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Words By : Ryan Joslyn
Photos by : Ryan Kirk
The dust slowly starts to settle as the fans and athletes make their way down the rocky and sandy cliffs of the southern Utah desert. The music is pumping and the Red Bull is flowing like water. The celebration has started with high fives and congratulations all around. There are feelings of relief and excitement in the air. Stoked fans grabbing autographs while exhausted athletes taking in the feats that have been accomplished in the past few days. All the attention now turns to the podium; the winners are being announced. In third place, Darren “The Claw” Berrecloth, in second place is World Cup racer, Gee Atherton, and the winner of 2010 Red Bull Rampage is Cam Zink. And the crowd goes wild. As well as winning the event, Zink has also taken home the Best Trick category for his massive 360 off the Oakley icon sender.
The history of the Red Bull Rampage dates back to 2001. Here in Virgin, Utah an event was born that would change the way that the world viewed mountain biking. The Red Bull Rampage is a competition that is unlike any other in the world. In 2001, Wade Simmons, one of freeride biking’s legends, would take first place. The Red Bull Rampage is different than any other contest because it takes the top riders from all disciplines of riding and puts them in a single location were they are given the opportunity to build whatever they want, and ride whatever they want. No rules! Red Bull created an event that would push the limits of biking, year after year. After 2004, the event was put on hold to find a new location. The Red Bull Rampage was reborn in 2008 and it was a totally different monster. The evolved Rampage would cater to the new styles of freeride and slopestyle. The event was moved to a new, even more insane venue. The line options were now endless. Not only were the natural lines even bigger and more technical, but they added a whole other level to the event by placing manmade features throughout the zone, creating one of mountain bike’s most insane events. In 2008, it was 18-year-old Brandon Semenuk won it. He brought his highly developed technical bike skills along with his ever-increasing bag of slopestyle tricks, to show the world that the sport had once again changed.
Riding bikes is about being creative in the lines that we build, by connecting features together, ripping steeps and throwing some style in on top of it all. It is this seamless combination of feats that makes a line so special. This is what makes the Rampage such an amazing event. No other contest allows riders the choice to build whatever they want, wherever they want, and ride it. It allows athletes to not only bring their technical bike skills, but also encourages them to use their creative side which is not always shown in biking events. It is not very often that you get this great diversity of riders together. This in turn spurs construction of a wide variety of technical lines. Add some Red Bull and stir; it is a perfect recipe for an amazing show.
After the four-mile hike or drive from the parking lot, you arrive at a freerider’s dreamland. This desert sits quiet for the moment. You see three start gates spread out on top of what most would consider unrideable terrain. As you start to look more closely, you notice wood features placed strategically throughout the zone and as you start to look even closer, you notice lines etched out, connecting cliff bands to canyons and on to giant booters. As the morning rolls on, more and more athletes equipped with an arsenal of tools move toward the hills. With nothing more than Red Bull in their veins and a picture in their minds, the riders begin the long process of digging and shaping.
Slowly, the riders (with help from friends, mechanics, and family), all start to walk the course, strategizing their plan of attack. There is a large mix of veteran riders here — Steve Romaniuk, Gee Atherton and some new faces to the Rampage, such as 16-year-old Will White and the Coastal Crew Boys. The emotion on the course is a mix of excitement and nervousness. You can see it in the eyes of all the riders as their minds try to filter through the endless options of what to build and where to build it. For these guys, it feels like being a kid in a candy store. They could spend weeks riding here, but for now, they have only four days. The athletes put their own sweat and blood into this course. They spend hours of hard work under the blasting heat and wind of the Utah desert meticulously manicuring each takeoff and landing. Hours upon hours are spent digging, for just a 90 second run that they hope will be the winning run. When you have the option to build whatever you want within the given terrain, you have to know where to focus your time and energy. This is when experience can be invaluable and with a rider like Gee Atherton, he has plenty. Gee was here in 2008. Unfortunately, he suffered from a dislocated shoulder and was not able to compete in the finals. This year, Gee was here to finish riding the line that he started in ‘08 with a couple of new modifications to his line. Gee’s line was awesome. He started with a steep high-speed narrow ridgeline that he rode, pinned and with no mistakes. This ridge had a couple of big doubles that Gee nailed. The ridge led into a giant step down hip that he had spent hours preparing. After the step down, he took that speed and hit another huge step down, landing it perfectly. This would lead him into a third step down that transferred to a wall ride landing. He was the only rider to land the transfer step down. Gee’s run was exactly what you would expect from a World Cup racer — fast, with huge hits and no mistakes. Gee knew he rode the line so cleanly that he waived his second run. He would finish with a second place position.
Each line is a piece of artwork, in a sense and like most artwork, each line is different from one another. The only things that each line had in common is they are steep, technical, and riddled with big hits and drops. The Rampage gives riders a choice as to what they want to create. That is what is so special about the Rampage — total freedom to create anything you want. With terrain like this, the line options are endless. There are no rules to follow or limits set. The only limiting factors here are fear and common sense; it often appears that these guys have little of both. One of the most creative runs was ridden by Darren Berrecloth. Bringing his seasoned trail building skills and ideas to the Rampage, his run was put together with pure passion. He was able to bring his style of riding and what he wanted ride to create a really amazing line. If I had one way to describe it, it would be that his line flowed. His entire line linked up perfectly. His line started with a steep, fast technical descent into a 20-foot drop with a small off -camber landing. From there, he spit out into a small canyon. He then incorporated the canyon wall for a wall ride. Leaving the canyon, he was forced to make a hip transfer to another wall. This led him to his lower run. He finished the run with two huge stepdowns. Off the final step down, he threw a perfect 360 — landing smoothly and coasting to the finish. Throughout the run, he showed us the seemingly effortless style that we have come to expect from Darren.
As you watch these incredible lines being built, you are seeing the sport of mountain biking evolve in front of your eyes. It has happened year after year at the Rampage. What really helps this sport evolve is how closely the athletes work together to create these runs. Though each rider’s complete run is different, they usually involve a section or feature that other riders will be using as well. The riders come together, putting in their personal input, and visions of what they see happening. It is this meshing of different visions that produces something even more insane and unthinkable than ever thought of by a single person. They are feeding off each other’s creativity. A perfect example of this was seen in Cam Zink and Kyle Strait. During the entire practice, these two could be found side-by-side working on their runs. Kyle Strait brought his experience and knowledge from past Rampages. He was only 14 in 2001, when he participated in the first Rampage. They spent hours watering and fine-tuning the landing of the Oakley Icon sender. They both chose to incorporate this massive step down into their lines. Cam would eventually throw the winning trick, a 360 off of this step down. Kyle threw a huge ‘no hander’ off the sender. On Cam’s first run, he crashed hard while attempting his 360. It is amazing that he even rode a second. The guy is tough. Cam’s winning run was flawless. Out of the start gate, he rode a super steep and technical line that fed into a solid 15-foot drop. From there, he rode into a huge drop with a super loose and sketchy landing. He rode out of this perfectly. After the big drop with the sketchy landing, he was then setting up for the Oakley Icon sender, where just hours ago, he wrecked. All eyes were on Zink as his front tire slowly rolled onto the top of the wood ramp to pick his lineup. Then he let go of the brakes and sailed off the sender. He knew what he wanted and he executed it perfectly. He threw a textbook, 360 off the sender and he was lined up perfectly for the landing. He hit the landing, using every inch of his bike’s travel. He hit it with so much force — it was amazing that he could actually even hold on to his bike and ride out. Needless to say, he was so stoked. It looked like he wanted to celebrate then and there. However, he still had half his run to go. The lower half of Cam’s run was full of big drops and a giant step up which he rode flawlessly. He finally crossed the finish line with a perfect run. When he landed that 360, everyone knew that he had just won the contest even though there more riders to compete. The fans, photographers and other athletes were going crazy. We all knew that we had just witnessed something incredible.
Evolution is inevitable in this sport. With the advances of technology and the growth of bike parks and events like the Rampage, freeride biking is evolving quickly. To compare scenes from the beginnings of the first Rampage to now is a totally different experience. Riders have pushed themselves to levels not previously imaginable. From the 60-foot canyon gaps, to 360’s off massive step-downs, to insane, perfectly controlled speeds, it is hard to even think what the future may hold for this sport. If history tells us anything, we know that this evolution has only begun and with events like the Red Bull Rampage, the sky is no longer the limit. Even though this is just one event, it inspires all of us to go out and push our own limits, be creative and build the lines that we may have only dreamed of. Until the next Rampage, we thank the riders who are out there everyday pushing this sport and showing us what is possible — the riders who put their lives on the line for the sport that they love and their endless pursuit to create the ultimate line.
