Day 4 Photo Epic: Last Chance Saloon - Red Bull Rampage 2019
The wind was fierce overnight but as the sun rose over the mesa for the last day of practice before finals, it was calm. It seemed like everyone was out riding their lines today, from Brendan Fairclough trying out his expanded canyon gap on the far left of the mountain to Reed Boogs, Emil Johannson, and Reece Wallace hitting their new drop for the very first time on the complete opposite side.
Throughout the mountain, riders were sending the biggest features on their lines and trying to get as comfortable as possible with their tricks and speed ahead of the big day tomorrow. The action was fierce at times, with riders sending parts of their lines across the mountain simultaneously and there were many relieved and excited whoops of joy heard across the mountain.
For the first run tomorrow we'll see Cam Zink riding first followed by Bienvenido Aguado Alba, Carson Storch, and Emil Johansson. The first 11 riders' positions were randomly drawn, while the final 10 will ride in the reverse order that they finished in last year. The second run will depend on how their score after the first run so it's anyone's guess as to what that will be.
Utah, the land before time.
There is some impressive stonework here in the desert.
A little re-shape... because 3 times isn't enough for Kurt Sorge.
Old man Aggassiz tending to his Rampage allotment.
Semenuk makes sure everything is tidy before dropping in.
The man with the plan, Todd Barbour.
TVS was airing his big drop this morning. Maybe we're going to see something special here tomorrow?
DJ Brandt with his brand new Rockstar helmet.
Vinny T airing out his legs.
The European with a classic fully extended euro table.
Emil Johansson on the ridgeline gap in morning practice getting ready to tie it all together.
Nose bonkin'.
Gee Atherton was on site to check out all the crazy lines that have been built.
Reed on his new drop that he shares with Reece and Emil.
 | I honestly thought I was casing it. Then I was in the air and I was just hoping. And I greased it I guess. I'm pumped. I need to go a little faster next time. That's the last thing I needed to do so I'm stoked. I hit everything in my line now. |
| It was good. It's really smooth. Big. A lot of hang time. But it felt good and I'm glad to check that one off. So yeah, stoked! I'm still nervous since there's still a lot of tricks I want to do, but it's good not to do that one cold turkey in my run. |
Reece Wallace taking flight on his massive lower drop.
Reed Boggs sends the drop he shares with Johansson and Wallace.
Always great seeing the different faces Rampage brings out.
Reed Boggs keeps on sailing after hitting his big drop for the first time.
Brendog lining up his terrifying chute.
Brett Rheeder is ready for the big day. Will we see a repeat champ?
Tommy G gets ready to drop in this morning.
Twinning at the top of the line with interior BC boys Kurt and Graham.
Mitch Ropelato was on sherpa duty today.
Emil Johansson lines up his nose bonk gap in morning practice.
TVS going huge in morning practice.
Brandon Semenuk hitting his rock lily pad at the top of his line.
T Mac sending it all the way to lunch.
Textures of fall in the desert.
Brendan making his way down through some unfamiliar Rampage terrain en route to the canyon gap.
Szymon Godziek flips his final jump in Party Canyon.
Brendog sails across his canyon gap after smashing the landing the first try.
A fresh scarlet red kit for the defending champ, Brett Rheeder, marching up to the top.
Brendan's new canyon gap is a thing of beauty. Still, a jump that most would probably rather not ride.
Rheeder feeling out his mid-line step-up with some invert practice.
Emil Johansson sends the big drop on his line just moments after work on it was finished today.
Bienvenido Alba plunges into darkness in practice.
Semenuk never fully shows his cards in practice. We can be sure of a show from him tomorrow.
Multiple attempts at the front flip from Cam Zink and not all ended pretty.
Zink on the brink... but persistence would pay off.
Cam Zink with a gargantuan front flip over his canyon gap.
When the winds kick up it's time for laps on pit bikes.
The sun on the site this Rampage eve turning the hills a shade of fire, which is what tomorrow will be.
Local boy, Nell, will no doubt come out swinging on the hunt for a back to back podium tomorrow.
MTB giant, Cam Zink, dwarfed by Utah the magnificence.
Friends who Rampage together stay together.
Aggassiz the majestic eagle.
Brandon's brilliant bonks. TM.
Teamwork makes the dream work on the final shared drop for Reed Boggs and the two newcomers, Johanson and Wallace.
The original kicker the trio made proved too intimidating so the team decided to build a creeper line around the side to feel out the free fall
A freshly reshaped lip to keep the trajectory a little more sensible and Boggs, Wallace and Johansson went for it. They just had to wait a little while for a 6 o'clock windsock.
Johny Salido bit the dust after a backflip on the last step-down of his line. It was a hard crash against the bank at the bottom, but after some minutes he was up and walking and thankfully will still make the finals tomorrow.
| I'm feeling a bit sore, I just had a big crash, but otherwise super good. I got my line down and I'm ready to send it. I'm standing in the demon's lip right now. I needed to go slower so I did a flip and landed all the way at the bottom and just ejected myself into a dirt wall. I got my line done in the morning so feeling good and ready, just a couple things to practice in the morning. We did a feature that I needed to do earlier in the morning and I did a trick I wanted to do on a jump. This was the last feature I had to do and I just crashed on it. Pretty much ended my day but it was going to end pretty soon anyway. Going to get some rest now. |
Salido summed his first experience at the event up in the following quote.
| Gnarly. Steep. Hard. Frightening. It's so scary dropping every time. It's not like it gets mellower, it's just super gnarly every time. But so much fun. The last week and a half has been amazing. Super stoked to be here. |
Johny Salido smiling at the end of practice despite hitting the ground pretty hard.
Genon and Tupin were ready for a good evening session but the wind would have other ideas.
Kyle Strait small but mighty, looking for Rampage victory number 3 in the morning.
Lonely at the top. The big day is upon us and it's every man for himself. Cam Zink drops first in the morning.
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18 Comments
- 32 0
JuanDPozo
FL (Oct 24, 2019 at 22:51)
So happy to see Johny as the first guy of an uncommon country in this event!
- 32 1
leviatanouroboro
(Oct 24, 2019 at 23:03)
This is an understatement. For a kid from Mexico to ride at rampage is a crazy unlikely scenario. There's no infrastructure to support cycling on this level. Trails, shops, resources, or even talent pool to learn from.. Almost non existent. Against all of these odds he's there living his dream.
Go Johny!
- 4 0
gemma8788
(Oct 25, 2019 at 7:01)
It's really cool, he and Bienvenido have been welcome additions to the interviews and photo epics and they definitely earned their place. Big vibes from both of them, stoked to watch them ride.
- 3 0
motard5
(Oct 25, 2019 at 8:36)
@leviatanouroboro: Super cool. Mexico is so frustrating in that sense. The terrain and weather available for year round trails is mind-blowing. Imagine the endless trail to surf and wine regions they could cultivate. Get yo shit together Mexico.
- 5 0
onemanarmy
FL (Oct 25, 2019 at 1:04)
Man Tommy G's bike is so good. Almost as good looking as his style.
- 4 0
Dudeclimbsrocks
(Oct 25, 2019 at 6:12)
"Bienve Alba plunging into darkness...." Pretty sure that's Brendog.
- 3 0
ardee
(Oct 25, 2019 at 0:41)
Jonny Salido got that 1970's Barry Gibb look going on!
- 3 0
woodybepierced
(Oct 25, 2019 at 6:59)
We need more riders making bad ass gnarly shoots like Fairclough.
- 3 0
Barnburner88
(Oct 25, 2019 at 5:11)
Great shots!
- 2 0
robito
(Oct 25, 2019 at 5:39)
These guys are unbelievable.
- 2 0
AnibalR
(Oct 25, 2019 at 10:12)
BRAVO JUAN DIEGO!! ANIMO CAMPEÓN, VIVA MÉXICO CABRONESSS!!!
- 1 0
mbruhns
(Oct 29, 2019 at 8:54)
The Nathan Hughes photo of Fairclough's run in is a masterpiece
- 1 0
Merohedra
(Oct 25, 2019 at 4:37)
How is the start order for this determined??
- 5 0
tomoostv
(Oct 25, 2019 at 4:46)
3rd paragraph... "The first 11 riders' positions were randomly drawn, while the final 10 will ride in the reverse order that they finished in last year."
- 2 0
pensamtb
(Oct 25, 2019 at 5:34)
Too much excite!
- 1 0
Madtown
(Oct 25, 2019 at 7:04)
Zink gets first up low judges score this year I see.
- 1 0
railin
(Oct 25, 2019 at 8:56)
So Spectacular! The scenery, the shots, the action. So Pumped!
- 1 0
Merohedra
(Oct 25, 2019 at 4:59)
Ah OK thx man
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