Watching Red Bull Rampage is a visceral experience—a fear that grips your throat and sends a nauseating knot of anxiety into your stomach as you witness riders drop into the jagged cliffs of Utah’s barren mountains. It’s terrifying, it’s beautiful, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away, even though I knew that at any moment, disaster could strike.

For years, Rampage has been teetering on a razor-thin edge between thrilling spectacle and life-threatening danger. Like watching a car crash or a true crime series, Rampage is something we know we perhaps shouldn’t be drawn to, but yet we watch again and again. The danger as captivating as the display of skill and sheer audacity.

Tom Van Steenbergen’s front flip on the ‘Price is Right’ drop made history and won the best trick award. // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

For its 18th edition, fans who trekked to the remote desert were treated to double the adrenaline and twice the emotional rollercoaster. After 23 years of waiting, women freeriders took their rightful place on the stage they’d long fought for. Grabbing the (Red) bull by the horns, their debut was awe-inspiring. Yet, when they finished their runs, the collective sigh of relief was not missed among the jubilance.

I stood among the spectators, neck craned toward the wooden starting ramp perched some 4,700 feet above me. The scorching Utah sun baked the desert floor beneath us and dust swirled in the wind like a warning sign. The air thick with tension. And as the riders dropped in, the venue was silent. Where I expected cowbells, cheers and music, it remained eerily quiet. Just the whop-whop-whop of the helicopter overhead, the high-pitched whirr of a drone, the rapid-fire shutter of cameras, and the wind whipping through the canyon. We all held our breath, waiting as though exhaling too soon might disturb the delicate balance between success and catastrophe.

Casey Brown took a steep and rowdy approach to Rampage with a line that was wild and rugged // Robin O’Neill / Red Bull Content Pool

Rocky Beginnings

No other bike event inspires as much awe as it does terror. Dating back to 2001, the Red Bull Rampage is the truest test of skill, focus and mental toughness on a mountain bike and touted as one of the most challenging sporting events in the world.

It’s unique, not just because of the perilous terrain, but also because the athletes design their runs themselves, spending the days leading up to the competition in the unforgiven desert, visualising, crafting and building their own line down the mountain with nothing but hand tools, water and 75 bags of sand. While some riders may share features, no two lines are the same. There are no pre-built features and no safety nets. And Rampage isn’t just about getting down the mountain either—it’s about pushing the sport to its absolute limit, and so riders throw in flips, tricks and massive drops in an effort to impress the judges. Each rider is judged on their creativity, innovation and skill with higher scores given to those who take bigger risks.

Yet, at the end of 2004, organisers recognised that the limits were perhaps being pushed a tad too far and hit pause on the event for several years. When the event returned in 2008, there was a stronger emphasis on rider safety and course design protocols that aimed to reduce unnecessary risks.

Tyler McCaul sends the massive canyon gap he shared with Tom Isted // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Why We Keep Watching

With 18 editions in the books, Rampage continues to flirt with disaster, and we keep being enthralled. Why? The allure, as I see it, lies not just in the spectacle of gravity-defying stunts, but in witnessing the mental fortitude of someone pushing through the boundaries of fear.

Take, for example, the display of raw courage when Chelsea Kimball picked herself back up after a crash on her first run to hike back up the mountain and try it again. As the camera zoomed in on her face, we saw her wrestle with doubt and nerves. The wind had been unpredictable all day, and the earlier crash had clearly rattled her. As Kimball eyed the windsock, we witnessed her confront the very real dangers of the course below, push past it, and roll down the starting ramp again. A second crash prevented her from reaching the finish, but her resolve and guts inspired thousands.

In the desert, the natural environment is as much an adversary as gravity itself. In this year’s competition, the wind was a significant challenge and both competitions saw nerve-wracking wind delays in which riders faced a drier, looser line with every minute that ticked by. What’s more, a sudden gust can turn a calculated jump into a life-threatening crash. As Casey Brown explained it: “spinning wheels act like two sails in the wind. The wind will just take you down if it’s a side wind, it can interrupt your jump if you have a headwind; you’ll case the jump. And if you have a tailwind, you’re destined to overshoot the jump.”

Robin Goomes of New Zealand made history as the first winner of Women’s Rampage // Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool

The Harder you Fall

But fear and risk are an intrinsic part of what makes Rampage so gripping. For every heart-stopping trick, there’s the looming possibility of catastrophe. Every competitor knows the risks. Every one of them has shed blood and broken bones to get to this point in their career. Thus, the allure of victory, of achieving something only a handful have ever done, outweighs the danger. This especially rang true for the women, whose historic first competition marked a monumental moment in freeride mountain biking. It was heartbreak, therefore, when Cami Nogueira sustained a broken nose and concussion the day before the competition, forcing her to sit on the sidelines.

Brandon Semenuk on the flip-whip stepdown that messed up his first run in finals. He stomped it second go. // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Crashes marred the men’s race as well. There were several falls in the first runs, yet while most riders got back up to either finish their run or attempt again, Cam Zink, last year’s winner, stayed down. A helicopter eventually got him off the mountain and to a local hospital, where he is reportedly in stable condition with six rib fractures and a collapsed lung.

Yet with great risk comes great reward. Tricks and stunts scored high at this year’s event. Brandon Semenuk claimed his record-breaking fifth win after a second run that included, among others, a tailwhip into a double drop and a flip whip. Szymon Godziek claimed silver with a stunning backflip into a 95-foot drop, a 360 and a double backflip on his final jump. And Tyler McCaul cleared a 74-foot step-down canyon gap.

Brendan Fairclough finished building and rode Jordie Lunn’s drop as a tribute to the former Rampage competitor and freeride legend. While it didn’t score highly, Brendan’s run was the people’s choice. // Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool

“Brendog was robbed”!

But the event was not without controversy, as fan-favourite Brendan Fairclough took on one of the gnarliest lines on the mountain, but was scored low due to the lack of tricks in his run. Thus fanning the flames of the age-old debate over what constitutes ‘big mountain freeride’, and whether groomed runs and big tricks should carry more weight than exposure, line creativity, and raw technicality.

On the women’s side,  Robin Goomes wowed the judges with two big backflips and stomping the marquee 41-foot drop during her run, while Georgia Astle threw in a suicide no-hander, and Casey Brown showed off her technical chops by clearing a nearly vertical and highly exposed, blind rock-roll drop.

Cami Nogueria drops into her line at Red Bull Rampage before a crash put her out of the finals. // Emily Tidwell / Red Bull Content Pool

And that is how Red Bull Rampage keeps captivating us. It’s a high-wire act where failure has real consequences, and thus, the triumphs are much sweeter. It’s a spectacle of human courage, mental toughness and the unrelenting pursuit of greatness. Watching the riders battle, not just gravity, but their fears, pushing the limits of what seems humanly possible, is why Rampage remains the most terrifying yet awe-inspiring bike event on the planet.