Building the Course with Big Red Ted

So you made it out alive. What was your impression of the event?
Red Bull Rampage: The Evolution was a great event. My crew (Kenny Smith, Adam Billinghurst, Tom Hey, Chad Onyschuk and Doug Fink) and I are stoked to have had the opportunity to build in such a unique place. The terrain is like nowhere else I have ever seen. There was such a huge void in the freeride contest calendar after Red Bull Rampage was terminated in 2004, so it was very important to me that we moved forward with "the Evolution". The original Red Bull Rampage had a huge impact on big mountain riding and spawned freeriding into the mainstream. Images from the original event can still be found splashed in print and blaring on your local cable television set. The old footage showed riders decked out in armor bomb-dropping off red cliffs into impossibly soft landings. I wanted to make it better. The challenge was keeping the big mountain vibe intact while bringing the contest into the here and now. The bikes are better, the riders are better; my challenge was to create a playing field to both challenge the riders and challenge the way viewers looked at big mountain riding.

How long before the event did you and your crew arrive on site and start building?
We were budgeted a crew of three and 21 days to build. A tall order, but we had a good, hard-working crew. After fourteen long, sunrise-to-sunset days in the heat, I flew in some reinforcements. Tom Hey is a master shaper from the UK and Chad Onsychuk (Canadian National DH Champ) kept our shit tight. Adam Billinghurst (chainless RULER) and Kenny Smith (Big Mountain Pinner) and I were thankful for the help for the final week. Demolition Doug Fink (Drop-in, RISE) was flown in for the event, the teardown and the rehabilitation of the site.

Where did the ideas for the ramp elements come from?
The terrain and natural elements dictated where the wood features would be built.  For example, the wood scoop on Rachel's Ridge gets the first crack of morning light and the addition transformed a lurching slow roll down into a flowing fast air. All of the added wood features are variations of proven ramps I have built in the past.  Building on a crumbling mountainside in the cliffs is a very organic process - built features gradually become part of the landscape. Everyone on the crew brought something valuable to the build.

How did you determine where to put a wooden element, as opposed to just building up dirt?
The dry conditions meant that moving dirt meant moving water. We had a greater dirt moving capacity than water. So, even though we had to hike the wood into some crazy places, it was easier than moving water to pack the dirt. It also allowed us to leave the mountainside intact. We wanted to add to the existing natural features. It added to the difficulty of the build, but we are happy with the end result.

Were there any challenges to the build process?
The desert is likely the harshest environment on the planet. The closest road was four miles from the site. Any sort of infastructure you see at the new Red Bull Rampage site was created by our hand. We logged over 3,000 miles on the rental truck over the three weeks. We hauled in over 2,000 gallons of water. The biggest challenges in no particular order were: remote location, wind (plywood on exposed ridge), scary exposures on cliffs, 100-degree heat, rattlesnakes, too many ideas and not enough time.

How do you feel about how the riders used the course? Any surprises for you?
The riders were killing it. They were practicing lines that would have won the whole contest four years ago. The riding level was insane. Some of the riders dialed one line; others rode all the lines they could (CG), obviously psyched to be able to go flat out in Utah again. The stoke was at an all-time high.