That's going to need quite a large crash pad below o)
Apparently it's for a ski jump event....
Well that is quite a suprise.
Looking forward to it even more now. Hopefully not cancelled due to weather this year!
Seems to be a considerable portion of the track missing!
What in the wide wide world of sports is that?
There is a landing too. They were a bit disingenuous with how they posted it, but even adjusted it still looks stupid!
Rampage canyon gaps go to mid Wales!
That's a pretty aggressive kick, considering you'll be going at a million miles an hour when you hit it
From memory of the site that's below the cliff drop so at least a third of the course will be different. Perhaps they've got fed up of people falling off near the top.
That’s a pretty aggressive kick, considering you’ll be going at a million miles an hour when you hit it
That was my first thought, admittedly I don't know the first thing about building jumps like that so I hope they've got it right.
At the Tasmania one they had Bernard kerr and a couple of other guys out beforehand to test everything but I don't know if that's the case here .
I don't know if it's because I'm getting old but looking at that makes me a bit uneasy. I love watching downhill racing but I'm not sure that's what i think should be in a course, hardline or any other race .
There are a few videos on instragram from Bernard and Matt Jones looking at the ramp down to the kicker. No jumps yet but it looks like getting enough speed won’t be a problem!
I’m looking forwards to watching it but I’m a bit gutted for the women who were probably hoping for the old course to finally clear all the features. It doesn’t look like there can be a ride-around line for this canyon jump so we might not get a full run by a woman. I hope I’m proved wrong though and they hit it - bus just seen that Lou Ferguson isn’t riding as her sponsors want her to focus on the WC races (which is the danger of having this mid-season).
Is it possible that the shape of that take off is to encourage tricks?
I’m pretty certain there will be a superman over that jump by the end of next weekend.
Loved the response from Mr. Gnarr himself on IG 🙈😆
I know that picture is distorted but is the kicker so severe because the landing is much higher than the takeoff? Could be a massive step up.
Doesn't matter to me I'll be watching on telly!
Well of course you can't just ride onto the thing, that'd be like a chicken line.
I like that it seems to be painted in some sort of grip paint but also it's all falling off up the steps they've had to build up the side everywhere it's been touched, that's a nice addition. You couldn't get me to <stand> on that thing. Barking.
It's a really long video but it had me smiling constantly, just really nicely done, informative but funny too, especially every time Gee's on camera "What's this called. Do you even know?" "Have you measured this?" "Yep" "With a tape?" "No". Definitely worth watching if you're going to watch any of the race I think.
It's a bit crazy that only after these guinea pig runs, they've then seemingly thought it's a good idea to put catch netting up!
That is wild, watch til the end………
I just hope no one gets a career limiting injury
I just hope no one gets a career limiting injury
Or dies. That's utterly mad. I'm surprised they can even run it as a legitimate event. 2 out of 3 almost miss the landing in that video.
@pothead those reels don't work for me through a browser - whose account are they on?
I've always defended events like this against the pearl clutchers but that even makes me clench my bumhole a bit.
Matt Jones had a go too.
Absolutely terrifying.
The 90 degree wooden feature further up looked insane as well although much lower consequence.
What do they think those blue pads are going to do, make it easier to collect the body?
“No broken bones, just a bump to the head……”
That’s a pretty aggressive kick, considering you’ll be going at a million miles an hour when you hit it
That was my first thought too.
I noticed in BK and Matt Jones videos that there's a guy from 'Monalith Curved Surface Specialists' there (he is holding the crash pad at the bottom of the ramp during some of the test run ins).
The have worked with red bull on some projects before, and they also build skate parks and BMX stuff, so I wonder if they've built that feature.
BMX and park ramps tend to have a tighter radius and kickier lips.
Matt Jones video just shows how close the last rider came to potentially being killed
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 .
Does just confirm it’s getting in to dangerous territory of being a spectacle of crashing being part of it or if there are safety nets that’s makes it a bit full to watch
BK ‘s crash last year must have attracted more views to the event than anything else. At least one rider has already helped on that front this year.
Also may as just cover the hillside in concrete berms and ski jumps from how it’s starting to look
Why hasn’t Brendan Fairclough been asked to test the gap jump, he’s clearly the king of gap jumps, does he sponsorship profile not fit with red bull ?
Fairclough is sponsored by Monster.
Interesting that 3 of them tried that gap but none tried the smaller one further back up the hill, Bernard Kerr did say on his vid that they wouldn't have enough speed to clear it so possibly more track changes before the race. It definitely needs a safety net below that scaffold jump though
I’m in two minds about this.
I used to ski a quite a bit.
Part of me thinks that mountain biking YouTube is going through the same thing that “extreme” skiing videos went through about 15 years ago, where athletes were pushing the boundaries to the point that some of the big names in the sport started dying.
However I’m also aware that when I was skiing off piste I was also skiing lines that could (and did) look unnecessarily risky to less experienced skiers, when in reality it wasn’t that dangerous for my skill level at the time. The same applies to mountain biking, I ride stuff now that when I started I would have thought unrideable. These guys are just riding at a different level to us mortals, so I suspect the danger may not be as bad as it seems.
Kramer - kind of agree. They are people at the peak of their sport and they enjoy pushing the limits.
However what was interesting was that these jumps don’t appear to have been designed/built by the riders, which imo makes a big difference.
G didn’t ride it, Matt said himself on camera that he’s got more in life now to worry about than just messing around on bikes.
BK still is a big kid so less to loose
Yes they should push the boundaries and I fully get why they want to, but when a company is making money from it , they should act as the grown up in the room.
There was a lady with the riders who appeared to be the safety advisor, which appeared to extend to don’t do anything silly until we have a paramedic . A paramedic can’t do much if you have already paralysed or killed yourself
Danny Way done something similar on a skateboard 18-20 years ago!
I feel more uncomfortable watching this, maybe because I’m 50 now. Stunt show now!
However what was interesting was that these jumps don’t appear to have been designed/built by the riders, which imo makes a big difference.
Massive difference imo. That Instagram video is even worse, does he start losing it on the launch because of the compression going into it?
Does appear that he let go of the bike as soon as he left the ramp, I imagine wasn’t ready for the compression or the kick?
When they first looked at it the landing was straight on to the scaffold, then when they jump it the landing has been extended by a good metre or more
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.
