When photos first emerged of the canyon gap at Red Bull Hardline over the weekend we all gulped. Since then, quite a lot has happened. Here’s a round up of what’s what so far:
What Is That Canyon Gap?
For those who have been under a rock this weekend, here’s what the fuss is about.
Who Is Riding At Hardline Wales 2024?
Who is lined up to tackle the course, and that gap? Here’s the men’s start list for Red Bull Hardline, Wales 2024:
Adam Brayton
UK
Alex Storr
UK
Bernard Kerr
UK
Brendan Fairclough
UK
Brook MacDonald
NZL
Charlie Hatton
UK
Craig Evans
UK
Dennis Luffman
UK
Edgar Briole
FRA
Gaetan Vige
FRA
George Brannigan
NZ
Harry Molloy
UK
Jim Monro
UK
Jono Jones
UK
Josh Bryceland
UK
Josh Lowe
UK
Juanfer Velez
COL
Matt Jones
UK
Matteo Iniguez
FRA
Matteo Iniguez
FRA
Ronan Dunne
IRL
Sam Blenkinsop
NZ
Sam Gale
NZ
Sam Hockenhull
UK
Sebastian Holguin
COL
Szymon Godziek
POL
Taylor Vernon
UK
Theo Erlangsen
SA
Thibault Laly
FRA
Thomas Genon
BEL
Vincent Tupin
FRA
Tahnée Seagrave, Cami Nogueira, Hannah Bergmann, Louise-Anna Ferguson and Vaea Verbeeck began training on Monday.
Sam Reynolds didn’t like how it looked, and he wasn’t wrong:
Sam does the ‘OK’ in inverted commas, and indeed, is a concussion OK? Yes, it’s better than falling into the actual canyon, but a brain injury is still an injury.
Got spat out of this one pretty hard but somehow came away with just a concussion, thanks everyone for the help off the hill
Jim Monro – Instagram
Brendan Fairclough is apparently less worried:
Dean Lucas thinks it’s all gone too far:
There’s a bit of debate over on the Forum about what’s driving this. Is it progression or attention seeking? Will people do this stuff anyway, or is it pressure for attention and sponsors? What’s the difference between this and Red Bull Rampage?
2p From Me
For me, the key difference between Red Bull Hardline and Red Bull Rampage is twofold. One: Nothing at Rampage is mandatory – even the built features that are provided don’t have to be ridden. You dig and build your own thing, to your own tune, to your own strengths. There’s no ‘here’s a thing if you think you’re hard enough’ pressure to add into the mix. Two: Hardline is a race. Riders aren’t just aiming to clear the features, they’re aiming to do it at speed. I’m unconvinced that switching between red-mist race brain and Nitro-Circus level feature clearing is a great combination.
I’ve have many debates with people before about the ways in which I think Red Bull Rampage manages to tread just the right side of controlled risk taking vs glorifying self destruction. I don’t think I can step to the defence of this feature in the context of Hardline.
2p From Mark
He’s lucky to be alive and the problem I have is that the cost of entry to trying something like this is a bike, some wood and a massively dangerous drop. The first death from this is probably likely to be someone copying it in their local quarry.
Caveat: I’m 53 years old.
Back in the ‘olden’ days impressive stunts like this were common on the tellybox. Saturday night TV was full of it. But there was always a big fat notice or a presenter who said, ‘Don’t try this at home…. professional this and that blah’. Not that this made any difference to whether kids went into the park and spannered themselves but it at least showed that the producers were aware of the risks and the danger that showing it could cause. Red Bull don’t seem to care at all as long as it gets the clicks and engagement. I have a moral issue with this stuff and the fact the driving force is weighted too much towards commercial interests with questionable care given to the consequences. The policy seems to be, go bigger than we did last time, which is kind of how it’s always been in all endeavors but at some point there’s going to be a limiting line and the price of crossing that line was almost paid in full by Jim here. If they really cared there would have been a net up right from the start, although it would not have helped Jim. They got really lucky. The Risk Asessement doc must be interesting read, if there is one.
I know, I know. I sound just like my dad.
2p From Benji
Maybe the riders like doing things like this? I imagine they’ve been doing stupid shit since young, which is how they got where they are. That’s my Devil’s Advocate mode. Not sure if I’m fussed either way tbh!
Add your 2p… head to the comments and/or vote in this poll:
How To Watch Hardline
If you’ve still got the stomach to watch it, Hardline will be broadcastlive globally on Red Bull TV on Sunday 2nd June at 2.30pm GMT. Ahead of the event, the week’s best action from course walk and practice will be on the Red Bull Bike YouTube.
Hardline Canyon Gap Jump Is Out
We’ve been informed by a source at the event that the organisers have decided not to include the canyon gap jump as part of the Red Bull Hardline course. The…
Red Bull Hardline 2024: The biggest DH Race gets bigger, with extra venue added
Rumours that Red Bull Hardline will become a series have been roaming the internet corridors a while, so it’s perhaps no surprise to have the official news: Hardline will have…
‘The World’s Toughest Downhill Race’, Red Bull Hardline, had a surprise up its sleeve this year, before the weekend’s racing has even kicked off. Tahnée Seagrave had pulled together a…
mrdobermannFree Member
Danny Way done something similar on a skateboard 18-20 years ago!
(which was very cool, but…) Danny had that built exactly as he wanted it, for him to hit. These lads have essentially turned up at the track and been told “there you go, you need to do that if you want to ride the event”. Quite a different prospect imo
Well all I can say is I hope the safety netting is up to the task. I can imagine the forces of someone hitting it from 30/40/50+ ft up at those kind of speeds is going to be pretty large. The scaffolding towers, presuming they’re going to fix it to them, look somewhat sketchy to me but I’m not a scaffolder.
Personally I think this is a step too far and there’s too much chance of something going seriously wrong with this one. Once you need netting and loads of pads all over the place it just seems a bit like a circus. Maybe that’s the point.
I did see a (seemingly educated) comment elsewhere that the wind load from a safety net would mean needing a far bigger structure than they have there. Suppose we’ll see what changes through the week.
I don’t see it being used as is. 3 hits; BK was very close to the left side of the landing, Matt was way off to the other side and I didn’t get the impression it was intentional, Jimbo is now laid up with a decent concussion. Not a great proving session.
elsewhere that the wind load from a safety net would mean needing a far bigger structure than they have there
BK was veryclose to the left side of the landing, Matt was way off to the other side
I did think before they even went down it that the chances of a full run will be limited as the wind will effect that jump massively and in these vids it was flat calm. There is no plan B wind effected possibility with that track… unless they are now going to dismount and run along those planks
BK only just landed , another foot to the left would have been a big accident.
They needn’t bother with a net. Just stick a shark tank in the gap. #facetiousbuttruenonetheless
Looking back to when they had a surplus of jobless carpenters in Utah, I thought that things had changed for the better since they stopped adding the structures at Rampage. The Athertons obviously beg to differ.
I can’t watch that. Fine saying they are grown adults making a choice, but these top level Red Bull events make & sustain careers so there’s a pressure on riders to participate that is close to exploitation.
If there was some obvious sense that Red Bull had put in a structure that looked after rider & course safety and post crash care I’d be able to watch it. Maybe Redbull do behind the scenes, but it feels like they don’t want to talk about it, so it ends up appealing mostly to teenage boys and men hoping to see some gore.
There’s a way of constantly increasing progression that doesn’t involve scaring the living daylights out of skilled pros. F1, for all of it’s faults, demonstrates how a sport can use danger as part of the appeal while still constantly talking about and improving safety.
If it emerges that it was a safely run event and there’s some cool footage, I’ll watch the highlights, but this years one has no appeal to me as a live sporting event.
There is no plan B wind effected possibility with that track… unless they are now going to dismount and run along those planks
Where they turn left and head to the first stream jump is just above the old (pre cliff drop) course so it’d be possible to re-join that. It’d not really matter though as there’s still the 90 footers and the road gap.
Just seen those videos. It does make you wonder if someone at the more sane end of the self-preservation scale will just say, “nah, ‘ollocks to that”, and decline to compete. The risks there just seem stupid. If you come up slightly short you are straight into a timber knife edge.
I do wonder if they have already had some riders voting with their feet, just not entertaining it. Surely that feature is going to be heavily adapted for the actual event.
Agreed. The same can be said for a lot of the WC DH too. Motocross tracks without the loop and some gradient. It gets more a test of bottle than all round bike riding skill.
Cuz da Internet wants da big jumps and da big roosts in da cornaz innit.
It actually makes me not wildly bothered that the UCI has sold its soul to Discovery-ESO-WB with Messrs Ball and Cunningham.
If the Athertons get away with another event this year with no life-limiting injuries or fatalities, the ante will just get raised each year until there is one.
Ed Masters has it right “the Internet wants death”.
That Matt Jones video is great, you really get the idea of just how scary it is but also how they approach it. The first ‘gnarly gnarly’ video didn’t do that.
Just seen those videos. It does make you wonder if someone at the more sane end of the self-preservation scale will just say, “nah, ‘ollocks to that”, and decline to compete.
It’s no different to previous years in that respect then. The cliff drop was a big deal the first year along with the 90 footers 2 years ago. Multiple world cup riders have turned up for practice and declined to ride the full course or actually race it.
Yes, Matt Jones actually explains it in his latest video and says that BK’s ‘job this week’ is to test and check to see what is rideable and what needs to be changed. They didn’t go near the 90° hip over the stream higher up but said what would need to change.
I got the impression that BK, and maybe Jim Monro, are there to work and be paid. Jones just seemed to go along for a laugh – but he’ll also be getting massive hits on SM and YT so probably will be able to afford to eat this week 😉
I’d guess they’ll be back tomorrow and Wednesday to fettle some more.
It does make you wonder if someone at the more sane end of the self-preservation scale will just say, “nah, ‘ollocks to that”,
im sure plenty already so given the lack of top wish riders on the list. Bruni for example as clearly declined his sponsor invitation. I’m sure many others do too
The line into the hip wasn’t built on the last video that why it wasn’t ridden.
I love the track, really making people sit up and notice.
Some right fannies on here worried about the danger element of an extreme sport.
The more I see of the track the more I’m looking forwards to being there on Sunday.
I really want as many riders as possible to have clean runs and hit all the big features. I do hope the canyon gets work to make sure the entry list can all clear it – currently looks like it sends them too high!
Some right fannies on here worried about the danger element of an extreme sport.
Im all for people being able to do what they want and try and kill themselves how they want. I used to jump off cliffs skiing , jump over crevasses etc.
But all that wasn’t in the name of making other people rich, or trying to get mass social media and mainstream media coverage.
The danger with the way Redbull appears to be going with Ramoage and Hardline is that someone will die or have life changing injuries which gets this level of organised sport banned .
Idf you are going to do it ‘professionally’ like this is being done you have to take safety seriously
Anyhow didn’t headline start with the ethos getting a bike down the most challenging natural mountain, to now get your bike down the most challenging heap of scaffolding 😂
The danger with the way Redbull appears to be going with Ramoage and Hardline is that someone will die or have life changing injuries which gets this level of organised sport banned .
The Isle of Man TT has fatal injuries pretty much every year as far as i know and I’ve never heard anyone say that should be banned
The Isle of Man TT has fatal injuries pretty much every year as far as i know and I’ve never heard anyone say that should be banned
loads of people have called for the TT to be banned. However they have done all they can realistically do with safety
Marshals have site of every section of the track, areas are heavily padded. There are qualified trauma doctors on site in various positions along with lots of paramedics. There is also dedicated helicopter support. So I would say they take safety a lot more seriously
I’m very much in the they are free thinking adults who can make their own decisions on what they want to do camp, no one is forcing them to do it. And equally no interest in the inevitable go fund me page if it does go wrong.
I don’t think red bull really care how many mountain bikers watch it live, it’s more of social media content gathering exercise
That (TT) course hasn’t changed in a century and is very much a known quantity, what’s made it dangerous is the speed the riders do it at as time has gone on
This is the course being changed to make it deliberately more dangerous.
Matt Jones is an absolulute gift to mountain biking- good enough to ride this mad stuff, but normal enough to be shit scared, I love seeing them arguing about who’ll go first, walking round stuff etc, just like my lot on a normal ride except multiplied by a million. His Rampage video added a ton of value in the same way. I’d rather watch him working his way down than the winning run I reckon.
FunkyDunc
Free Member
I didn’t like the comment at the end of the vid where they said they are now going to put safety nets up. Maybe put the safety nets up first , and then remove them once all riders have cleared ? Rather than risk life changing injuries or death first .
I guess the important thing is that this is the test runs, the course isn’t finished and there’s literally no pressure, even Bernard Kerr who’s job ultimately is to approve it and ride it, can say “no”. Matt says partway through “I didn’t know this was happening today” which fits too.
I guess the nets are going to be catch near the top, rather than big trapeze style full nets? Stop the fall early rather than try and save it at the bottom. If anything it’s the awfulness of the landing that hit me- you can’t come up short of course but you also can’t go long, you go straight into unprepared hill, you’ve got to land and turn. And if you land to the left it’s just a less awful cliff, to the right it’s more unprepared hill. You obviously would choose to go long or right if it goes wrong but that’s not how it works, you’ve got to get it <right> and getting it right means you’ve no choice but to be close to the big hazard.
The whole thing would feel a lot less iffy to me with a better landing, without really losing anything of the obvious peril. In that way it’s comparable to the trailbuilding we do, a little double or rock feature can be an unacceptable risk but we often can fix that by taking out the fall hazards, brashing the trees and shifting rocks, improving sightlines etc, so that the failures are less bad.
thebunk
Full Member
I can’t watch that. Fine saying they are grown adults making a choice, but these top level Red Bull events make & sustain careers so there’s a pressure on riders to participate that is close to exploitation.
I’m always really relieved when someone just walks away. It’s a sort of proof of concept, if everyone who was signed up rides it that leaves me a wee bit twitchy at this level.
But as long as it’s standalone events I don’t really see the pressure in that way, like rampage there’s so few riders that actually <do> it that you can’t really say anyone can feel they have to. There’s a lot of riders these days that could do it and don’t, it’s just not that obvious because they’re just not doing it. Yoann Barelli’s inputs always welcome 😉
loads of people have called for the TT to be banned. However they have done all they can realistically do with safety
Marshals have site of every section of the track, areas are heavily padded. There are qualified trauma doctors on site in various positions along with lots of paramedics. There is also dedicated helicopter support. So I would say they take safety a lot more seriously
All of this may be true but people still die every year, everyone taking part knows the risks involved and are prepared to take those risks, the same applies here in my eyes. Plenty of the the top racers don’t think it’s worth the risk and don’t turn up despite being sponsored by Redbull
Hard-line had always been a man made track with huge features dug, never just a natural ride down a mountain that’s the whole punta
Same for rampage, man made lines where athletes go to have free choice not bound by overbearing international federations etc.
I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones.
More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments.
I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.
