The big mountain freeride event is back again, and looks to be better than ever. Started in 2001, the first event of its kind utilized Virgin Utah’s martian like red cliffs as the back drop of one of the most influential competitions in mountain bike history. Riders would hike, or fly by helicopter to the top of gigantic cliffs only to choose their own lines to the bottom with scoring based on speed, line difficulty, and most importantly – style. It was this unique competition style that kept spectators and riders alike coming back for more insane riding. Rampage returned year after year until after the 2004 event, it was canceled due to supposed safety concerns.
Rumored at that point that it would return somewhere, sometime, and better than ever, Red Bull proved that true in 2008 with an epic return of the series. The iconic competition that had based itself on only natural big mountain riding, suddenly included man made stunts to add to the fray including a 60 foot canyon gap! It also had a new talent pool to pull from, in addition to the seasoned veterans that knew the terrain. Amazingly, it was one of those newcomers that ended up walking away with the title. Brandon Semenuk surprised everyone on board his Trek Session 88, and put together some amazing runs pulling from his dirt jump background.
Red Bull Rampage the Evolution is scheduled for October 1-3, and promises to have a new format and new features. This is an event that regardless of your cycling background, if you are anywhere near Utah in October, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
After the break check out the 2008 highlight video including footage of the 60 ft canyon gap that only a few riders had the stones to hit!
Head on over to Freecaster.tv to check out more videos of 2008’s Rampage!
