Red Bull Rampage 2014: Wil White

RED BULL

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WILD BILL

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RAMPAGE



“Wil White you are a f**king legend!” Those words that rang out through the canyon last year as he completed his run in finals. And he is. As a privateer competing in the biggest freeride event available, Wil’s raw and loose style has earned him a cult following. At his fourth Rampage this year Wil is still up against some frustrating hardships, but at the end of the days he says that it is his family that makes it all worthwhile for him.

Does your family always come out to help you build?

Wil - Yes, I always come up here with just my family. Last year I brought my girlfriend, Micayla, along and she came out again this year.


What is that experience like for you, Micayla?

Micayla - I love it, we dig and ride together at home so why would here be any different?

Wil - It’s just natural to have her out here with me.

Micayla - The line has to be dug and I love having a hand in it because I feel it more as a rider too. It makes sense to me as a rider and a digger and he likes having that feedback as well.

You wouldn’t rather be hanging out by the pool?

Wil – She would never do that.

Micayla – I am so opposed to that. I walk his stuff up the mountain everytime, it is what I like to do. People think his bike is too heavy for me, but the bike is only 30 pounds, I know.



Is Rampage your big event every year?

Wil - Yeah, it’s about the only one that I can get out to. We don’t really have the money to travel to other events and I don’t have any sponsors that can help out with the actual travel fees. We choose one or two big events a year and I love it here so we of course choose Rampage.

Who sponsors you?

Morpheus Bikes for this year, as well as, Spinergy, Oakley, Manitou, Shimano, and ODI.

Do you live near here?

Wil - In San Diego, it’s a seven-hour drive, so it’s not too bad.

What was the experience like for you this year, working on a brand new site as opposed to one with pre-existing lines and features?

Wil - Well, that’s the interesting thing. Last year, even though the venue was tapped out, there wasn’t any line poaching going on. And this year for whatever reason, even though we have a big new venue, everybody decided to try and steal lines. There was a lot of conflict.


When did you arrive this year?

Wil - We were onsite on the first day that we were allowed to build.



What did you look for when you arrived, as far as features that you wanted to use or an area that you wanted to claim?

Wil - I was looking for something that had a bunch of big natural drops in it and I wanted to try and stay away from the slopestyle stuff on the hill. We just wanted to get away from everyone else too which is the funny part and why I was kind of annoyed when people were following me.

How did this approach compare to previous years’ line selections?

Wil - All my lines have always been natural and avoided the wood, except for the Oakley Sender.

What was your impression of this canyon compared to last year?

Wil - It is completely different than the other venue; it is a lot steeper on top. It is a lot more challenging to find lines here, I feel like there are only so many ways down this hill. Last year you could pretty much ride wherever you wanted and make it down.

How did you deal with the issue of line poaching?

Wil - I just kind of moved away from them. It seemed that every day we would build until lunch, then go down for lunch, and when we came back someone would be on my line with it completely changed and unrideable from the way I wanted to ride it. I would go up and let them know and half the builders just told me to f*ck off and told me that it wasn’t their problem. The same rider kicked me off my line three different times. He and his builders just kept following us around. Every time we built something they would come and change it to the point that I didn’t feel like riding it anymore because it wasn’t my style.

Micayla – That rider’s line was about 75% composed of stuff other diggers had built, not his own diggers.

Wil – And not only did he come in and poach it but he felt the need to come in and change it to suit his riding style. You can ride other people’s lines, CVD rode Bourdo’s line and Bourdo didn’t care about it because he didn’t change anything. But when you come onto someone else’s line and start throwing shovels, that’s not cool.

Micayla – It’s not even just common courtesy, it’s in the rules that you can’t take another rider’s line without permission. You have to ask.

What happened with your qualifier runs?

Wil - My first run sucked. I dropped in and about 100 feet down I got a pinch flat. I kept trying to ride and just ignore it. It was shitty because before I dropped in the winds were picking up and the rain was coming in. The organizers said that I had five minutes to drop in or I was disqualified. When I decided to go for my second run, the rain had picked up again and it was raining sideways. Again they told me that I could either go or be disqualified.

Last year I scored better on my second run but then it wasn’t counted because half the riders couldn’t do their second runs. With that storm coming in I didn’t feel like I had much incentive to drop in, the risk isn’t worth the reward at that point, knowing that my score might not count. I did end up dropping in and I nailed my run perfectly, as well as I wanted to, and then the judges scored me super low. I don’t know if they look at sponsor names more than the actual runs but it seems like there is a lot of sketchy judging going on.



With all the added struggles of paying your own way, having your family dig for you, the line poaching, and feeling like the judging isn’t fair, is coming to Rampage worth it for you?

Wil - Honestly there are times that I hate riding and I hate that I’m a pro mountain biker because it seems like coming out here as a privateer I just run into so much more shit than everyone else. It’s a pain in the ass to not have some sort of support behind me. Then the judges screw me every year and it just gets harder to come back every year, and there’s less reward every time.




Do you plan to come back next year?

Wil - I would like to, I would like to get a lot more training in though. This year was just really bad because I broke my arm in May and I was out for a couple months. As soon as that healed up I went out to my training spot that I’ve been building for the past four years and got a trespassing ticket from Fishing and Wildlife. They put barbed wire fences up and said that if I rode there again it would be a felony and they would take my bike. A month after that I went to a new spot and got another $1000 trespassing ticket for riding my bike.

What does life at home look like?

Wil - I do odd jobs on the side. The main thing I do to make money is buy broken motorcycles on Craigslist.com, repair them and sell them. This year I got a job up in LA doing a commercial for Hollywood. I was a stuntman for a bicycle company, I raced a mustang down a hill and I end up beating it because I go up onto the dirt. That’s what helped fund this trip.

Do you focus the rest of your time on riding?

Wil - I try to but right now there’s nowhere to ride, they are really cracking down on everything. But we are moving to a new house when we get home with four acres of land so that I can actually build somewhere that’s not going to get torn down for once. Hopefully with a dedicated riding spot I will be able to progress a lot more.




What did you parents think about being a part of Rampage?

Wil - My parents have always been super supportive, they are the reason I’ve been able to make it out here. They help pay for it, my dad used to take me out riding all the time, and they shuttle me when I want to get shuttled. That’s the only good thing about riding is my parents being there for me. My mom even comes riding with me in Mammoth and Whistler.

Check out all of our images from the Red Bull Rampage 2014 here.

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