Finals Photo Epic: Proving Grounds 2022
Robin Goomes hitting the Megladom Shark Fin in practice, which was also what caused her to crash and not be able to compete in the Super Final.
The energy was all time come the Super Final of the Natural Selection Proving Grounds presented by Pacifico, the athletes who had been dealing with gusty winds all week were chomping at the bit to get as much practice in as possible before the finals were to start. As soon as the athletes started dropping in, the riders did not hold back, heavy trick after heavy trick being landed and unfortunately in some cases, they were not landed causing a couple of athletes to pull out before the finals were to start. The fans were pouring in and everyone on site was stoked to watch the world's best freeriders attack the Proving Grounds course built by Black Sage Dirt Works.
The fans were treated to seeing Brett Rheeder drop in on his first run and stomp every trick flawlessly scoring him a 93.25 which was the run to beat all day, however, no one could match that and as a result, Rheeder stood on the top step after the event was done. On the women's side, Camila Nogueira defended her title from 2021 putting down a scorching run scoring a solid 82.75.
A one-hour show produced by Natural Selection and Freeride Entertainment under the lens of the Natural Selection Tour’s signature, Emmy-nominated racing drone POV angle flown by Gab707 (DRL) will stream for free on NaturalSelectionTour.com starting Friday, September 23 at noon PT and will broadcast on ESPN2 on Sunday, September 25 at 3PM PT.
This is the first bike event under the newly-formed Natural Selection Tour and Proving Grounds partnership. Travis Rice, professional snowboarder and Natural Selection Tour co-founder says, “There are a lot of parallels to what led us to create Natural Selection Tour including a need from the riders, the industry, and culture. With Todd Barber at the lead, we decided to partner with Proving Grounds because we see incredible potential for what this event is and what it can be.” Rice adds, “Today was completely incredible, and ultimately we are just here to support this event and the riders and appreciate that working together we all have better chances to succeed in realizing the vision for the future.”
Kirsten Van Horne on the meat drop.
Vaea Verbeeck
Dylan Stark, tuck no-hander off the big drop.
Brett Rheeder threeing over one of the plethora of dirt to dirt doubles.
Johny Salida with a tight three off the flat drop on the riders right line.
Chelsea Kimball during practice. Chelsea had a crash in practice which put her out of the main event.
Brett Rheeder
Robin Goomes dropping a leg over the hip right before the Super Final was to start.
Jaxson Riddle with some huge extension.
this drop is massive to start off with, but to then double grab the seat is insane, yet Adolf Silva made it happen.
Vinny Armstrong on the second shark fin.
Casey Brown had some massive features in her run including the Megladon shark fin.
Casey Brown working her way to a 2nd place finish.
Carson Storch with a T-Bog off the big drop.
This 360 off the meat-drop helped Carson Storch take home 1st place last year, this year Carson would have to settle for 5th place.
Dylan Stark doing Dylan things, such as Alley-Ooping the second shark fin before pinning it into the big drop.
Dylan Stark with all the steeze in the world to bring home a 2nd place finish.
Kyle Strait with his signature suicide.
DJ Brandt off the cannon.
Jaxson Riddle throwing huge extensions.
Emil Johannson
Nicholi Rogatkin tuck no-hander.
Adolf Silva with the superman seat grab off the meat drop.
Brett Rheeder tweaking out this backflip off the flat drop as he started his one and only finals run which put him in first place.
Conor Macfarlane was one of only two riders who competed with a single crown fork.
Clemens Kaudela making his way down to an 11th-place finish.
Louis Reboul cranking a three right out of the gate.
Harriet Burbidge-Smith (Haz) dropping off the riders right line which started with a huge drop.
Camila Noguiera off the shark fin on her way to drop the massive drop at the bottom of the course. Noguiera was the only woman rider to hit the drop feature.
Camila Noguiera on her way to her 1st place finish.
Casey Brown on the Megladon
Fresh off her best trick win from the evening before, Kirsten Van Horne battled her way into a 6th place finish.
Dylan Stark decided that he would take his second run on his eBike. Again Stark thinking out of the box to stoke the fans out.
On his second run Reed Boggs took a different line and hit the massive drop towards the bottom.
Adolf Silva with the huge stretch.
Reed Bogs on the massive shark fin.
DJ Brandt doing what DJ does best.
Thomas Genon dropping a leg
Emil Johansson tail whipping his way into a 4th place finish.
Nicholi Rogatkin won himself the Backcountry Best Trick with this Cash Roll - on a DH bike.
Ethan Nell throwing the starfish - the fans love these kinds of tricks.
Clemens Kaudela (C-Dog) with a three off the flat drop
Vinny Armstrong was riding solid all week and it showed in her runs that put her in 3rd place.
Nicholi Rogatkin flipping to the heavens.
Emil Johansson with the three off the flat drop after dropping in using the hydro-drop as seen in the background.
Vera Verbeeck launching herself.
Emil Johannson on his second run tried a triple tail whip, unfortunately he did not land it.
Emil Johannson bar spinning off the Megladon shark fin.
Check out where Johny's right foot is.
Johny threw his foot over his crossbar as often as possible in his run.
With extensions like this and a front flip in his run, it's no surprise that Bienvenido Aguado Alba took home 3rd place.
Women's podium. 1st, Camila Noguiera, 2nd, Casey Brown, 3rd, Vinny Armstrong
When Pacifica presents the event, then Pacifica beers will be used to celebrate.
Men's podium. 1st, Brett Rheeder, 2nd, Dylan Stark, 3rd, Bienvenido Aguado Alba
Women’s Results
1. Camila Noguiera (ARG), 82.75
2. Casey Brown (CAN), 80.50
3. Vinny Armstrong (NZL), 78.75
4. Vaea Verbeeck (CAN), 75.5
5. Harriet Burbidge-Smith (AUS), 61.75
6. Kirsten Van Horne (CAN), 55.75
7. Robin Goomes (NZL), DNS
8. Georgia Astle (CAN), DNS
9. Chelsea Kimball (USA), DNS
10. Gemma Corbera (ESP), DNS
Men’s Results
1. Brett Rheeder (CAN), 93.25
2. Dylan Stark (USA), 92.25
3. Bienvenido Aguado Alba (ESP), 91.25
4. Emil Johansson (SWE), 90.00
5. Carson Storch (USA), 88.50
6. Nicholi Rogatkin (USA), 88.00
7. Conor Macfarlane (NZL), 87.25
8. Thomas Genon (BEL), 86.25
9. Reed Boggs (USA), 85.75
10. Juan Diego “Johny” Salido (MEX), 85.25
11. Clemens Kaudela (AUT), 83.75
12. Kyle Strait (USA), 82.50
13. Adolf Silva (ESP), 81.00
14. Louis Reboul (USA), 74.75
15. Ethan Nell (USA), 71.00
16. David Lieb (USA), 69.75
17. DJ Brandt (USA), 68.50
18. Jaxson Riddle (USA), 66.50
19. Talus Turk (USA), 49.25
20. Cam Zink (USA), DNS
Backcountry Best Trick: Nicholi Rogatkin - Cash Roll
Pacifico Best Style: Casey Brown
i9 Heart & Soul: Camila Noguiera
i9 Heart & Soul: Dylan Stark
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
25 Comments
- 54 3
plyawn
(Sep 12, 2022 at 5:19)
For an event named "Proving Ground" it seems weird to have the entire roster filled with names that have nothing to prove, but "Rampage Warm-up and What The Hell Do We Do After Joyride?" was probably too long to fit on the t-shirts.
- 5 0
UtahRider840
(Sep 12, 2022 at 8:52)
Entire day of qualifying covered by PinkBike and all over Proving Grounds Socials. Even Reeder had to qualify due to late entry which was Rad to see him riding with the young guns.
- 23 1
yeah-nah-yeah
(Sep 12, 2022 at 5:29)
May be in the minority here, but I love these sorts of big bike slopestyles and wish there were more. Chatel Mountain Style was always a highlight
- 10 0
yoimaninja
(Sep 12, 2022 at 6:59)
No disrespect, but not used to seeing Emil not in first! Cool to see Rheeder back in comp. EJ's the top dog right now, so interesting to see how he fares against the former ones like Rheeder and Semenuk. Any link to the top runs? I had no idea this was evening happening this weekend.
- 11 0
Svinyard
(Sep 12, 2022 at 8:39)
Hey @pinkbike @brianpark, why is there simply the bare minimum coverage of this despite being just down the road like 10hrs and have a lot of legends hitting big freeride/slope features? Seeing the insane amount of great hardline coverage before the event and after...yet SOO little on this, I don't get it?
- 2 0
UtahRider840
(Sep 12, 2022 at 8:54)
@Svinyard: Second this question!!!!!!!
- 6 0
EarIysport
(Sep 12, 2022 at 9:11)
EJ not the top dog on a big bike, clearly.
- 1 1
Pit-Viper
(Sep 12, 2022 at 9:12)
@Svinyard: my assumption: Red Bull is postponing as much promotion as possible, as they aren't running the event broadcast until the 23rd
- 3 0
UtahRider840
(Sep 12, 2022 at 12:26)
@Pit-Viper: This is not a Red Bull event. This is NST.
- 2 0
Pit-Viper
(Sep 12, 2022 at 13:41)
@UtahRider840: yikes, correct
- 8 0
bikebike69
(Sep 12, 2022 at 4:00)
Congrats Dylan, local bro represent. Always killing it.
- 5 1
jeastman
(Sep 12, 2022 at 6:51)
Agreed w/ the comment about "proving grounds". I thought this event was trying to get up and comers to the next level. (?) I this this is a miss for the senders that are trying to prove themselves...
- 1 0
UtahRider840
(Sep 12, 2022 at 8:55)
Entire day of qualifying covered by PinkBike and all over Proving Grounds Socials. Even Reeder had to qualify due to late entry which was Rad to see him riding with the young guns.
- 4 0
juicebanger
(Sep 12, 2022 at 7:37)
I've been questioning my eyesight lately, but I'm pretty sure I see 3 riders on single crown forks...Emil, Rheeder, Macfarlane
- 2 0
suspended-flesh
(Sep 12, 2022 at 22:23)
And 1 SC on top of the podium along with 2 YT Tues.
- 5 1
HARDERIDE
(Sep 12, 2022 at 6:24)
I thought this was supposed to be qualifying for rampage. Wasn't that what they started it as? Still awesome.
- 5 0
therealmancub
(Sep 12, 2022 at 8:38)
Nope, it's been repeated that this wasn't a feeder event for Rampage this year
- 2 0
bobbyveemtb
(Sep 14, 2022 at 17:44)
Anyone know how the judges scored the runs? Although Cami Noguiera (1st) had a super clean fast run and line choice, Vinny Armstrong (3rd) was the only female podium that I saw to do any tricks.
- 3 0
weeksy59
(Sep 12, 2022 at 2:11)
I can't even work out where most of them are landing !!!!
- 1 0
PauRexs
(Sep 13, 2022 at 9:08)
Hardline on SlopeStyle/Punctuation seed mode would be a closer Proving Ground for Rampage.
- 1 0
jarzaga
(Sep 12, 2022 at 9:29)
Jaxon Riddle? Seat bounce superman no footed can.
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