You may have heard people say things like ‘Rampage is too groomed these days, it’s getting too easy’, or ‘It’s just tricks, it’s not mountain biking’. Alternatively, there’s the ‘It’s too dangerous, someone will get killed’ camp. Some of my colleagues are among them. Me? I think I’ve actually come around over the years, watching it less through worried fingers and more with interest and appreciation. I absolutely definitely want to get to be there some year, and not just for the finals, but also to see the digging, the prep, and the after party. Let’s see if, through the medium of these great photos from JP Gendron, I can convey any sense of why it appeals to me. And for those who are already sold, get yourself a big screen, and enjoy.
Peering off that upper platform. This is the view that riders have before they start their run. You don’t have to throw yourself straight down off here – there are multiple lines to be taken from the platform – but it’s here that each rider waits for the wind to drop, sets their goggles just so, and begins their run. Tactics, nerves and experience come together: do you throw it all down on a first run, or do you play it ‘safe’ and aim for a complete and crashless run, saving the second run for everything you’ve got, once those first run nerves are gone? This year that regular Rampage disruptor the wind put pay to all second runs. Those who went all out with their first runs were rewarded, and those with tricks left in the tank were left with a hint of ‘if only…’.
This shot does a great job of giving you a stomach lurch at the steepness, and then an extra flip or two as you look closer and realise just how. far. down. it goes. I am not good at heights, but still, I’d love to have a peek over this edge, just to feel the breeze on my face and the lurch in my stomach. And then I’d back away, shuffling carefully to keep my feet on the ground, not taking any risks of tripping.
Anyone who complains it’s too groomed is, I think, doing something of a disservice to the diggers who scuttle about on the mountainside, shovelling stability onto landings as the dirt falls away from under their very feet. It takes a significant level of trust and understanding between the diggers and riders (who dig too, but are obviously keen to save some energy for the actual riding). If you’re going to throw yourself off that lip and down to that landing, you want to know the job has been done right. Getting it right means understanding the trajectory and physics of the feature, knowing how that plays with whatever tricks might be performed, and how this section will link into others. Got that? Now, get that dust to stick, just where you need it. Who’s hauling the water? All that ‘groomed’ finish is the result of a whole heap of physical and mental effort.
It’s like some sort of Visit Utah promo shot. ‘Where cowboys have extra long ropes’, or something.
Cool mornings give way to warm afternoons then early nightfalls by the time October comes round with Rampage. The Utah light makes for great photos, whether it’s golden hour shots or bleached bright midday sun. But spare a thought for the riders, whose lines can plunge into shadow and back out again. No time for pupils to adjust, when you’re eyeballs out, part way down a cliff, and planning to trick the next drop.
The weather brings out some curious outfits, and lots of hats. When you’re Brett Tippie, you can get away with things like this. My kids would kill me.
Dylan Stark’s digger carrying out a little personal grooming?
Looks more scoured than groomed. Stark in practice.
Landing lines from all angles, as riders take their different routes down the mountain, kriss-krossing features. Lacondeguy gets low, soaking up the landing and eying up the next feature. It’s worth a zoom in to look into his eyes. It sounds like he might be making this his last Rampage. After a massive crash in practice last year, perhaps he had a score to settle. A daft tumble at the end of his run this year put him out of the running for the win this year – though some may say he was robbed.
Back to doing things with your eyes closed… there’s no doubting the riding at Rampage is dangerous, because the consequences are so great. But, the tricks the riders are pulling might seem extraordinary to us, but it’s not as if they’re just launching themselves into space and thinking ‘I’ll try a sui no hander’. There’s method behind the spectacle, and these riders have put in the hours so that they know where their grips and pedals will be, time after time, trick after trick. Contact points are fettled and refined until they’re just so. And then, when the digging is done and the tricks are ready, they ride.
That said, a canyon gap is never not scary. Here’s Syzmon Godziek back flipping it. And thanks to the wonders of technology, you can ride along with him – sound on for the breathing.
It’s a cliche to talk about the scale of the mountain at Red Bull Rampage, but so what. Look at it. Spot the rider, spot the landing?
Not all tricks look elegant, but nonetheless this heel clicker from Jaxson Riddle was just one impressive moment in a very stylish run. I like the tricks that take you by surprise and are a little different from the flips and whips. Dylan Stark’s grind rail didn’t really work out in his first run and I was sorry not to see the move tightened up in a second run – full marks for creativity and inventiveness though.
Brandon Semenuk’s acid drop to start his run was pretty mind blowing – though Tom Van Steenbergen got there first in 2017. Still. Impressive.
Semenuk, caught motionless it looks like something horrible is about to happen, though on his way to third place overall, having spent as little time as possible with his feet on the pedals.
Tyler McCaul with one of those impossible looking ‘where is the ground’ shots.
Thomas Genon, on a bike that might disappear into his surroundings if he let go of it. It almost looks like he’s failing to make a massive step-up, rather than spinning downwards.
Cam Zink’s shadow rides up the hill as he 360s the drop.
Reed Boggs flips a drop on a bright pink Yeti. A sentence that might have come straight from a random word generator.
Just a great shot. Dark/light/dark, with Semenuk threading his way between.
Got a ticket for Red Bull Rampage but run out of annual leave? A disguise may be the answer. Or, just stick it to the man.
Get your grom signed here. As well as the competition itself, I love that it spawns a whole festival of bike-y-ness, with families and friends sticking around for the weekend to camp out, ride bikes, and party. I need to be there before I die, or before I’m too old to party. Who else is with me?
While you’re here…
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