Video: Airing the 72-foot Canyon Gap at Red Bull Rampage

It takes a big person to lead, especially when they’re leading the world’s best big mountain riders over a 72-foot gap. During Thursday’s practice session at Red Bull Rampage, Canadian rider Tom van Steenbergen proved he is that person. After patiently taking his time to properly warm up to the exposed cliff drop that serves as his run-in to the canyon gap, van Steenbergen stayed off the brakes and easily cleared the canyon gap. In fact, he overshot it slightly, landing 15 feet past the sweet spot. He still made it look smooth.

“I thought someone else was going to hit it,” he says in the video above. “But everyone just kept… not hitting it.”

It’s the second year in a row the young rider offered up his big jump skills to show everyone else how it’s done. In 2013 he showed up to Red Bull Rampage as a rookie, and proceeded to show everyone up by being first to clear the canyon. After several exciting videos put out in the past year — most notably a massive dirt-to-dirt frontflip for Anthill Films — van Steenbergen’s name is on everyone’s lips.

After qualifiers — which kick off at 10:00 MT today — we expect that name will ring out even louder.

To see if the canyon gap king qualifies, stay tuned to the official Red Bull Rampage site, which is also where you can watch the webcast of finals on Sunday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. MT.

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