2013 Rampage Photo Overdose

Didn't get enough coverage of the 2013 Red Bull Rampage? Want to see even more camera angles of the history that was made in the Virgin desert? Well you are in the right place.

The 2013 Red Bull rampage began with a major schedule change. Thursday was originally scheduled to be a build day. Unfortunately a rather serious rain storm caused the sketchy access road to be even more treacherous. I managed to still get to the zone but it was empty. After a while Logan Bingelli's crew arrived to dig but we were soon whisked off the mountain along with the few other employees on the hill.


After a late lunch at the local tourist trap, everyone headed over to the old rampage sight for an wet and wild sunset session.

Makken Haugen joined the line up for the hip many times.


Brendan Fairclough was in a duel with Andreu Lacondeguy for the best whip all afternoon.


James Doerfling sneaking in a few more tricks before sunset.

The rescheduling pushed qualification to Saturday so Friday became a last chance day for the riders to whip their lines into shape

Mitch Cubey marks the approach angle for Gee's step down that Mitch and Mark Morris planed to tackle.

After about a dozen run ups, Mark decided to hit it. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned. He ended up hitting the cliff on the right side just like Gee did. Mark hit the deck hard resulting in a broken femur.

Mark getting scorpioned by the treacherous landing of Gee's stepdown.

The evidence of Mark's mistaken trajectory.

The next highlight of Friday was watching Brendan Fairclough conquer his natural canyon gap. He built this atrocity for last years Rampage but he wasn't able to hit it because of an injury in practice. No one was sure if he was really going to hit the beast during practice so many photographers missed the first hit. Thankful a few of us waited it out to capture the moment.

Brendan boosting over his gap for the first time.

Brendan made sure to not come up short on this attempt. He went six or eight feet past his "landing", touching down on an uphill section. He managed to ride it out miraculously. It was awesome to see him clear something that has been on his mind for such a long time. Ironically the support staff was bringing up gymnastic's mats to put in the canyon in "case" he fell in but by the time they lugged them up there he had already stomped it.

Brendog peers down into the canyon from his landing as he celebrates his successful first attempt.

By now the looming tension of the top Oakley Sender was overflowing. The first rider to strap up and hit the upper lip was none other than James Doerfling. When I saw how fast he was going I figured he would be fine. Unfortunately he had to hit the eject button mid flight because he would have come up short. James slid/rolled like a moto GP rider all the way down the massive landing and he jumped right up with his hands in the air. What a champ.

The speed required to hit this is insane.

James plugged his feet into the top of the landing making a solid five inch deep crater. His bike bounced to the left and settled in a rather unique location.

After James' fall most the riders were reminded that they need to stay healthy for tomorrow. Most stopped riding and returned to helping their build crews finish up the last parts of their lines.

Cam Zink called upon Jeremy Witek to add a lip to the upper sender to help him stomp a backflip.

Saturday qualifications began with the usual riders meeting led by event organizer Todd Barber and some last minute practice. The logistics of holding and recording such a large event in the middle of the desert with no existing power, water, or communication services is no small task.

Cool calm and collected, Todd makes sure that Rampage runs smoothly.

Chris Van Dine was one of the first to hit the dirt on Saturday. He overshot the boner log like no tomorrow. CVD caught the last five to ten percent of the landing and exploded.

Chris Van dine shoots for the moon and fails.

Graham Agassiz pulls a massive suicide no hander over the canyon gap on his way to his first place qualification.

Alex Fostvedt from Freeride Entertainment captures some super slow motion of the canyon gap using an Angenieux Optimo on a Phantom Miro.


As soon as the qualification results were confirmed the qualified riders had to start getting their new lines ready for finals the next morning.

Kyle Strait waits for the sun to set to test the top takeoff of the Oakley Sender.

While the sun sets and the new lip gets its finishing touches Cam Zink establishes the story for Red Bull Media House.

The sun was right in the eyes of the riders so they had to wait until it dipped below the horizon so we missed some epic light. Thankfully both Kyle and Cam manged to land the drop on their first tries. Major simultaneous sighs of relief were taken from friends, family, managers, sponsors, and photographers alike.

Kyle Strait was the first to ride this bad boy out. He cased a little bit and bounced all the way to the bottom of the landing. An amazing save to say the least.

Cam hit the drop using his additional lip. He cased it a little bit but his bounce was not quite as massive as Kyle's.

Sunday Sunday Sunday. Finals day began with frantic last minute practice hits and lip re-packing. It is sad how careless some of the spectators are. Many riders have to spread their build crews and friends out at different parts of their line to keep spectators from walking on their precariously placed lips and pristine landings. It shouldn't have to be this way.

These ropes were implemented to try to keep crowds in check.

IV bags locked and loaded for the ensuing carnage to come.

Brendan Howey (left) does a creative transfer line into the landing of the old sender. Tyler McCaul was four for four on his insane step down. This was definitely the biggest dirt to dirt drop of this year's rampage.

Wednesday and Thursday's rain killed all of our hopes for some classic dust trail shots that Rampage is known for. This is the only photo I got that had any dust action at all. I'm betting Brendan sprinkled a bunch of dust around the edges of the lip.

What makes this drop even more insane is the speed at which they had to hit it to make it to the landing. I could not believe how fast they went into this.

It looks like the practice from Friday's whip off paid off for Brendog.

Andreu's one handed superman seat grab was extended to the max. I was not expecting him to pull this at all.

The last trick of the 2013 Red Bull Rampage. Sadly the event ended on a very low note. Logan veered off this towering landing and snapped his femur. It also marked the beginning of a gusty windstorm that ended up canceling the rest of the runs. Only the first run scores counted for the final results. It is unfortunate for the riders that bettered their scores or those that didn't get to go again but that is the name of the game for Rampage. That is the price we pay for holding this epic event in the middle of the Utah desert. It is an inescapable fact.

Kyle and Cam wait out the wind in hopes they will find a window to send it as some dark clouds and swirling winds roll in. After an hour and a half or so all of the riders coasted down the ridge, the event was called.

As everyone waited for the awards to be presented, Brendan got a chance to see the GoPro footage of his canyon gap. He was pleased.

Kyle Strait takes the W. Check out Cam McCaul's reaction to Kyle's drinking technique.

Another Rampage in the books. I loved every minute of it. I hope that you enjoyed my photos and that you can join us in desert for the next one. Thanks for reading!

Photos and words by Ian Tetzner

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