Rampage Qualifying Action…To be continued (hopefully)
As you already know, yesterday was a bit hectic at Rampage. Aside from Aggy’s big off, there weren’t quite as many bad crashes as there were the day before. A handful of extended wind delays pushed the schedule out as the weather pushed in. Unfortunately, the storm hit right in the middle of the athlete’s second qualification round.
UPDATE
These are the qualifying end-results. Aggy is in!
The day started with a rider’s meeting to address wind and weather issues, layout, judging etc. Rider’s voiced concerns and the organizers should be applauded for the manner in which they fielded them. Hat’s off to them – this isn’t an easy event in all regards. Competing in it, judging in it and organizing it are all brutal. Two of which are thankless jobs.
The first round went fairly smoothly for the most part, aside from a few more wind holds than we’d like to see – those delays inevitably meant that the weather would hit before the second round completed.
Wil White was the first to drop in – a flat tire would cost him his run. Classic ridgeline shot for Wil. San Diego represent! Currently in 22nd spot
You can clearly see the influence that racing elite level World Cup DH has had on Mitch Ropelato. 15th in Qualies.
Speaking of influence, you can tell Yannick came straight off of the FMB. Some big flips in his run, but just outside the top 10 with a 12th place for the frenchman.
The last few days of dry hot weather took a toll on the courses. Kyle Jameson charged hard, but a slide out in a big loose turn cost him and he came in at 14th.
Ryan Howard was killing us with his style throwing some really buttery whips all throughout his run. Currently he’s on the bubble. If round two of the qualies finishes tomorrow he could get bumped out.
Makken is a wild dude. His runs were super fun to watch but had a couple of errors. A berm blowout and a sloppy backflip cost him and he ended up in 21st. The huge superman didn’t help him much as it was in his second round. He probably has had more fun than anyone at the whole event though.
Bend, Oregon local has been peaking lately. He threw a huge suicide no hander on the go-pro step down and did a big back flip on the ridgeline jump up in the windy top zone. Super impressive. 9th in qualies.
James Doerfling stayed true to what he’s known for and just charged a massive loose all mountain line. A botched indian air didn’t phase his 8th place standing as it occurred in his second run. Such a great rider to watch.
Mike Hopkins charged SO fast down his run and into this sketchy step down drop, stomping it both times. In his second run however he was the last rider down the hill and was interrupted by a camera man who was errantly standing in his line just before the go-pro sender. After pulling off track and throwing his arms up the crowd started chanting for him to get a re run.
Nicholi Rogatkin had a hard time acclimating to the loose Utah dirt. We aren’t sure who left their hat up on the mountain, but Nicholi and his bike found it.
Jeff Herbertson threw down a stormer of a run and landed in 5th place. He put his demons to rest and stomped the 73 foot canyon gap just one day after a massive crash when he came up short on it the day before.
Szymon Godziek is sitting in 3rd after stomping a huge, perfect backflip off the 73′ canyon gap. He was the only person to trick the big jump.
Bernard Kerr also threw down a stormer of a run and basically just charged right down the middle of the mountain down a raw line then threw some stylish whips. This year’s Rampage was supposed be concentrated on more natural lines and less wood, so it was nice to see him rewarded with a 7th place finish.
Mitch Chubey had a really creative and big hip drop in his run. Small mistakes would cost him. 17th.
Tom VanSteenbergen sent a pretty wild line right down the middle ridgeline and stomped the canyon gap nicely. 2nd place and sitting pretty.
Robbie Bourden took a pretty wild entry line but had some issues shortly after. 18th on the day.
Norbs charged deep into some loose berms and threw some big tricks down low to settle into 4th place.
In the end it was Brett Rheeder that would qualify first. Creative lines up top and a huge backflip down below. Look out for him come finals.
Aggy contemplating the big one.
Coming up a couple feet short would cost Aggy massively. We’re gutted as he’s a favorite going in and easily one of the best guys to watch. He’s feeling fine now, but may not get a second chance to to the weather. Time will tell…
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