Day 2 Practice @ Rampage
Rampage on Steroids
Words by Cam McRae. Photos by David Ferguson - unless noted.
It turns out that Rampage still scares the bejesus out of me. Every time I see someone toss themselves into a line I cross my fingers and hope they make it out the other side. Today there were crashes that could have had dire consequences but luckily everyone came out the other side un-scathed. 
Despite a tumble down this line - The Heinous Chute - early on day 2 of practice Matt Hunter put things together nicely later on.
The course itself did not disappoint. There was still ample room for creativity and line selection but the built features - earthen and wooden - meant there were a few spots on the course where the riders could really show their hands. Sterling Lorence called The Evolution "Rampage on Steroids."
We saw Robbie Bourdon dig in and get bucked on another drop - landing hard on his back - but he rallied and put together one of the longest most challenging complete lines all day later in the afternoon. You and I would have been sent to hospital.
With the dominance of younger riders at events like Crankworx it was quite a sight to see them take a back seat to the veterans here at Rampage. Leading the charge were Red Bull veterans like Gee Atherton, Darren Berrecloth, Mike Kinrade, Thomas Vanderham and Cedric Gracia. Younger riders like Graham Agassiz, Andrew Taylor and Brandon Semenuk spent much of the afternoon working a step-down, step-up line that was very trickable. Semenuk was honing a Superman-Seatgrab Indian Air while Graham and AT - on single-crown forks - were trying to take the edges off big-bike tailwhips. Kyle Strait and Cam Zinc were also working an extremely challenging double drop line that should score very high if ridden clean. Strait nailed it down but Zinc took a bit of a pounding. Matt Hunter got one of the biggest cheers of the day after riding what I'll call the Heinous Chute line - and then boosting the hip that follows much bigger than anyone else.
Thomas Vanderham wasn't taking any chances during practice but don't count him out for the qualifier. There aren't many riders with the experience and skill he brings to this event.
Mike Hopkins had a pretty good day but he ended it with a couple of angry crashes off one of the largest drops on the course. Bourdon nailed it once - in sequence with the Heinous Chute - but none of the other riders tried it. Paul Basagoitia - who ended up riding a Kona that had been earmarked for Bourdo - is on a 6" single crown Marzocchi mounted to a Kona Stinky.
Cedric Gracia looked smooth, fast and confident for much of the day. He blew up landing this drop though - but didn't appear to be injured. Gee Atherton rode it earlier and although he landed front wheel up - likely to be cautious - he was never in any danger.
I had a chance to talk to Wade Simmons about the judging and they have already sorted out a formula to follow. Four categories will be scored between 1 and 25 points for a total of 100 possible. They are; Degree of difficulty/25 (lines have been pre-assigned scores already), Control and Style/25, Fluidity/25 and Amplitude/25. The final mark out of 100 will be the rider's total score.
Left to right - Kenny Smith, Brandon Semenuk and Graham Aggassiz humping the big bikes up the mountain. There were some vollies helping out with the bike carry but not many. There may be more during the big show so the lads can conserve some energy.
The judging situaion has changed slightly. Scott Hart has been added as the token American and Chris Lawrence of Freeride Entertainment will serve as head judge. The other three judges haven't changed and they are Wade Simmons, Andrew Shandro and Joe Schwartz. Wade has judged Monster Park and Red Bull Freezride in the past and for him the challenge isn't picking a winner. "It's pretty clear with 1 to 3," he told us "it's 5-6 and the lower placings that give you shit." 
James Doerfling built a challenging original line and early in the day he went down hard several times trying to put it together. This move required a very slow take off - Berrecloth described it as a North Shore move - to hit the sniper landing. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Two more competitors have been added to round out the field at 28. Mickal Marosi of the Czech Republic initially backed out with a sore back but he's feeling better and in the line up. Local Logan Bingelli rounds out the field. Twenty Eight riders will start today and - assuming the weather holds - fourteen will advance to the finals Sunday. Todd Barber told me there's a slim chance they'll have to try and squeeze everything in today - if the forecast looks nasty for Sunday.
After some work with a pick ax - and some words of advice and encouragement from The Claw - Doerfling made it work nicely. This is part 2.
The site itself sits just below the Gooseberry Mesa riding area and is accessible by a resurrected road for athetes and those affiliated with the event by a shuttle, or for spectators up an old double track trail (which apparently isn't a big hardship). It shares some qualities of the original Rampage site but it has less elevation drop and some very large and nasty features and topography.
Sterling Lorence didn't stop hustling all day.
The riding goes off at 10:00 AM local time - an hour ahead of the west coast. There will be no live feed unfortunately so you'll need to wait for our call at the end of the day for results.
Joe Schwartz - centre - and Andrew Shandro at right make up half the juding team. They will be joined by Scott Hart of Decline Mag - the only judge from South 49 - and Wade Simmons. Chris Lawrence from Freeride Entertainment will be the head judge. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Cory Leclerc always has some astute observations about events and riders and yesterday was no exception. I asked him what style was likely to dominate. "Did you hear the cheer when Hunter shredded that line and then hipped it out? Tricks are for kids. It's not a Slopestyle. It's gonna take old school Rampage lines to win this contest." I also asked him who he thinks will dominate. "Bourdo's the king of Rampage" was all he said.
Delve into the article discussion thread (where non-registered users can post) here - and the thread on the Shore board here.
Check out what Aaron Lutze's camera and Rob Warner's mic found out from Paul Bas, Josh Bender, James Doerfling, Andrew Shandro and more below.
