New year, new venue & new Limits! A bigger site with more elevation and space offered endless creativity within the Utah Desert, it was definitely a winner amongst the Rampage riders! Surely there's a limit to the lengths these guys can go to… clearly not. Since the beginning of Rampage the development of riders and their impressive lines is incredible, its great to see a new site allowing the next step of development.
 | I think the new site is awesome. Taller, steeper and less flat plateaus. All the lines had big moves on them and there was less 150-200 foot cliff exposure so riders could let 'er rip and really shred all the character in the terrain. Last year it looked like 2-3 cliff bands and this year looked like 4-5 cliff bands depending where you dropped. I really appreciated that this venue is more big mountain than ever!! |
After narrowly missing out on a win with Cam Zink last year we came back stronger than ever with a 5 man roster. Andreu Lacondeguy, Cam Zink, Ethan Nell, Jordie Lunn & Adolf Silva were at the helm for YT Industries.
YT Industries roster for Rampage 2018 pictured with their custom TUES
Building their line
Although the new site offered endless possibilities its extremely difficult to imagine a line that can be finished in 9 days from a blank canvas. A big part of being an athlete at Rampage involves selecting your dig crew. Our team of 5 riders each have 2 members in their dig crew, but ultimately help each other out, because that's the mountain bike spirit, right?
| Selecting my dig crew, a huge part is just having good friends to be around for the week of digging keeping things fun and stress levels low. |
Pictured: Ethan Nell & Adolf Silva digging together
| Having had working diggers that can also ride and help you imagine the build is integral. Ray Syron and Trevor Boldi absolutely crushed it for me this year. We teamed up with Kyle Strait's team of Adam Billinghurst and Mitch Ropolato, as well as Carson Storch's team for the lower half. |
Cam Zink even highlights that riders team up together to build their lines, is this a bid to keep morale high whilst working those long hours in the desert?
Practice
After just over a week of scrambling around the Utah desert to get their lines finished its time to start testing their creations, as we have seen in the past we have seen the wind play a massive factor in the riders hitting their biggest features, regardless the event must go ahead but it means even more limited time to practice. Some riders even drop into a Final run without hitting all the features on their line.
One of the most talked about features of Rampage 2018, Adolf Silva, the rampage rookie making it look easy
Watch below as Adolf Silva hits the above drop for the first time.
| Having Rampage be a home event for me makes me even more stoked to ride. All of my friends and family are there and I feel very comfortable riding my home turf. |
Cam Zink, One of the favourites after coming 2nd place in 2017. But unfortunately after building a sick line and practising it Cam had to withdraw from Rampage 2018 due to a recurring shoulder injury.
| We did everything we could my shoulder wouldn't cooperate. I'll be back next year with a fresh shoulder and we already have a line built! |
The big day, Race day!
One of the most prolific events on the mountain bike calendar. Rampage puts mountain bike into the public eye.
Endless style from Andreu took him to 2nd place, narrowly missing 1st.
Local guy Ethan Nell took home his second 3rd place after a crazy run featuring a crazy flip early in his run
| Flipping my top drop was the biggest check off my list of things to do in my run. I don’t think I’ve ever been more stoked. I was more than over stressed about it before I dropped in for my run. |
Rampage rookie Adolf Silva unsurprisingly took the People's choice award! More things to come for this guy.
| First time ever here, so I'm super happy I made it top to bottom, I showed what I can do. I had lots of stuff in mind, I just hope to be back and prove to everyone that I can step it up. |
Unfortunately Jordie Lunn and his build team were sick all week, despite being sick they were able to build one of the craziest lines of Rampage 2018. He wasn't able to put a full run down, but we hope to see him back next year and shred the gnarly line he created!
Thanks for the Good Times Rampage 2018! See you next year.
| It’s always wild to be at a new venue and this year riders were racing time to finish their lines and practise them too. The night of the last practise day and the early morning practice before finals was limited due to some wind so some riders hadn’t even hit all their features on their line before finals! There was so many cliffs, gullies and shapes! It was so good and wild to see the level the riders have taken freeriding but it’s always nerve-wracking to see your buddies and teammates shred Rampage lines, especially when they are freshly built and in guinea pig stage! But then you have to remind yourself these guys are professionals and love this shit!! |
Photos: Ale Di Lullo
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Btw watch the replay of Jordie's first run and pause it just before or right when Cam mentions his canyon gap. Its hard to see but when you spot his takeoff, its complete f*ckery. I hope he is invited back next year.
Good times! Being at Rampage in 2015 I think I have to come back next year finally!
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