For 2016, Red Bull Rampage is returning to the raw roots of freeriding, with an entirely new venue! According to Red Bull, this new venue will provide many more natural feature options than in previous years. Also, athletes and their teams will have to build their lines without power tools, harkening back to the 2001 beginnings of freeride.
As the only mountain bike contest where each competitor creates his own path down the hill, Rampage 2016 will provide riders, and their two-member dig teams, with the best opportunity to flourish: All new line possibilities with more time to prepare — four build days and four practice days before finals — as well as less riders on the mountain.
“There will be no qualifier event this year,” confirms 2015 eighth-place finisher Darren Berrecloth. “So it’s going to be a more intimate event — less riders, less controversary about line choice.”
Red Bull also announced that they’re adding a two-day weather window for the finals competition in 2016, to provide the safest, most predictable weather possible for the athletes.
After several serious, life-threatening injuries last year, it’s good to see Red Bull attempting to limit the risk a bit by reducing the number of riders and people on the mountain, and by being more conscious of the weather. However, an event like Rampage can only get so safe–the nature of the competition is inherently death-defying and dangerous.
Stay tuned–Rampage is coming on October 14th!
