The Godfather of Freeride, Wade Simmons, tells us about what Rampage was like back in the day, offers some advice for the next generation at their new site, and explains why he isn’t old enough to go back to Utah yet.
In contrast to the heavily marketed, cyber-accessible, airspace-navigating event it has now become, the first Rampage was ‘grassroots’ and existed in a time without social media, texting, or live-streaming. “Things were different then,” says Wade “there was no official invite, we were a small community. The organizers just got all the guys together to ride who they thought would make it out alive, and put on a good show.” As with the current roster, in addition to the expected freeride names, there were also racers at the event. Wade explains that there has always been a little competition between racers and freeriders, “racers hate freeriding until they are forced to retire, and if they still love riding their only option is to become a free rider.”
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In 2007, Kelli Sherbinin created the EB Chickas Downhill Race Team and spent a season travelling to local races around BC with eight other women. This is twice the amount of ladies who raced in the BC Provincials Race in Golden this year. With a continual decline in attendance on the local downhill front for the ‘fairer sex’, it has left us all wondering, where have all the ladies gone?
A quick look at overall attendance in BC Cups between 2010 and 2013 shows a slow and steady 20% decline in downhill racing; however, the 2014 registrations reported a small but promising 4% resurgence of participation in the sport. Looking at women’s attendance, specifically at the Dunbar Summer Series - some of the few DH races offering equal cash prizing for pro men and women - the participation in women’s categories has decreased 40% since 2011 without any sign of making a comeback.
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“I had seen photos of the place and I had lost my mind, just completely lost my mind.” Rookies on the Norco team in 2001, Mike Kinrade and Darren Butler had their sights set on this new big mountain contest; Red Bull Rampage. With a simple phone call from a friend to one of the organizers, they were both granted entry. Since then, Mike has been in attendance at every Rampage, taking in the changes and challenges over the years as both he and the competition have matured and evolved.
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