Photo Epic: The Eleventh Hour - Red Bull Rampage 2021
The final day before Rampage is often a frantic one, with builds being finished around the mountain in between practice sessions. Today however, only Brage Vestavik and Reed Boggs seemed to be doing any building, neither of whom competed in Red Bull Rampage in 2016 or 2017 and both of whom had unique lines that didn't overlap with other riders. Everyone else had already put the finishing touches on their lines and had time to get out and ride in a morning session as winds were light for the first part of the day.
The morning started off with some incredible riding. Jaxson Riddle jumped "The Giraffe" on his line, the only section he hadn't hit thus far, while Kyle Strait hit his massive chute, and Brage Vestavik got to put down the tools momentarily to ride the top part of his line above his giant drop. It all seemed too good to be true however, and as the riders worked up to progressively bigger features and tricks, we saw heavy crashes from Carson Storch and Cam Zink. While Zink says he will be able to drop in tomorrow despite a bruised lung, Storch will be missing out on finals after breaking his collarbone.
The afternoon was a quiet one, with most builds done and the winds too strong for riding. As the winds quieted down close to dusk however, the bikes came back out for a last chance session before finals tomorrow. Brage Vestavik went up to attempt his massive drop late in the day, and unfortunately came up just short on the landing. We now have confirmation from Red Bull that Vestavik has had to withdraw from the event due to injuries and we are gutted that we won't get to see him ride the full line that was inspired by the natural lines of the early 2000s in finals. There will be 12 riders dropping tomorrow with Andreu Lacondeguy, Carson Storch, and Brage Vestavik now injured.
Tune in to watch finals tomorrow at redbull.com
Vinny T's first hit of the morning, just warming up those calves.
We cannot wait to see the smile on Jaxson's face after he throws down a killer run come the main event.
Sorge and TVS share this landing, but if you look closely, there's a lip up top.
Szymon making shapes, through shapes.
Jaxson has some massive tricks planned for the big show and we cannot wait.
Szymon dropping into the lower section of his line.
Tom Van Steenbergen practices his step-down above the mid-road, dialling it in with the precision of a surgeon.
The double before Zink's big drop above the mid-road provided the perfect conditions for three's all day.
This is towards the top of Brage's run. It's rough, rowdy, scary exposed, with only a little bit of raking to expose his line. Basically, the essence of Rampage.
Sorge can do these flips in his sleep.
Szymon floating with the birds.
There is no way to show in an image how big these drops are, but we tried with Sorge.
Carson Storch playing in the playground at the bottom of his run. Later on in the day Carson tested his massive drop and came up short, causing him to go down and unfortunately has him unable to compete in the finals.
Brage on his way to the top.
Yup, this stuff is massive.
The ridgeline that TVS has in his run provides large gaps with a huge amount of exposure everywhere you look.
Jaxson on his way to class.
Reed has a gnarly start to his run. He also has a gnarly middle. And a gnarly end.
As Kyle made his way down the chute that both himself and Zink will be attacking tomorrow, he leaves a waterfall of rocks and dirt in tracks.
YT Industries was proud to present E-Boy with this vest that cannot be considered anything but art.
The living legend, Kyle Strait hits his chute, and truly makes it look easy - there's nothing easy about anything out on site.
The last feature on Reed Boggs line was completed a couple of hours before sunset. Reed will confirm that it is good to go first thing in the morning.
There's no denying that Boggsy's dig team, as with all the dig teams, take a great deal of pride in the finished product of their art.
The last rider on site on the last day of practice, Vinny T. Tomorrow we get to see what he has in store for this hip.
On the afternoon of the last day of practice, the winds picked up which gave Brage and his dig team some time to make the finishing touches to the end of his run.
Brage surveying the last part of his line he was yet to hit, the sheer magnitude of this feature shows why he was invited to Rampage.
Unfortunately Brage the Norwegian, didn't land this spectacular drop. We have now heard that he suffered an injury that will mean that he is unable to compete in the finals. This breaks all of our hearts and we hope he makes a speedy recovery.
It's almost like "Where's Waldo?", except for Vinny T.
Another end to a crazy eventful day out at Red Bull Rampage 2021.
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Again I love what the guy is doing, but your perception that he's doing something more traditional or "natural" than everyone else really doesn't seam to fit reality.
Myself included ,It seems like the riders who were injured ,were the exact riders a lot off people were looking forward to watching? It could be organized as a separate event of sorts?
Rampage Redemption
PB could hold a raffle or contest for my new Heckler E bi k. oops he he
I mean
A new bike or something
(a Heckler cc size lrg in blk murdered out w/Burgtech/Ohlins/XTR
or whatever ,
And the proceeds go towards getting the riders back on site
For. RAMPAGE REDEMPTION!
#bragegotrobbed