Red Bull Rampage 2002
Day 2: The Competition Heats Up
I'm filing this at 6:30 in the morning from Springdale Utah because I didn't get back here until things closed last night (that happens early in UT). This is the morning of qualifying and the athletes need to be there by 8:00 AM so I need to be there as well.
Yesterday things began to ramp up and there were some casualties. Andrew Mills was the first to eye up a line built by photographer Ian Hylands and Dean Williamson of bike Zion. It is a launch that steps down perhaps 25 feet but there is a substantial transfer right as well. I was watching from the judges post high above the course just to get a feel from that vantage point and even from there I could see he was in trouble. He was going to come up short but managed to eject his bike and land on his feet on the soft tranny. He was spooked but unhurt and stomped the line later in the afternoon - after several others had mixed results on the line.
Cory Leclerc was riding well and getting a feel for the terrain but his knee gave out on a 20 footer that he stomped and now he's out. Robbie Bourdon tweaked his ankle and I'm not sure if he will be ready today. Thomas Vanderham punctured his chin but he should be ready to go. Perhaps the biggest development was that Darren Berrecloth was allowed in the competition. He looked very smooth during practice. Bender dislocated his shoulder on a photo shoot on Thursday but he was up building a line after hours yesterday. I'm not sure what the rules say about that. I saw Tippie go down hard 3 times in practice but he stomped his line on his last run at it.
Speaking of who is looking good there are probably more than 20 of the 28 riders who could make the final and at least 15 who could conceivably win it. Lines that were instant qualifiers last year are being ridden by many of the competitors this year.
A few notables are Cedric Gracia who is impressing everyone with his speed and bravado, Tyler Klassen who is eying up a secret line that can be only described as enormous, Lance Canfield who has an original line with some nice style and Mike Kinrade who seems to be saving the best for last and his incredibly exposed goat track has yet to be ridden. From there you have to consider Aussie Andrew Mills who won in Jindabyne, Bender can't be counted out from the final but unless he stomps something huge I don't think he can be considered as champion because of the style component of the event. Steve Peat arrived yesterday and rode some lines cleanly but tentatively. Missing most of the practice is a real disadvantage because today will be 2 runs without any warm up. Last year's runner up Greg Smith has also looked strong. Richie Schley also looked very competitive and Dave Fleming of Alberta could bust his way in with his ballsy high throttle style. The list goes in from there to include Kyle Strait, Bourdon if he's healthy, Watson, Vanderham, Shaums, Shandro and any number of dark horses.
So we will see 56 runs today, with the best 12 scores advancing to the final and vying for a share of 10g US. I have never been to an event with this much excitement building. The overall calibre and parity of the riders makes an outcome so difficult to predict that we really will have to wait until it unfolds before our eyes.
watch for my report on qualifying as soon as I can get back to this box.
