Standing at the bottom of the new 2016 Red Bull Rampage site this morning before the sun came over the ridge was an unusually calm experience. Builders were just starting to hike up, but no one was working or riding yet. Looking up at the amphitheatre style canyon and seeing the plethora of original, hand-built, fresh lines and features was truly awe-inspiring. The sheerer cliffs here lend themselves to bigger drops and more than half of the competitors have included these naturally occurring features into their lines – with some work to dial them in. The things that will be accomplished here on Friday will truly push the boundaries of what can be done on a bike – things that at this moment are still unfathomable.



The Red Bull Rampage pre-build crew; Randy Spangler, Adam Billinghurst, Dave Smutok, Robbie Bourdon, Kyle Jameson, and Mike Fucci, arrived onsite three weeks ago. “The concept this year with the new venue – it is a little taller than the last site – is that we were hoping that the riders would come together and team up,” explains veteran Red Bull Rampage builder, Randy Spangler. With the fresh canvas, higher elevation, and smaller athlete build crews; there is a lot of work to be done here. In response, many riders have opted to work together as their lines criss-cross with each other. “It’s just kind of brought back the camaraderie of the original venue and that’s what this new site was supposed to bring, and it has. The whole feel has been a lot more mellow and relaxed; just back to the roots of it.”

The winner of the 2015 Red Bull Rampage, Kurt Sorge, agrees with Randy, “It’s so much easier working with a fresh venue. And it’s quite a long line this year so teaming up has been pretty crucial to get it all done in time. I think our main goal was to get rid of all the bickering, so smaller dig teams mean that people have to team up.”




It’s not just the athletes who have had more work due to the new location as Adam Billinghurst explains, “this year was more of a challenge for [the pre-build team] because everything we did was hand built, whereas in the past couple of years everything was done from the road level and machine built; we just unloaded the wood out of the truck, but here we had to hike to the top twice a day. It was really physical, but it was a good challenge.” The only pre-built feature onsite is the top of the course where riders will drop in and it has been quite a feat to finish – “it’s a grotesque spectacle,” Adam says of how exposed it is.


“It was really overwhelming,” says Kyle Jameson, who is on the pre-build team for the second year. He and the rest of the crew had to rope in on the exposed ridge to safely get the work done. “You’re looking off the top and there’s so much work that needs to be done just to make it safe. It was very much a team effort, we all had to pull our brains together and every bit of trail building experience we have. It really pays off to have an experienced crew like this. We are working with the best dudes out there!”


First they chipped away at the top just to make entrances and trundled any big rocks that looked like they might give way. Following that they built the rider's right ridge landing, which proved to be a challenging five day project. Moving to the left ridge they had a smoother time as they had more land to work with. “Ultimately I would have liked another week, but it took us so long to just get that done that we had to call it there.”


The top of the course has been a big topic of discussion amongst the riders who basically have two routes to choose from, left or right. Two riders, Graham Aggasiz and James Doerfling, have opted for a middle line that has been described as ‘heinous’. “I didn’t think it was possible at first, but that’s kind of how it all is out here. It’s what it takes to make the new progression of Rampage – just fully mind-boggle yourself. Out of any of the guys here I think those two guys have the skills to get it going,” says Kyle.


Kyle ‘Norbs’ Norbraten says that while the options at the top may be fairly limited, the zone itself has a lot of variety. “The top is extremely exposed and gnarly, but once you get into it there’s a lot more features that we can get going as opposed to last year which was just steep and then tapered off. This year there’s a lot more options for lines with more flow. There were a couple massive drops off the top deck last year and now there’s pretty much one off of every line – just mega big dogs. I think that once again it’s another level up of the riders just going as big as they can or as gnarly as they can. It’s pretty insane. It’s freaky to see what everyone wants to do.”


Cam Zink also thinks that this venue will progress the sport, “I think this zone is the next level. Everything keeps progressing – building-wise and riding-wise. The site needs to offer all of that so you have the tools in the toolbox to feed the progression.”


Overall the riders are incredibly receptive of the new venue and changes to the event; invited riders only, mandatory rest days, and fewer days for media onsite. The only new restriction that may be regrettable in the next two days is the smaller dig teams. While the site has built a strong camaraderie amongst the riders as they work together to finish the course – the amount of work still left to do is daunting. With water being in high demand to pack in the landings and riders still with unfinished lines going into tomorrow, it will be an intense finish as we get down to the wire.

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