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I can’t watch it anymore. It’s inevitable that someone is going to die at Rampage, and I don’t want to watch that. Hell, it came very, very close to happening today. More power to the riders that want to do it, and anyone that wants to watch. I just can’t anymore. The carnage is too much for me.
It's really interesting that you talk about the older rampage being safer. I had the thought that Rampage needs to move to a new, untouched venue because it would likely lead to a safer event. If the riders have to cut their whole line into the mountain instead of building on what was built before, they will be more focused on just getting down, and not thinking about how they can make the whole run the biggest it can be. I've never seen so many big tricks thrown so high up on the mountain, where risk and exposure is so much higher. If that's not possible, I wonder how possible it would be to go back to the older venues and break down the lines currently built, pull out the sandbags, break down the landings, so that the mountain is more fresh again. It would be a huge and likely expensive undertaking though.
has the prize always been similar for winning?(value) 100k USD and a decent truck?
Thatll be a big reason for these guys to push.
I'm not sure if it was entirely the result of a multiple-time-repeat venue, but I found this year's runs harder to differentiate. To be clear, I don't want to trivialize any of what the riders are doing -- it's all extremely impressive and consequential. But from a spectator's perspective it seemed like there was less variety in the lines than in past editions, and apart from Zink's chute and maybe Zablotny's lily-pad it would be difficult for me to identify many distinctive features. Lots of slight variations, and it seemed like many of the lines converged around halfway down? And the announcers kept emphasizing the final trick jump that nearly everyone seemed to be hitting.
Perhaps that's just a trick of the camera, or the way it was filmed. Maybe the differences are more evident/obvious in person. Again, not talking down on the riders at all. But after watching the replay I think I can understand why Strait felt like there were no new opportunities for him at this venue.
I was thinking about this today and wonder if the judging put less emphasis on tricks then perhaps the riders wouldn't approach their lines/runs differently. I know riders can crash at any time but seems like they do overwhelmingly more when a tick is involved, especially the more complex ones.
Is there any word on Emil? It seemed that one was glazed over compared to Adolf.
He posted a short selfie video from the helicopter ride on his Instagram story. The caption said he was in the hospital and "doing OK." I haven't seen any additional updates.
This venue especially seems more worked in and full than others, imo Isted had the most interesting line, moved across the hill the most. Silva's canyon gap was sick, low, fast, and long, but not many other big gaps, mostly just drops. Maybe they'll move it to a different one next year but all of them are getting to be this way.
Not to down play his crash but I was pretty confused why it took so long to get him down the hill? Over an hour delay, when he seemed to be at least "awake and responsive". Could have been the wind making the helicopter not able to get to him. Do we know what his injuries were?
How much time was between the two crashes? Maybe the helicopter was still busy getting Adolf to the hospital when Emil crashed?
Apparently they had to call in a different helicopter because the one that got Adolf did not have a winch.
Does anybody know anything about Adolf Silva?
I have seen a story by Andreu Lacondeguy, who said that ”the road to recovery starts now” and sending healing vibes, but I don't know if this was due to his more extensive knowledge on the situation or just something he said from the bottom of his heart, hoping for the best.
I really really really hope the dude will be OK!
Fingers super crossed,
Mx
When adolf crashed they were pretty much able to land the chopper at the bottom of the landing and walk his stretcher over to it. Emil was next to a cliff just off one of those exposed ridges. Unsure how hurt Emil was or if they were being cautious and simply didn’t want him to exacerbate any issues trying to get down the hill. But he was in a much more difficult place to extract someone.
I usually don’t have a issue with the judging. But it really seemed all over the place this year.
I’m gonna guess Emil has a lower body injury and they simply couldn’t risk trying to walk him from that spot. So first they had to winch the backboard up to the riding line where it was flat. Then have the heli long line him out.
I think there was a massive change in rampage when they started giving the dig crews more access to water. They can build such fat lips and packed in landings with water that it ups the amplitude of what’s possible.
The live feed of the crash actually made it look not too bad, but the side angle thats floating around instagram truly shows the size of the cliff he fell off. Pretty sure he has hip and injuries in one leg, but unsure of specifics
Here is said insta post -
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQAXtkrCYVl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link…
Put it on a 3 minute delay. Don’t show a crash till you know the outcome. The level is only going to get higher in terms of tricks and it’s only a matter of time till someone is doing a 100 ft step down. Ultimately the riders are going to keep pushing the level to have a career. Yes the 100k and the truck is a big motivator (and deserved based on the viewership) but the biggest motivator is the opportunity for a decent or even great paycheck doing nothing but riding bikes. As well as getting your spot in the legend of the sport.
Ultimately 15 years ago they’d probably be replaying the crashes. I don’t think changing judging or implementing rules to try to curb the sports direction will accomplish much. But going forward the sport and the event will be better if silva’s run cuts to the commentary saying he has a heavy crash attempting a double backflip and the event is on hold. Show godzieks since he got up and is moving. If someone who goes down in practice okays their crash being used and it’s not too severe go ahead. People who want to see what happened will always be able to find a clip. But I don’t think it’s in the sports interest to broadcast something so traumatic to the world live.
You've put it so eloquently. Watching Gracey's crash in the WC was gnarly but that was kind of a rare incident, nearly all of the time, the WC riders get up and continue their run. The worst ones are where the riders are unconscious and you're just sat there anxious looking at the screen hoping they're okay, and they're the kinds of crashes that happen too frequently during rampage.
I don't watch Hardline live now and I don't watch rampage, I just can't stomach feeling like I might see someone's life get cut short on a live feed.
A slight delay on broadcast would be good or at least cut away from the injured rider laying still on the ground. For both Adolf and Symon it kept of a wide angle of them just lying there for like a minute.
Also I know if they are going for huge stunts on a certain jump I think they should do it in the practice , I know the spectacle of them breaking new ground on the race run seems cool but I would rather see the polished practiced runs with the way the event runs now, it's pure slopestyle, there was zero big mountain lines this year
And this goes for downhill and rampage, if someone comes off and hits their head, don't let them back on the bike , can't remember who came across the line without their helmet on after smashing their head but it's a bad look
Emil is a pro at it but the single crown didn't have any room for error on that drop
Not showing a crash (insulating people from the realities) won’t accomplish much for rider safety. It will definitely be better for the sport as people won’t be scared away from viewing. Many other sports have matured to be open and honest about the realities and dangers.
It is nice, however, that they don’t replay the crash and zoom in on the lifeless athlete. That is a respect thing though, in my opinion.
Tough day yesterday. I was sort of watching off and on while working on a truck project outside. Unfortunately, I was watching during Silva's crash. It was absolutely awful to see. It was crazy how Rogatkin uttered, "No!" halfway through Silva's double flip attempt. He could clearly see that he wasn't going to make it and knew that the resultant crash would be catastrophic.
Forgive me if this is a dumb question but on Adolf’s instagram story it shows that he’s reposting quite a few people’s stories where they mentioned him. Is that actually him reposting them orrrrr?
This all has me thinking about the structure of Rampage. Rampage is such a weird event because there's not really any effort to benefit or promote any of the rider's individual sponsors. The riders don't seem to be pushing their sponsors much, the sponsors don't seem to make much of an effort around the event (like, there aren't really "pits"), and Redbull doesn't seem to really care either. There's this small cadre of riders that have really built their entire career around Rampage. Storch, Zink, Strait, Sorge, T-Mac, Van Steenbergen, etc. - they don't do many other competitions, and they're not super visible in the bike world aside from Rampage. And, at least from an outside view, it seems like a more or less viable model - those guys continue to exist as professional mountain bikers. But I wonder what kind of benefits those guys are actually getting.
I was mostly thinking about this in terms of rider support - health insurance, etc. Every year, people start chirping about how Redbull should be providing health insurance to the competitors and how the riders should be getting paid more for the risks they're taking. But Redbull providing health insurance would be a weird way to do it - in pretty much every other competition on the planet, competitors have their own health insurance, generally paid for by their sponsors if they're a pro. Which makes sense; health insurance needs to last year round, not for a few days surrounding an event. But there's so little focus on the rider's sponsors at Rampage that I wonder how that all plays out. Despite all of the criticism, I think Redbull mostly runs a decent event. But it seems like there's room for improvement in promoting the brands that sponsor the riders, which in turn would have a more direct benefit to the riders.
Emil has reported on insta --
"suffered a big dislocation of my right hip that they managed to pop back in at the hospital… but will most likely need to get surgery on it to clean the socket up from pieces of bone. Besides that I am pretty much unscratched!"
I actually yelled at my TV (I don't ever do that) when he went for the double, you could clearly see he wasn't going to make it.
That was rough to watch and I'm actually a little surprised the other competitors still wanted to drop in after that.
Could be him, since he was awake and responsive last we knew, or his family so that people know he's seeing it and that it's appreciated
I hope it’s him and he’s just awaiting some confirmation about what his recovery is going to look like. still praying for him.
I can’t imagine being cool with watching an event where people die* in crashes as long as they don’t show you the crashes.
*assuming you’re not okay with people dying in said event, which may not be the case here.
First and above all else, my thoughts are with Adolf and his family. That was the most grotesque crash I have ever seen.
Background: I competed on the Freeskiing World Tour from 2001-2009.
In the span from ~03 to 2011, three individuals died competing including one person in Alaska at an event that I was at, waiting up top to drop on my run.
That experience has had lasting repercussions on my life.
There are still big mountain freeskiing contests and people are still risking it all at these events. I still watch them.
Rampage Take: There is something fundamentally different about Rampage that is starting to feel really really wrong. I do think it needs to fundamentally change in some way.
I don’t know if it’s because winter mountain sports in general experience more loss and thus it feels ‘normalized’ in some way. There have been so many legendary athletes who have died skiing/snowboarding/climbing in the mountains. Collectively they are honored and mourned when tragedy happens, but nobody really questions going out the next day.
The Monday Morning Quarterback session has become as much a part of Red Bull Rampage as the event itself. It’s the collective catharsis we all need after something that feels less like a sports competition and more like modern-day gladiators in the desert.
We’ll justify it, theorize ways to make it safer, and question the ethics, but the event will (probably) keep going. As long as the athletes want to ride, the fans want to watch, and Red Bull is willing to provide the infrastructure/distribution, it’ll continue. And deep down, we all know what’s likely to happen someday.
Like @Buckets Up , I was around the big-mountain comp scene in the late 2000s. I’ve seen people die, though I was home nursing a concussion, watching the live feed missing the event I so badly wanted to attend. (and quickly decided never to participate again) I also agree - In skiing, it’s almost “routine” to lose people to avalanches or other accidents.
Nothing will likely change. People like taking risks and testing limits. We'll come to our little message boards Monday morning and try to digest what we've seen.
I have huge respect for the athletes and what they pull off every year in that desert. My only hope is that they know there’s so much more to life beyond bikes. Losing the chance to live fully for one fleeting moment of glory just isn’t worth it. I say that firsthand, having lost years of my 20s to a concussion that wouldn’t stop fucking with me, a relatively mild injury compared to what we’re seeing now.
Sure hope everyone makes a full recovery.
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