blew his tube out. There’s still a Rampage win in his future.
Emil Johannson quickly adapted and looked way less “slopestyle” and much more “freeride” in Utah.
His lower drop was 54 feet – he did just one run and was happy with it after greasing a massive suicide no-hander. Not a bad debut.
Speaking of no handers…Aggy was just having fun and charging. Here he is up top…
After being quite content upon landing this massive drop, Aggy was perfectly happy to do just one run.
Reed Boggs’ had a good mix of tech and flat out charging.
Reed would no hand his lower drop and, like many other riders, was also be content with one run.
Suicide no handers seemed to be a theme on big drops and step downs. Vinny T was no exception, and a stylish run with some big moves landed him in 10th.
After not completing his runs last year, Brandon Semenuk raised the bar with a flat drop flip on this double drop and took an early lead. Look at how hard he’s yanking in the first frame above!
DJ Brandt rode clean and nailed his ultra technical chute – one of the most under appreciated features on the hill.
DJ also got some big spins in, unsurprisingly.
Reece Wallace, like the Boggs and Johannson – who he shared this drop with, also did a huge suicide no hander on the lower drop.
Proving he’s one of the best all around mountain bikers in the world, Brendog sent a huge backflip on his horrendous canyon gap and greased it. It was a legendary move with a tight entrance and an awkward flat landing.
Another brutal feature in Bren’s line was this treacherous chute – it is completely vertical in some sections. He casually did a nose wheelie into it…you know – for fun.
Kurt Sorge sent a rather large drop near the bottom. Unfortunately he missed grabbing his bars on a flip suicide no hander on his last jump right after this and suffered a concussion upon crashing.
Szymon Godziek went huge in both of his runs, improving his first run substantially in his second. Here he is popping a 360 off into the crowd.
More suicide no handers. Big dog Kyle Strait got a huge extension and went deep on this drop. He took a second run, looking to improve, but like Sorge, bobbled and crashed.
T-Mac stepped things up and flipped a step down at a similar level to the drop that everyone else was no handing. The entrance to this was a bit more tech with a narrow slot as the run-in.
Tyler also blasted the biggest drop on the hill. He took two runs but didn’t really improve in the second run. He landed his third 5th place finsh.
Tommy G had a rough crash in practice a few days back, but he managed to strap it up and put down a decent run. Here he is on his exposed double drop feature.
Just like last year, Tom Van Steenbergen went absolutely huge on the same flat drop flip. He did a front flip out of the start gate and had an incredible run overall, landing in third.
Local boy Ethan Nell stepped it up huge this year and upgraded from a no hander to a big flat drop flip on his lower drop.
Ethan also did two 450’s on hip jumps on the upper and lower part of the mountain.
Another angle of Ethans flip. With moves like this, he’ll likely win a Rampage at some point here…
Much like his run last year, Andreu was on a heater of a run, electrifying the crowd with back to back big moves like 360’s going right into flips off the landing.
Unfortunately his wild style got him into a bit of trouble and he crashed quite hard. He took a second run and rode well, but crashed on a 360 with the finish line in sight.
This was the jump that gave last year’s winner Brett Rheeder a hard time. He cased it in his first run and was docked accordingly.
In his second run, he added a can can to his enormous flat drop flip and managed to ride the troublesome jump after it smoothly. He was rewarded handsomely with a second place finish and Best Trick.
Brendog went back up to the top, but didn’t exactly do a second run. He stopped mid mountain to do 30 push ups to pay homage to Jordie Lunn.
Semenuk had some small backup moves in case he needed to do a second run, but as it wasn’t necessary, he treated us to a victory lap instead.
The G.O.A.T at the finish line.
Fist bumps for the fans…
Brandon joins Kurt Sorge in the Red Bull Rampage 3 time winners club.
Brett Rheeder with his well deserved Best Trick award.
Szymon Godziek took home People’s Choice.
After moving to the area from Aptos, Tyler McCaul clearly put everything into Rampage and thus was given the McGazza Spirit Award.
Rheeder’s diggers were some of the hardest working on the hill, chipping away at a massive rock face for an entire week. No one was surprised that they won the Digger Award.
Speaking of not being surprised, you can’t be shocked that Vinny T won the style Award.
After being judged a bit harshly, it was nice to see Brendog not only up his game, but also receive a good score in 4th. He was hyped all week and had great energy all around.
After doing a rowdy second run despite his crash, Andreu Lacondeguy didn’t go home empty handed – he landed the Toughness Award.
That’s it! Thanks for tuning in…In addition to the athletes, we’d like to extend a massive thanks to the diggers, medics, organizers and all of the other unsung heroes that make this the best mountain bike event of the years ear.
