Red Bull Rampage judging criterias

Author	Message

Rojarralf666

Posted: Oct 12, 2024 at 17:23	Quote
After seeing Rampage this year im more confused then ever. Some in deepth explainations and insight from pro bikers, judges and event coordinators would be in place. Whats your thoughts about it and the direction it heading towards?

glacierworld

Posted: Oct 13, 2024 at 23:47

Quote

I understand people's concerned regarding low scores, particularly brendogs, however the runs have been getting more and more sketchy as the years go but. At some point someone is going to get seriously hurt, I think the judges are aware of this. If the highest score goes to the most gnarly run then riders will risk it more and more. It was also interesting that the riders doing the scariest lines did not try for a second run due to the conditions. Do we want a rampage that is constantly held up by the weather as the jumps are to risky. Semenuks ride showed both skill and bravery. Question is, could brendog have copied semenuks ride, could semenuks copied brendogs ride.

Matt7082

O+

Posted: Oct 17, 2024 at 4:34

Quote

I think that ultimately freeride and slopestyle have a lot of overlap. And I think we can all say that we saw this coming when Semenuk was the first guy to ever show up with a single-crown fork in 2021. I don't want to take anything away from Semenuk. He is a legend, and pioneer for the sport. Rampage is (was) a FREERIDE event. And no matter what line you ride at Rampage, the consequences can be life-changing, or even worse. The riders know and accept this.

That being said, what if there were something simple that could be done to help drive these riders away from designing their run based on slopestyle tricks? If dual-crown forks were mandatory, I think that could drastically change how some riders plan and layout their line. Then again, I was super excited to Kyle Strait stomp a whip on his run. Old dogs CAN learn new tricks!

Or, what if the riders judged and ranked themselves as a group?

What I think Rampage could really use is a new venue. The Utah desert is great, but the weather complicates this event every year. I think it's time for a new canvas for the riders and their dig crews to express their creativity and and visions, and something fresh and new for the judges to look at.

safetymeeting

Posted: Oct 17, 2024 at 13:37

Quote

I think they are transitioning away from lines like Brendogs for some specific reasons. Primarily, this sort of line is incredibly dangerous. I don’t know if it is necessarily more technical than Semenuk’s, because tricks like those are very, very technical. The arguable difference is Semenuk had a larger margin of error, but higher technicality and progression.

Brendog survived his line but that line has very low margins for error, and very high consequence. It’s a big liability for RB. Those sorts of lines, the rider is literally a single imprecise tire glance off a rock to death. It’s a lethal line.

When Freeride started, those sorts of lines were going down in North Van and some other places. High technicality, high consequence, except on shitty gear, in the rain. Also, and this is important, many riders and filmers from that generation are haunted by their experiences; the crashes, the pain, hospital visits, permanent disability or death for some of the early practitioners of that style. Today, we would consider a lot of people to have PTSD from that style of riding or just from being part of the scene. The podcast interviews are out there, you can look them up, there are some harrowing accounts of lasting psychological scars and permanently altered lives. Berrecloth and Bender were part of that generation. I doubt RB wants to go back there.

I think we love Brendog’s line because it was a true gladiator’s line, a lethal balance of skill and exposure. I think a contest that rewarded those types of lines though would be unsustainably dangerous and too much of a liability. Also, the line wasn’t really that progressive (by modern standards), but it was very technical and dangerous (of course on could argue that’s its own style of progression). Slopestyle and Freeride are indistinguishable in a lot contexts, and I think RBR is rewarding athletic progression over blatantly lethal amounts risk.

Of course, this is what I think, but I’m a speculative fan/idiot. Would be interested to know more about what’s going on. It’s so controversial.

vercorin1

Posted: Oct 19, 2024 at 3:32

Quote

Ihatecomplaining: very interesting…you returned me to what I was thinking about four years ago; in Rampage RB was encouraging the world’s elite to put themselves in extraordinary danger and push the performances closer and closer to the red line. Also injured at times (broken back, shoulder separation) I am very aware of the terrible consequences of injury for top athletes. Injured athletes have been dropped by sponsors, contracts cancelled, etc…lives really messed up. It was pretty bad in the early 2000s. People like Sarah Parker (free skier) did excellent documentaries on what it was like to have a career trashed by injury. It’s bad. It seemed that corporations just walked away from athletes after injury, having relied on them to deliver exposure and media interest. It felt wrong. I don’t want to see people hurt and their lives shattered. In DH even Valli Holl opens her latest video with ‘I guess I am just pleased to finish the season in one piece’ (which after Cami Bs crash etc is a very real sentiment).

Rampage was headed in a very difficult direction pre-COVID. Your comments are important…I am sure that the lawyers at RB want viewers not dead or permanently altered riders. I returned to Rampage-watching a couple of years ago out of interest in what Semanuk would be doing and to watch the organised anarchy of the excellent Fairclough vlogs. Which are just brilliant. … now, following from your point, it may well be that RB covertly has dialled things down through a sense of corporate risk or even corporate risk combined with genuine concern to stop riders from pushing risk too far. Note that paraplegia doesn’t seem to make headlines, even though it has arisen from Rampage accidents,..but RB are probably alert to the fact that a death would mar the event (!)….so dialling it back makes sense.

But I feel that Rampage really is a terrible mess.

Riders really risked themselves this year and the level of riding was extraordinary. Lethal or life changing accidents were still a distinct possibility - Cam Zink showed how easily something bad could arise.

Any implicit ‘dialling it down’ - didn’t work.
The judging criteria - didn’t work.
The commentators’ gloss - didn’t work
The switch to slope style and polished re-used trails - didn’t work.
The ambiguity about what the event is - didn’t work.

A mess. In which pursuit of money and brand exposure seems to trump everything else.

47,000 likes of Brendan F’s FB post suggest that a VERY large group - a small city of people - has been alienated by the event this year. For sure I am one, and definitely won’t be tuning in next year.

Trance20112

Posted: Oct 28, 2024 at 11:47	Quote
I just watch it, enjoy it for the mountain biking and ignore the scores. Any competition that relies on judges scores is bound to cause upset.

58 mins ago	"Sexiest" Singlespeed FR/DH Bike Thread. (What and How-To included)
2 hours ago	Report Scammers on Pinkbike HERE Read 1st Post then contact 'captainbringdown' directly
2 hours ago	The GT Fury Thread: Post your GT Fury
2 hours ago	Fox Fork oil equivalent
3 hours ago	100 (or more) days of biking in 2026!
3 hours ago	TECHY FORCE CYBER RETRIEVAL: Helping Crypto Scam Victims Navigate the Complex Recovery Process
3 hours ago	Recovering Cryptocurrency from Fake Trading Platforms with TECHY FORCE CYBER RETRIEVAL’s Expert Investigation Team
4 hours ago	Old Riders....But not "Old School"
8 hours ago	Show your all mountain bike
8 hours ago	The Sexiest AM/FR/Enduro Hardtail Thread (Please read the opening post)
12 hours ago	Pig ugliest AM/Enduro/XC/DH bikes out there if yours is a pig post it!
15 hours ago	Enduro/AM - The Weight Game
19 hours ago	Post Your Road Bikes (Read 1st post for guide)
21 hours ago	The Whistler Thread
21 hours ago	No stock at Evoc?
1 days ago	Widening Sram DUB Eagle crank width Q-factor
1 days ago	The Official "Blue Mountain Bike Park, Ontario" Thread
1 days ago	Trailforks.com Bug Reports
2 days ago	2023 Giant Reign 29 and Reign SX mullet
2 days ago	Trailforks Website Feedback & Suggestions
2 days ago	Rent, Demo, Borrow?
2 days ago	Post your Starling
3 days ago	Transition Patrol, Scout, Sentinel, Spur & Suppressor, Giddy Up & SBG Post your bike and discuss here!
3 days ago	Mechanics Quick Question Thread [Ask Questions Here]
3 days ago	Specialized demo owners club