Red Bull Formation 2022: A Slingshot to Somewhere Higher

May 10, 2022
by Alicia Leggett  
Dig teams work together near the top of the venue at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022

It’s springtime in the desert. Tiny wildflowers are emerging, there’s a buzz in the air, and the evenings are long again. Even more notably, a mountainside in Virgin, UT, is scattered with 12 of the most skilled women in freeride mountain biking who are working with dig crews to sculpt wild lines down the mountain. Just like that, we’re back at Red Bull Formation for its third edition.

This year’s event takes place at the 2019 Formation site, which was previously used for Red Bull Rampage 2015. Formation 2022 runs May 9 through May 15, with three dig days, a rest day, and three ride days. Thanks to a weather forecast of high wind Wednesday, the schedule has been switched from the 3-1-3 dig-rest-ride format to two dig days, a rest day, then the third dig day before the three days of riding. There’s a robust crew helping out, some of whom are up-and-coming riders and others who bring unique experience, perspectives, and stoke. By Thursday evening, riders will have built lines all over the mountain, in many cases working together on shared features, which they’ll session throughout the ride days to eventually piece together full top-to-bottom runs.

Martha Gill Juju Milay Robin Goomes work together to sculpt a take off at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
Robin Goomes, Martha Gill, and Juju Milay shape a lip. Photo: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

Three years ago, women’s freeride wasn’t nearly as established as it is now. Sure, there were small female-specific events here and there, women’s FMB contests were budding, and Crankworx Whistler had added a Speed & Style category for the girls, but there was nothing like Formation; no venue for women to build whatever they wanted, unconstrained by preconceptions of how a women’s freeride line should look. 2019 was the year Casey Brown made headlines by riding at Proving Grounds and the year Katie Holden's longtime dream of an all-female, invitational progression session came to life, aiming to elevate women’s freeride toward competing at the top-tier events like Rampage. That October, the tires hit the dirt and six of the world’s best freeriders – Vaea Verbeeck, Vinny Armstrong, Vero Sandler, Hannah Bergemann, Tahnee Seagrave, and Micayla Gatto – visited the site to see what they could build and ride.

Now in its third iteration and returning to the Formation 2019 venue, the atmosphere feels distinctly different. Not only have these riders changed and grown, but the bike industry has, too. In 2021, after Formation returned for its second showing in May, the then-eight riders went back out into the world to bring what they’d learned back home with them, or even farther. Some, like last year's alternates Robin Goomes and Harriet "Haz" Burbidge-Smith, proceeded to Europe and threw down on the international stages. Robin became the first woman to ever backflip in a Crankworx competition. Actually, she threw the first six Crankworx female backflips in the Speed & Style in Innsbruck. Haz was given her Red Bull helmet by Hannah Bergemann at Hannah’s event, Hang Time.

Speaking of Hang Time, both Hannah and Casey Brown went on to start their own events in Bellingham and Revelstoke, respectively, and drew a huge depth of talent to each of those.

Hannah Bergemann plans her line at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 08 May 2022
Hannah Bergemann plans her line. Photo: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

All in all, the sport is in a different place than it was three years ago. Even with a global pandemic halting nearly all athletic events across the globe, women’s freeride has continued to gain momentum. If it had reached a tipping point in 2019, it has now tipped and snowballed.

And that’s exactly the goal. While the first Red Bull Formation (and, to an extent, the second one) felt like the absolute frontier of women’s freeride, it hasn’t stayed that way, now that many riders – more than I even want to list! – are sending it at events like Dark Fest, Proving Grounds, Audi Nines, and more. Red Bull Formation isn’t the end goal. Instead, it’s a beginning of sorts; a jumping-off point. Founder Katie Holden describes the event as an incubator that can foster talent and promote growth, but not the place to stay forever. Veterans of the event, she hopes, will move off in whatever directions their careers take them, hopefully soon competing alongside the boys at major events while providing mentorship to the up-and-comers rising up through the ranks at Formation.

A long fall line down the middle of the venue at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
Vero Sandler Vaea Verbeeck discuss a shared entrance from the ridge at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
The exposure is no joke. Cami's line drops straight down the face of the mountain, and several riders are dropping through a shared and ultra-commiting entrance from the top. Photo: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

It isn’t just the riders who are being developed. Maybe even more than about riding spectacular lines or committing to the biggest sends, Formation is about creating a community that uplifts itself. Some of the diggers are up-and-coming freeriders who themselves may have the opportunity to ride next year. Georgia Astle, Robin, and Haz are all invited riders this year who dug last time around.

One of the driving ideas behind Formation is that "a rising tide lifts all boats," so to speak, and it’s a collaborative, rather than a competitive event. Riders don’t own their lines, and most riders are collaborating with one another on shared features. The diggers, too, work to help everyone, not just the rider each is there to support. And, while each rider had the chance to bring one digger, there are also several unattached diggers, whom Katie brought in because they’d bring something special to the event as a whole – athletes like freeski legend Michelle Parker, who watched a similar progression for women in her realm of big mountain skiing and brings a unique depth of experience when it comes to hitting big, scary lines; riders who show promise as up-and-coming freeriders, especially from places in the world that don’t have as much access to events like Formation as we do in North America; and community-driven riders who are particularly invested in bettering and growing the sport.

Michelle Parker joins the dig crews at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
Michelle Parker is a digger who draws from her long freeskiing career to help out at the event. Photo: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

bigquotesThe focus is on obviously everyone who’s building the lines and the key athletes themselves are going to ride, but the incubator is about the group collectively as a whole and pushing the whole space forward. So it will remain a small group because it’s an incubator. My hope is that, well, the sport’s like 20 years behind, but if we’re having this rapid progression as the incubator, we’re constantly getting fresh talent in the group and all these other events are popping up globally, it’s kind of like a slingshot and the level goes really high. There are all sorts of events where we want the women in it.Katie Holden

Most – if not all – athletes are competitive by nature, but that doesn’t mean they have to compete at a place like Formation. Some riders are more competitive than others and always will be, Katie explained, and there will always be places for them. Still, by laying the groundwork and setting the expectation from the beginning that everyone at Formation will be working in a collaborative space, it brings riders together in a way that helps them lift one another up and celebrate each other’s successes. Again, a rising tide lifts all boats. With everyone staying together in a house, athletes and builders, eating meals together after working hard throughout the days, the conversations that happen make it almost inevitable that the riders want the others to succeed. "Watching your peers do well and succeed here means that all of these people are going to have better opportunities in the future and get paid more and have more space, and that doesn’t just come from one person," Katie said. "That only happens if everyone does it."

Harriet Burbidge-Smith works on a jump at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
Chelsea Kimball CJ Selig Brooke Trine at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 09 May 2022
It takes a lot of work, but even after just one dig day, the pieces are coming together. Photos: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

Coming into this year, the veterans are more confident than ever, and that confidence is contagious among everyone on the mountain. Looking at the lines being shaped, it’s clear that the last two Formations have shown these riders that they could do more than they’d ever imagined. This time, there’s no wading in slowly. Even with just one build day in the books, the features taking shape are no joke.

Katie said she sees it in how they move.

bigquotesFor me, the most telling thing is the body language. In 2019, it was like a new thing. Everyone was like, 'holy shit, this is crazy, what am I doing here?' It was really hard to wrap your head around it. They rode so well, but you could tell by the confidence and the approach that they were scared, and rightfully so. They were the ones that put it on the map. Now, you fast-forward these years and even the body language of not just the riders but the builders too, being out here and walking around the course, it’s like they have a vision, they’re confident, they know that they belong and this is their space. They just own it. In the body language alone, it’s a really powerful transformation.Katie Holden

Katie Holden gives an introduction at Red Bull Formation in Virgin Utah USA on 08 May 2022
Katie Holden welcomes the girls to the event. Photo: Re Wikstrom / Red Bull

Follow along with all the Formation coverage here on Pinkbike, straight from the desert.

Author Info:
alicialeggett avatar

Member since Jun 19, 2015
740 articles

20 Comments
  • 43 2
 You go, girls! Kick ass, ride bikes, have fun.
  • 10 1
 That’s freeride!
  • 22 0
 Nice getting some perspective on scale and steepness of some of the features. I could read a whole article on an in-depth examination and photos of some of the critical sections. When I went to one of the early Rampages I could not believe how much gnarlier the lines appeared when standing right next to them
  • 21 0
 I'm glad you wrote that and are interested. I'm planning to put together an article along those lines explaining who is riding where and giving a little more perspective and context to the features. Hopefully I'll publish that Friday ish!
  • 4 0
 @alicialeggett: Haha epic!

Yeah, it's tough to get one's mind around some of this stuff. Like Cami's line. Very confused
  • 19 1
 So glad this event is becoming a normal thing.
  • 5 0
 And I hope they don’t just cancel it if it doesn’t get enough media coverage or ad money. Some things should done just to do them.
  • 4 0
 @babathehutt: that’s less of a threat than Red Bull not placing enough budget in it to allow it a future. They’ve been really stingy with wages of people that work it, so I’ve heard.
  • 8 0
 That line is bonkers. Mad props if she rides that.
  • 4 0
 *Squints at first picture for full minute looking for the rider*

Doh, dig article.
  • 3 0
 Cami's line looks awesome - need a video of it from that same vantage point
  • 3 0
 I want to ride like a girl
  • 3 0
 Send it Robin Riding Hood!
  • 4 1
 Hannah B and Dan P wondering where are all the trees??? Good luck Hannah!!
  • 4 1
 Stoked for this! these ladies are brave
  • 2 0
 Such a bad ass event! Legends are made each year here and the movement is strong!
  • 2 0
 Way more fun to watch then the mechs!
  • 2 0
 Upvote. Wait, what's the "mechs"? Excavators?
  • 1 0
 WHERES KAYLEE GIBB?? www.kayleegibb.com/about I don't understand why she isn't there?
  • 2 0
 send it ladies!!!







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