Rampage Finals Wrap

Long Live the Evolution

Words by Cam McRae. Photos by David Ferguson unless noted.

Date: 2008-10-13

I was beginning to come to terms with the demise of Rampage. I imagined it becoming an iconic event like Woodstock – a wicked memory I’d tell my grandkids about. The search for a new location – in places China’s Gobi dessert, Morocco, Israel and a water-access only site in Mexico – seemed fruitless. Rampage had to happen in Utah and Red Bull appeared done with that.


Gee Atherton ready to take a practice run on his just finished finals line. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

And then the rumblings started early in 2008. The mountain bike world is rife with rumour but these were coming from reliable sources and I began to believe. Todd Barber kept his cards close to his chest for a long time – perhaps to avoid the media circus the event became in its 4th incarnation up the Kolob Resevoir road in Virgin - but when I contacted him he told me the good news. Red Bull Rampage would ride again.


Ted Tempany did a masterful job building lines and features but there was still a lot of room left for the riders to get creative. Photo ~ Cam McRae.

The next revelation was that 'Big Red' Ted Tempany was leading a crew that were pre-building features at the site. Without seeing what they were up to, I wondered if this would tip the scales toward the slope style crowd and if the world’s only big mountain comp would morph into something else. Would it become smooth and groomed so smaller bikes would make sense? How can it be a big mountain comp without big bikes?


Berrecloth sketched out and had to jump to where you see him above. He's one tough mofo. Read on to find out why. It was a close call but he was able to ride well in the next round. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Something else it was, and morph it did – but the re-incarnation took nothing away from the history of Rampage. This year’s version wasn’t without hiccups – including a rain delay and some building time and practice challenges – but the final product was well worth the four-year wait. Rampage is an event freeriders – and gravity riders of all stripes - can call their own.


Top to bottom, Mike Kinrade, Gee Atherton, Dan Atherton and Clay Porter building just as practice was scheduled to finish. Photo ~ Cam McRae.

The new Rampage site is more remote than the previous one – up a narrow two track that weaves between dunes and washes until reaching the foot of Gooseberry Mesa. We were shuttled in on funky trucks with open-air stadium seating for twelve in the back – while spectators were left to pedal or walk up another more direct track. Only athletes and a few special folks were able to drive their own vehicles in.


Cedric Gracia being watched by the judges. Photo ~ David Ferguson

We were updating most of the morning and we got to the event site at around 11 am on Monday to find most crews still digging and very little riding going on. At first the riders’ meeting was supposed to be at 1:00 but it was pushed back and then pushed back again so riders could have a little more time. Seeing Gee, Rachel and Dan Atherton chipping away at a rocky outcropping around noon made me think the schedule was a little tight. As the hour of the mandatory meeting approached more and more riders rode sections of their lines – and then turned around and pushed their bikes up for more practice.


Cam McCaul cased the 59 footer twice in practice . Photo ~ Cam McRae.

All Cam McCaul could talk about after qualifying was hitting the massive 59-foot gap on the finals course. Shortly after we arrived he positioned his bike three quarters of the way up the pitch and put on his helmet. He pointed it downhill but didn’t pedal at all – and there was a collective gasp. He cased hard with his rear wheel – so hard it was amazing he stayed on his bike – and then rolled to a stop. He tried once more with a similar result – this time breaking his frame. The failure was no surpise because of the force of impact – the shocker was that it took two tries. After McCaul it was Vanderham’s turn and he got on the pedals and cleared the case pad by a good two bike lengths. Mike Hopkins did as well and it looked like it would be open season on the canyon.


This is where Gee Atherton got into trouble - and he's already clipped out in this photo. Earlier he'd been launching from above - where you see the dust cloud - to the tranny below him. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Gee Atherton got a huge cheer when he smoothed out large sections of mountain by leaping over them. The Transfer line that both he and Mike Kinrade were riding is one of the largest and most intimidating I’ve seen. It steps way out so that you have to clear the terrace directly below and then project out and to the rider’s right. Gee nailed it once in practice and then, just minutes before the end of practice, he went down hard higher up on his line and tumbled down a tranny. From the photos I’ve seen it appears he was at the top of a take off and he either didn’t launch far enough (it was a line Kinrade cleared) or was trying to just roll down the line. Either way the crash was nasty and he didn’t get off Scot free. Gee was pretty clearly one of the most exciting athletes to watch at Rampage and having him bow out with a disco shoulder was a blow to the event. I also heard that Rachel Atherton, having some experience in the area, put his shoulder back in. Heal up Gee!


Rachel helping Gee down the mountain after his nasty crash in practice. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

In the end the riders’ meeting meant lunch and everyone went to the Red Bull tents to pull up to the trough and escape from the sun. Once again riders had pre-selected start ridges - this time the two ridges to the left as we looked up the course. Some of the centre ridge was in play for both the finals and qualifying, but in qualifying riders could head in to their left while in finals they had to stay to the centre or the right side.

To start off it would be Ridge 2 where the judges were camped out, followed by Ridge 3. The Ridge 2 riders in order were Robbie Bourdon, Cedric Gracia, Darren Berrecloth and Brandon Semenuk. Ridge 3 was more popular with 10 riders heading down; Mike Kinrade, Thomas Vanderham, Mike Hopkins, Graham Agassiz, Kurt Sorge, Cam Zink, Paul Basagoitia, Michal Marosi, Kyle Strait and finally Cam McCaul.


Fergs figured out where we were and then he had Google maps do the rest. North is actually to the left in this orientation and Gooseberry Mesa is to the right. I have indicated the three starting gates used for Rampage this year. Number 1 was only used for qualis while 2 was used for both and 3 was only for the finals. The judges positioned themself where the number 4 is and 5 is my guess at where the finish arch was.

The first round was most riders’ first time down their lines top to bottom. Some hadn’t had time to even look at the bottom drops and the carnage eluded only four riders; Cedric Gracia, Thomas Vanderham, Kurt Sorge and Kyle Strait. Of the riders who had some kind of issue only six passed under the Red Bull arch at the bottom of the course to register a complete run.


Kurt Sorge whipping the 59er on his first run. Are you kidding me? Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Cedric’s run was smooth and fast but low on exposure. He was running a single crown though and he x’ed up and tossed in a couple of no-handers. It was pretty to watch.


Cedric getting a lift up. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Thomas had already overshot the canyon gap and his second attempt reined it in some and he managed a nice landing despite going past the tranny. It was classic Vanderham.

Kyle Strait was one of the few riders to play it smart in the first round. Realizing most riders had fallen, he took a conservative line and I didn't see him trick at all. In the end it may have been a little too conservative.


Kyle Strait evaluating his line. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Kurt Sorge rode smooth and fast and then pulled out a sweet moto whip on the 59 foot gap and kept the tempo up for the rest of his run – which he told me later he was riding blind – having not ridden nor looked at the bottom drops of 20 feet or more.


Bourdon nailed all the rowdy stuff in the first round and then fell on a section of flat singletrack. Photo ~ Cam McRae.

And then there was Carnage...
Cam McCaul sketched out at the very top of his line and then appeared to be looking for an alternate way down. Instead he pushed back to the top to wait for his second start. Michal Marosi took a hard fall and seemed to injure himself. He was done for the afternoon unfortunately. Mike Hopkins was one of the riders we were waiting on to try the 59 footer but he too had some issue before he made it there and rode his bike down to the bottom to sort it out. Cam Zink had a relatively smooth line up top but he went down attempting a 360 lower on the course. Darren Berrecloth built a line – with the help of five diggers – in a narrow crevasse between the two ridges. It included a wall tap, a large drop and a couple of smaller technical drops. He was looking good until his front wheel sketched out approaching one of the drops and he had to jump down – banging his head into rocks on impact. His neck was sore but remarkably he was ready to go for round 2. He later said that his line got trampled by photographers, and that’s what caused his fall. Graham Agassiz did a no-foot can-can off the ‘ski jump’ but went down hard. He rallied to finish his run with a large and stylish transfer that nobody else rode. Paul Bas attempted a three off the same ski jump feature and met with a similar fate. Robbie Bourdon had finished the most challenging part of his line and then he sketched out on a relatively flat section of trail. Mike Kinrade looked good up top but he couldn’t hold on to his big transfer drop at the bottom and he tumbled bikeless to the bottom of the tranny.

Round 1 Scores

	Rider	Score	Rank
1	Robbie Bourdon	53.8	7
2	Cedric Gracia	65.2	3
3	Darren Berrecloth	54.4	6
4	Brandon Semenuk	64.6	4
5	Mike Kinrade	51.8	8
6	Thomas Vandherham	77.6	2
7	Mike Hopkins	0	-
8	Graham Agassiz	49.4	9
9	Kurt Sorge	79.6	1
10	Cam Zink	46	10
11	Paul Basagoitia	0	-
12	Michal Marosi	0	-
13	Kyle Strait	59.8	5
14	Cam McCaul	0	-

Graham Agassiz went down hard after this no-foot can - but then rallied to nail the rest of his run. Many of the single crown fork riders bailed hard when it seemed like they were lined up nicely for the landing. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Round 2
Ridge two lead things off again and that meant Robbie Bourdon was first at bat. The first drop on his line had two options; a massive drop or a (for Rampage) more modest one. The first time down I expected him to clear the whole thing, because that's the sort of thing Bourdo does. After crashing in round one I figured he'd have to step it up - but once again he took the smaller option landing on the first terrace. He rode the three drops at the top of his line well but got into some trouble with a photographer down at the bottom and had a fall - but I'm not sure if the two were connected. Robbie got tangled up with a spectator in qualifying as well. I actually heard it was the official from Utah who was to award the $5000 for best trick.


Robbie Bourdon's line started off with three sizeable drops - but it appeared he could have gone bigger. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Cedric laid down another solid run that didn't add much to his first effort. He Xed up, tossed in a quick no-hander and didn't waste any time finding the bottom.


Cedric Gracia showing off his silky style. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Berrecloth nailed his ravine line in round 2. It started off with a good sized drop and then got tight and technical with another drop, a wall tap and a transfer with a sniper landing. I liked it but the judges felt the amplitude wasn't there. The Claw attempted a three near the bottom but overshot and fell into the wash.


Game on; this was the first feature that lead into the maze of drops, transfers - and even a wall tap - that Berrecloth put together with a team of five diggers. Photo ~ David Ferguson

Boy Wonder Semenuk put his Whistler Bike Park experience to good use up top, smoothing out the bumps and then tossing in a suicide no-hander - just like it was A Line. He rolled smoothly into his tech billy goat line and then leapt into a no-foot can, followed by another suicide off the 20 odd foot step down. All that was left to seal the deal was his drop to 360 - and he spun it perfectly. It felt like the winning run after he nailed his three.


It was tough to find fault in Brandon Semenuk's sparkling second run in the finals. Photo ~ Ian Hylands

Mike Kinrade was in the box first on ridge 3 and you know redemption was on his mind. He again rode the line that he and the Athertons had been building and this time he put it all together – including the big transfer. “The big drop was a bit of a dead sailor. It was kind of hard to see where I was going,” he told me later. Kinrade got a big cheer for going huge and fast and cleaning the whole run.


Kinrade bounced and rolled out of this huge transfer in the first round - but in round 2 he reined it in. The landing is right above the the words 'rolled out of...' and the take off is at the very edge of the frame 3/4 of the way up. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Thomas Vanderham already had a good score in the bag so it was his turn to crank it up a notch. The top of his run looked solid and then he again got on the pedals to get over the 59 foot gapper – except this time, when he was about half way across, he pulled a no-hander. Thomas reined in the landing but then had trouble with the next drop, falling hard. “I ran into a bit of a shadow. I don’t know what could have been,” he told me after the awards ceremony.


Thomas Vanderham collected 5Gs for this flight over the canyon. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Mike Hopkins became the third rider to successfully land the 59 footer in competiton but he came down hard on his front wheel, somehow avoiding a nasty fall. Mike didn’t have speed coming over the last ledge and had to roll in rather than drop costing him some valuable points.


Mike Hopkins appeared to be in control at this point... Photo ~ David Ferguson.


...but things almost got out of hand. A dual crown saved Mike's ass here for sure. Photo ~ Cam McRae.

Kurt Sorge was ready to secure a place on the podium as well and he charged into the 59’er and tried to extend a superman. He got away from the bike some but didn’t extend it and then it was time to land. Kurt pulled the bike back toward him but didn’t manage to get his feet on his pedals. As Rob Warner put it, “he damaged his man parts” and that was the end of his second run.


Kurt Sorge is realizing things aren't going well at this point and trying to get his feet back on the pedals. Unfortunately for his 'man parts' he didn't manage it. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Graham Aggassiz opted for a suicide no-hander off the ski jump this time and landed it perfectly. The last part of his run again included was his large, sick transfer that may have been undervalued. He styled it beautifully once again and made it a clean run.


Aggy styled this size-large transfer. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Cam Zink’s run had some technical gnarl, some size and a sweet trick. Up top he lost his flow some and put a foot down. He also crept into a few moves slowly and got a little sketchy. And then he nailed a beautiful 360 at the bottom of the course. A solid run with just a few issues.


Cam Zink was part of an exclusive group that managed to spin successfully. Photo ~ Cam McRae.

Paul Basagoitia had a great line up top opting to x-up the ski jump but then he too tried a spin at the bottom and over-rotated, ruining his chances to crack the podium.


Another ill-fated 360 attempt. This time by Paul Basagoitia. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Kyle Strait had a good run going up top but one of his drops was obscured by the ski jump and looked smaller than it was as a result. At the bottom his 360 attempt went awry and Aaron Chase, who was doing colour commentary for Brad Ewen, wondered if he’d actually been trying a 720.

Cam McCaul clearly wanted to redeem himself after his first run but things didn’t start off well. Rolling down the steep nasty pitch above the 59er he slipped a pedal. I thought for sure he’d pull the chute but he got back to cranking and launched it. He didn’t trick it but for the first time he cleared it completely. McCaul had spent so much time building up top and focussing on the gap that he hadn't properly scoped the bottom of the course - and his next drop was completely blind. He charged in nonetheless and landed on a rock and fell very hard. By the time he made it to the bottom he was his jovial self - joking with autograph-seekers and potential interviewers - but he had no memory of anything that had happened earlier in the day. One interviewer thought it would be funny to interview him in this state - but I personally don't see the humour in head injuries. Cam's girlfriend, pro downhiller Kathy Pruitt, was livid and was loudly railing at the organizers of the event for what she felt was their failure to provide enough practice and building time before the finals.


Cam McCaul successfully cleared this on his third attempt - after twice being the guinea pig. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

Ending the event with a bad crash amplified the somewhat anticlimactic feeling that I noticed. Despite this the mood was jubilant as a small crowd began to swell around the podium; Rampage was back and for the most part the event seemed like a big success.


Vanderham bestows a bubbly baptismal on Brandon Semenuk. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

There were high fives all around as Brad Ewen began calling out names and final scores. I heard very few complaints about the judging but apparently Cameron Zink felt he should have had a step on the podium. Scoring an event like Rampage is a complex and nerve-wracking task - and a thankless one at that. After sorting out some kinks in qualifying I think the judges did a very solid job in the finals. To take it to the next level I'd like to see a little more transparency - like the ability to see each judge's score for each athlete as well as the line scores. Why conceal this info if you have nothing to hide? Knowing the scores during the event would be great as well but the helicopter often makes it impossible to hear the PA. A day between qualifying and finals for building and practice would be welcome as well. Riders worked until dark building lines after qualfying was done and then got there early to try and finish. Berrecloth told us, "it took six guys a full day of digging and it's still not done." Most riders' first run in the finals was their practice run - and this proved dangerous.

Final Standings

	Rider	1	2	Best
1	Brandon Semenuk	64.6	82.2	82.2
2	Kurt Sorge	79.6	DNF	79.6
3	Thomas Vandherham	77.6	71	77.6
4	Mike Kinrade	51.8	76	76
5	Cameron Zink	46	73.6	73.6
6	Mike Hopkins	DNF	73.4	73.4
7	Cedric Gracia	65.2	66.6	66.6
8	Graham Agassiz	49.4	65	65
9	Kyle Strait	59.8	52	59.8
10	Darren Berrecloth	54.4	59.8	59.8
11	Robbie Bourdon	53.8	54.2	54.2
12	Paul Basagoitia	DNF	52.4	52.4
13	Cam McCaul	DNF	DNF	-
14	Michal Marosi	DNF	DNS	-

Kwowing Brandon Semenuk's Whistler pedigree makes his win at Rampage less surprising. Much of the challenge of this event is being able to see lines and know what you are capable of - and those are innate skills for someone who has grown up on the slopes of Whistler in winter and summer.


Gee Atherton's absence was a huge loss to the finals. Photo ~ David Ferguson.

There's nothing like Rampage. It's the fullest expression of what gets many of us so fired up to ride a bike. Vanderham put it like this; "it's so cool to roll into a zone and have it as your empty canvas." For the riders it's an opportunity to envision a line that allows them to show off the uniqueness of their skills - for the rest of us to enjoy. Tom Prochazka, former Whistler Bike Park manager turned Gravity Logic partner called it "one of the best shows I've ever seen."


Brandon Semenuk should have many opportunities to acquire a taste for champagne. Photo ~ Ian Hylands.

Talking to Smiley Nesbitt from Kona summed up why some of us are so stoked on Rampage; "It's the only event you can't do on a moto or a bmx - a true mountain bike event. There's only one tool." I didn't see a rider on a bike with less than 6" of travel and - with the exception of Cedric Gracia and Kurt Sorge* - the single crown riders had significant problems as well. *(Sorge was on a 7" Totem which feels a lot like a dual crown - I didn't see what Marzocchi Gracia was on.) Rampage is a full throttle, bare knuckle version of mountain biking. No rules, no boundaries, and no limits to what the riders can attempt. You'll never hear 'that's too dangerous' at Rampage, but you might hear that's too small or too ordinary. The riders who excel here are the ones who are looking to challenge themselves and find out what is possible. The years without Rampage left big mountain riders with no opportunity to challenge themselves against their peers. The return bodes well for our little riding niche and goes a long way toward keeping the mountain in mountain biking.

Rampage is dead: Long Live The Evolution.

Cam McRae

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