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...or even is it dying?
Previous years I can remember Vital and Pinkbike spoke of nothing else from the end of DH world champs. This year there was nothing until this week, and even then it seems muted.
I recognise most of the names, but Semenuk is the only one I would know if I met in the street. And I really don't care who wins. Definitely going to watch for the spectacle though.
Will redbull be plugging this for the next month, once they know nobody has died and they can skip through the waiting for the wind breaks? Is this going to be the new way of watching, not too many years after the ability to watch a sport that wasn't in a stadium LIVE was the most amazing thing ever
It's been filling my instagram this week but stuff around it has changed. There was never much between Worlds and now, these days you have had 2x EWS and the season climax, hardline, an Audi big air event somewhere etc. A lot more to cover the same amount of space.
Recognise the names but I've seen a bit more of this stuff live in the last few years.
The live aspect has always been an issue for a live broardcast and the fact the day itself is subject to last minute changes.
I'll probably catch the replay while I veg out after a mega couple of work weeks.
In fact it seems almost perfect!
Not dying. In fact I think this looks like one of the best ever!
Can't wait to see Brendog's line in full. Absolute hero.
Some of the other drops look completely crazy, but Semenuk's flow is always a highlight for me.
Surely if you've watched Rampage over the last few years you can't fail to recognise Aggy, Lecondeguy, Sorge, Zink, etc?
I'll be watching live tonight.
I'm liking the look of the new location. Some really interesting/crazy lines from Brendog and Jordie Lunn. Each rider has something crazy in there.
Adolf Silva is thinking of throwing a double backflip off a giant stepdown!
A few of the less trick orientated riders are happy that it doesn't have the flat bit at the bottom with the huge ramps anymore.
Hoping the winner is the one with the best line, style and flow top to bottom. It's felt like the judging has rewarded tricks more over the last few years
Pinkbike is full of it. I reckon its not dying at all. If anything the riders are saying its better to have a new venue, they sorted out some of the issues from the previous one.
Id like to know how much the riders get paid to risk their lives though, and what sort of medical cover they do or can get, given its in the US of A.
Whatever happened to that bloke that ended up paralysed from the last one, is he OK or still paralysed ?
Lost my reply there...
But Paul Bass is riding again
https://www.instagram.com/paulbasmtb/?hl=en
Prize pool was 200k in 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Rampage
It’s because Randy isn’t riding
Surely if you’ve watched Rampage over the last few years you can’t fail to recognise Aggy, Lecondeguy, Sorge, Zink, etc?
Not their fault that I much prefer racing to tricks/judged competition, but I see them once a year; and mostly in riding gear with a helmet on. For me (and again, this is just with my personal year round interest being lower for this sort of thing, not saying they don't exist) far less pre and post interviews, compared with WC and EWS racing.
Id like to know how much the riders get paid to risk their lives though, and what sort of medical cover they do or can get, given its in the US of A.
has varied throughout the years, most money will still be from their sponsors. 2016 was $100,000 for the winner according to wiki, considerably more than Rachel's clean sweep of WCs, plus world champs and obviously the overall, got her about 31000 euros by my calcs. (UCI has equal prizes for men and women)
Previous years I can remember Vital and Pinkbike spoke of nothing else from the end of DH world champs. This year there was nothing until this week, and even then it seems muted.
RedBull have had press restrictions in previous years which stopped too much coming out too soon. This year I reckon there has been more than past years - especially with the amount of instagram / social use (all the big feature practice runs have ended up on instagram).
Id like to know how much the riders get paid to risk their lives though, and what sort of medical cover they do or can get, given its in the US of A.
The riders do get paid, but you had an interview with Kyle Strait this year saying that his fees all go towards the cost of putting up and feeding his dig team (who are expected to come unpaid). What other event has an army of unpaid diggers who essentially create the venue from scratch over a week?!
I don't think the issue of risk Vs. reward will ever fully resolve itself. The interviews with the riders seem to suggest there has been a big improvement from the low point of the event (Paul Bas' crash year). However, a factor of the nature of the beast, red bulls' purse strings, and the high media exposure for freeriders who aren't front and centre all year round (like DH racers) - well it's just going to keep the show rolling every year despite it being absolutely bonkers.