Updated: New Start time – How To Watch Red Bull Rampage

…and no, the answer isn’t through your fingers from behind the sofa. The diggers and riders have been out in the Utah desert for a week or so now, s …

By stwhannah

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How To Watch Red Bull Rampage

So, the main comp is on the Friday, not Saturday?! Dammit, won’t be able to watch live.

Yup, that’s usually the way. Only on Saturday if it’s too windy on Friday.

Apparently Kyle Strait taken off to hospital in a helicopter, guess he’s out for tomorrow 🙁

Oh damn – not good : https://mbaction.com/2kyle-strait-fractures-three-vertebrae-in-crash-at-red-bull-rampage-site/

GF was checking out the terrain when we were in the area a couple weeks ago but didn’t have her full-face with her 😉

Assuming this is the Rampage thread then.

The scoring still confuses me

I was keen to watch as it’s a long few months till downhill starts but after the first couple of runs I realised it’s like watching a big fireworks show, after the first bang….whizz….woah it’s actually pretty boring.

The scoring’s still nonsense tbf, after accidentally going too high and then not having anywhere to go for the best runs in previous years, now they’ve started low so they have room to grow… But for that to be at all fair, they’re going to have to basically give better points for literally the same runs later.

They should just not publically score it, everyone gets slotted into an order based on, basically, feels. But it’d still be bollocks because the riders just can’t know what’s going to score on the day. Like, you do something new and awesome? Too bad, this year we’re scoring big perfect tricks on the big perfect runs highly.

Loving the fact some of the riders are wearing microphones this year, it adds so much… Just kidding, it’s a lot of silliness around some very not boring riding.

I think this event would benefit from the highest ranked riders going first rather than last. When you have first-timers testing conditions before more experienced riders it seems impossible for surprise results. Semenuk going first would set a scoring baseline.

90.6 that’s got to be a podium!

Godziak ripping it.. shades of Gee the speed he was carrying. That’s more exciting than the manicured (but amazing) jumps.

Godziak ripping it.. shades of Gee the speed he was carrying. That’s more exciting than the manicured (but amazing) jumps

I’d have put him in 1st for that run.

Nah, flipping the canyon doesn’t count for much apparently, otherwise McGarry would’ve won first time he did it.

Feel like A<span style=”font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;”>ndreu</span><span style=”font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;”>L</span><span style=”font-size: 12.8px;”> L</span><span style=”font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;”>acondeguy should have been scored higher.</span>

it’s actually pretty boring.

The commentary being so dire doesn’t help.

Andreu got robbed, a little bit.

Yeah they should really get Rob Warner doing the commentary.

Give him his due, Cam knows his stuff.

Yeah, Salema isn’t the most exciting commentator on the RedBull roster that’s for sure. At least he doesn’t have to do the product placements and nft plugging mid broadcast like he does on the Natural Selection snowboard competition live streams. That’s got to be soul destroying if you’re passionate about the sport.

I’m still laughing at how Jackson Riddle still looks so dorky and disappointed once again how Lacondeguy was underscored.

Watching these guys working their way down is pretty fascinating imo- seeing what they can and can’t ride slow basically. When the standard’s so high, you can forget a little bit how insane it is, but then when riders are tiptoeing down it really puts it into perspective again.

Plus, it’s nice to see that the best in the world look just as dorky as me when they’re pushing down stuff

@Northwind I was thinking exactly the same thing, seeing them tiptoe down. Sorry not to see Riddle and Stark do another run, wanted to see what they could do.

Lol I was laughing at that as they were walking down stuff yeah

The minute he’s off the bike, he’s the ungainly kid with the bowl cut 😂
It’s a real pity that the wind picked up, I really wanted to see his second run

it’s actually pretty boring.

I guess if you don’t realise what you’re watching it would be. Put it in perspective o.. er why am I bothering to explain ? 😂

Highlights this year for me –
Semenuk’s drop-in and subsequent speed down that chute
Boggs mic’ed up run, brilliant
Lecondguy’s skillz
William Robert being the only freerider in the world with a non freerider name!

all finished a bit flat without the second runs, but oh well.

I’m amazed Semenuk could sit on his saddle after that drop. That size testicles must surely get in the way!

I love it but I still don’t understand the scoring.  We were watching trying to guess what the riders would score and we never got even close.

I’m going off it further each year.

it’s now at the point where you could build these tracks any where so long as you have gradient. The tracks are all manicured and swept and the jumps / berms etc are all man made it appears much more so this year than in years gone by

Yes the skill is amazing but for me now it’s all man made, but I guess that is the general direction of travel with mtb with most people riding completely man made trails

That’s because people want bigger, crazier and harder. The only way you can do it is but having nice landings.

I’d bet that the bulk of each rider’s line – especially the likes of Cam Zink, are far from manicured. Sure – the landing areas are built big and smooth, because they need to be, but there are still gnarly, near natural chutes and linking sections that have seen little shovel work.

it’s now at the point where you could build these tracks any where so long as you have gradient

Tod (the guy that runs rampage) has looked all over the world and never found anywhere that offers the same mix of of gradient, the right sort of dirt, treeless views and access for people! But the building is part of the point – each rider is building a line that they choose. Every other competition, the line is there for them. So the riders are looking at a hillside and figuring out what they can do to get down it and throw tricks – it’s a different sort of mountain biking to what the rest of us do, but I can still appreciate the creativity and skills. In fact, I think I’ve come round to it more over the years, as I’ve got to understand more about the dig/trick/jump scene.

I love it but I still don’t understand the scoring.

I think it would definitely benefit from more transparency in the scoring – i.e. publishing the full breakdowns of the scores.

The tracks are all manicured and swept and the jumps / berms etc are all man made it appears much more so this year than in years gone by

Agree with this to a degree, but then I think we’re also spoiled by the standard and progression in slopestyle these days which maybe sets the weight of expectation for Rampage too high (which then requires the more groomed sections to be safe(r)). Maybe everything should be knocked down at the end of each year so that things start more from scratch each time – would also level the playing field for new riders.

I appreciate the massive level of skill involved but found it oddly underwhelming this year. I would definitely feel more invested with some transparency of the scoring. How was Andreu Locandeguy’s score so low? His line looked terrifying, he did huge tricks and he was much faster than other riders.  The look of dissappointment / confusion on his face as his score came in…

I think some form of audience voting on the scores would be cool. Who are the judges for Rampage?

How was Andreu Locandeguy’s score so low?

Call me cynical but are they going to let a former Red Bull athlete win Rampage?

But the building is part of the point – each rider is building a line that they choose

But its supposed to be freeride on natural terrain. If you need hundreds of sandbags and 10 days to make your line smoother than the tarmac outside my house then its hardly what you would call natural. They might as well bring in the steel take off ramps from slopestyle competitions for all the difference it would make to the natural element of the event.

How was Andreu Locandeguy’s score so low?

Call me cynical but are they going to let a former Red Bull athlete win Rampage?

I get the feeling his face just doesn’t fit somehow.

Has he rubbed people up the wrong way, as well as not being on RB anymore?

Just on the basis of his riding style, his was the only run I was excited about seeing this year (with Brage off sick), and the score was bafflingly low.

now it’s all man made

I must’ve watched a different Rampage.

Who are the judges for Rampage?

They showed them – included Josh Bender and Darren Berrecloth

Strait’s practice video is interesting – different perspective on some of the lines, which shows, I think, that a lot of the “boring” side of the Red Bull coverage is down to the camera angles they use. The angle and depth of some of his drops look ridiculous, you also get far more idea of the speed he’s going.

Anyway, (slight spoiler) it doesn’t show the crash, just a POV, which made me whince.

5min 36 shows it well… he drops… but he’s then a massive amount down the bottom…. it’s so so far.

I don’t get the “all man made” comment either.

I thought they were using the natural features more than normal this year, if anything.

Watch the top half of Andreu’s run for example…

I don’t get the “all man made” comment either.

I thought they were using the natural features more than normal this year, if anything.

Watch the top half of Andreu’s run for example…

To be fair yes the top of that run is natural, but from 44 seconds down it requires a lot of man made stuff, and the trail has been swept

Back at 24 seconds (not his line) someone has built the great wall of China on the side of the hill just so they can ride down it. Some of the other vids I watched showed massive areas of this.