in my experience* the more time you have in the air, the more time you have to make rational decisions about how, when and where to bail.

also, there is (possibly maybe) an inverse relationship between the size of a jump and injuries sustained in a crash, therefore that chap who’s about to jump out of a hot air balloon in space should have taken a Santa Cruz V10 with him.

* reading about it on the internets

we’re not cats.
physics says higher you are, harder you fall*
*faster, terminal velocity something like 12 seconds of freefall?

but yeah these guys are damn good at crashing. there’s a skill to that too.

And thats not long after he nearly did his back in at Crankworx trying to flip the 60 footer but over rotating…

Youtube vid

I’d have been super safe there……….because I’d have been walking most of the way (with a rope!) to the flippin jump let alone leaving mother earth behind at that stupid ravine! Looks like a nice place – TO HAVE A PICNIC!

What a pu$$y.

All manner of Bad Ass…

The judging was all over the place though – can’t believe the McCauls didn’t place higher than they did and Norby’s run was amazing – certainly better than the position he was given

^^ Yeah agree about the judging, the McCauls and Norbs should have placed higher imo

He gets away with that after an 80 foot gap!!

Just to remind you that we are human, this was an eight foot drop

Klunk – Member

didn’t Gee turn down the chance of another run last year ? It’s OK I’ll take third.

Gee said afterwards he couldn’t improve on his first run- job done basically. Amazing stuff though, this year it seemed like half the entrants did his cliff-drop-to-wallride thing but last year it was mindboggling,

To be fair WCA you have previous!

The McCauls? You mean there are more than one of those complete nut jobs in this world?

Can’t believe he didn’t clean land that 😯

Seriously it was saying hello to those two before the drop-in that put him off I reckon.

Keerist – I was scared enough just watching the first part of the run…when I saw the ramp I think a tiny bit of wee escaped.

Seriously batshit mental.

WARNING – LOOK AWAY IF SQUEAMISH!

I did this yesterday from 4 feet 🙁 wear those knee pads kids!

Edit: photo removed 😳

Jeez louise put a warning up or something 🙁

Apologies – no offence meant. Perhaps a mod can do it? or remove it?

Some more perspective…

Christ that’s steep

That’s not steep, it’s vertical!

Felt nauseous watching that. He’s lucky to not have broken his legs or back. Am also slightly unsettled that Red Bull expects young men to do insane stunts like that for our entertainment and very little reward. Bit like watching gladiators fighting lions, only they haven’t released lions onto the Rampage arena yet.

yeah i’ve got to be honest, (part of the reason i find it so amazing is) it is very dangerous.
otoh.. it’s kinda fantastic that this exists, and no **** in a suit has shut it down. riders know the risks presumably?

hmm. is this like the huck-it thing in the 90s where it can’t get any bigger (i.e. it’s stupid, people are dying) and it has to stop and restart?

What bothers me is the way they’re all conscripts too. Mmmm.

Actually, tbh it was a wee bit uncomfortable this year as they’d made it a round of the FMB world tour, and a diamond at that… Brought people into the event that’d never normally do it. Not sure that’s a good thing, after all there wasn’t a shortage of riders who’d do it even if there were no points up.

Yes, totally agree that nobody forces the riders to do stuff like that. Guess I’m just uncomfortable with watching young men risk life-changing spinal injury for a pocketful of cash. Many admit to being scared rather than amped before their runs (I’ve been to a Rampage and spoken to riders) and an 80ft gap jump like that is in a different order of magnitude to a DH race course.

[stoopid question]

I enjoyed watching it and agree that the judging was a bit suspect. I think events with judging are a bit dodgy though.
I do think it’s getting too much though. I just think the big woodern ramps shouldn’t be there. To me, the event is about riding the amazing natural landscape but adding in these huge jumps just takes the event too far. Someone will get hurt. I wonder if this near miss will make the organisers a bit more nervous?

I think the reason most of the riders are there is the prize money –
$21,000 has GOT to be worth the the risk….

🙄

I feel slightly sick that someone might well die for a few cans of pop. It’s gotten a bit silly hasn’t it?

They need parachutes

To be honest, I thought it was a bit odd to invite the likes of Anthony Messere to the Rampage this year: It’s one thing riding the smooth lines of the Joyride event, but the Rampage is whole different kettle of fish.

IMO Kyle Norbraten had one of the best runs of the day, but was scored relatively poorly for it. I sometimes think that the judges make their mind up before the event who is going to win, subject to crashes etc., of course.

I watched this on Sunday, pretty unbelievable.

Someone is going to get killed or very seriously injured. I happens in extreme skiing/boarding and doesn’t stop the sport but it is easy to see why a number of the riders don’t really enjoy doing it.

Tend to agree with those that say it has gone a bit too far now.

Nice idea to take the same format as freeride ski/board but in those events they tend to keep it as natural as possible including the kickers and there is at least ‘some’ chance of planning a softer landing if it all goes horribly wrong.

Total and utter craziness!

Sweating palms watching the run up to the ramp, then I was just plain uncomfortable.

Surely SuperCross riders do equally crazy things, or are they all pushed into it by RedBull too? (Genuine question).

Happy that the guy could ‘sort-of’ walk away from it though.

Previously I mentioned that I thought Red Bull are exploiting extreme behaviors. I derive no entertainment from watching people damage themselves. And if you offer a large enough incentive, the thrill-seeking extreme end of the bell-curve will respond accordingly.

Previously I mentioned that I thought Red Bull are exploiting extreme behaviors. I derive no entertainment from watching people damage themselves. And if you offer a large enough incentive, the thrill-seeking extreme bell-end will respond accordingly.

Fixed it for you. 😉

Previously I mentioned that I thought Red Bull are exploiting extreme behaviors. I derive no entertainment from watching people damage themselves. And if you offer a large enough incentive, the thrill-seeking extreme bell-end will respond accordingly.

Fixed it for you.

I hope that’s a joke!

I was just gob-smacked watching all that live. Skill and balls/confidence/bravado beyond belief. And really interesting to hear how the riders felt about going that big, I always assumed they loved it and it was what motivated them.
I spent time learning to jump a long time ago and I never forget the buzz of going beyond the brake-stop point on something bigger than you feel 100% happy about and landing it (small stuff by average DJ stds now) but I stopped when a day at the 4x track was too often more about anxiety and pressure to progress than fun. For some the progress was fast, not for all. But the feeling of fear and pressure over-riding fun, well it’s interesting to know they still get it. I thought great riders went beyond that, or that not getting it, replacing it with confidence / experience, was what made those riders so good.

endorphins and adrenaline can be very addictive.

or are they all pushed into it by RedBull too?

I don’t think Red Bull or anyone else is actively pushing people to do things they don’t want to do, but I do think that these sort of events put riders under pressure to perform.

[Paragraph copied from a posting I made on a separate thread]
Annual events of this type need to continually be bigger than the last in order to keep it fresh and marketable and there will always be someone whose either genuinely good enough or dumb enough to attempt the jump, edge, height or whatever which leaves the other people working the circuit in a difficult position. Either don’t perform and risk losing your sponsorship and your livelihood or go ahead with something that you’re less than comfortable with and risk losing a great deal more.

Anyone know why the helmet cam video has been removed?