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Creating, not competing, is Brage Vestavik's mountain biking mantra
Brage Vestavik is not one to shy away from going big, as the Norwegian's epic new film Planet Alaska perfectly demonstrates.
In a world where mountain bikers are constantly pushing themselves and their machines to their limits, Brage Vestavik stands alone.
A former World Cup downhill racer, the Norwegian giant burst onto the freeride scene in 2021, showcasing another side to his riding away from the confines of the race tape in a video contest-winning edit for X Games that displayed his creativity, daring attitude and raw talent for going big.
Brage 'B-Rage' Vestavik is one of mountain biking's big personalities
© Paris Gore/Red Bull Content Pool
It was just the start for the rider from Mysen in Norway, and the following years have seen ‘B-Rage’ redefine what’s possible on the biggest stages – from an ultimately injury-curtailed debut at Red Bull Rampage to a hide-behind-the-sofa section in Anthill Films' feature-length epic ANYTIME.
“Going into the mountains has just kind of happened naturally, with my progression of riding and always putting myself in new terrain and something that kind of pushes me further,” he explains.
His latest project, Planet Alaska, saw him tackle his most challenging terrain yet.
Watch it in the player below:
Read on below to find out what inspired the film and how he has a highly philosophical approach to his craft.
More MTB magic
01
A journey of discovery
Vestavik went to Alaska in search of the unknown
© Ale Di Lullo/Red Bull Content Pool
Vestavik’s search for new terrain saw him travel to Alaska – home to some of the biggest ranges in North America, and the setting of big mountain snowboard and ski movies he watched as a kid.
“Back in the days, I used to ski the whole winter, so I've always loved skiing. Alaska has always been a part of those movies, so I’ve always known about Alaska as the pinnacle of big mountain.
“[Planet Alaska] is a journey through the Alaskan mountains. It's about exploring. It's about going a little deeper, it's about finding new lines never ridden before, and being free, disconnected from the world.”
Vestavik sees Alaska as the pinnacle of big mountain riding
© Ale Di Lullo/Red Bull Content Pool
"Even though you don't know what to do, you still know exactly what to do"
© Ale Di Lullo/Red Bull Content Pool
The trip tapped into his ambition to search for the unknown, with Vestavik and his crew only armed with a few photos and maps and unsure if anything was actually rideable.
“The whole factor of the unknown is really playing a part in what I love with riding. It's just that little part of not knowing and having to figure it out as you're riding, and the whole part of your mind getting shut off and your body just acting – it's like you're shutting off the rest of the world, and you're just kind of dancing. Even though you don't know what to do, you still know exactly what to do, and it's a crazy feeling.”
02
Expressing himself
Brage Vestavik 'using his bike as a brush'
© Ale Di Lullo/Red Bull Content Pool
Planet Alaska is the latest example of Vestavik using his bike as a brush and the mountain as a canvas to express himself on. “Pushing and innovating the sport has never really been an inspiration or something I want to do. What I'm into is just riding what I think is fun, and what drives me. I don't even like calling it a sport. When I'm riding, I just like to disappear into that world, and I don't even think about riding. It's just more of an expression, in a way.”
03
Turning adversity into opportunity
Discussing the mechanics of his MTB Raw shoot with the director
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
Vestavik’s big mountain journey rose from the literal ashes – a fire at his family home ultimately shaping the rest of his life.
“When I was two years old, we had a house fire and the whole house we lived in burned down to the ground,” he says. “We lost everything. We built up the same house at the same place. We moved in when I was six years old and that's when I got my first bike DVD. Luckily, the backyard wasn't finished, so I would watch this film and then go out in the backyard and build on the dirt piles and use the planks and try to make my own stuff. I ended up having bike trails in the backyard until I was 15.”
04
Chasing segments rather than split-seconds
It's all about the style for Vestavik, even on the pump track
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
Hooked on mountain biking, Vestavik took the tried-and-tested path, racing competitively from the age of 10. He had talent as well, and was scouted by trade teams on the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup circuit – riding for Devinci Global Racing as a junior before moving to Mondraker for a couple of seasons in elite.
But his heart wasn't in it. "That was the way things went in Norway. You had to compete, but I wanted to do my own thing. Build tracks, film, be creative. At competitions, I was locked into a given schedule and courses that were set.”
He quit competitive biking to do what he loves most and he sees his work with his mountain bikes as more akin to an art form these days than a sport.
The creative process, the hard work, the riding: Vestavik enjoys it all
© Emil Sollie/Red Bull Content Pool
It's cool to be able to express yourself … I'm driven by the process of creating.
"It's cool to be able to express yourself," says Vestavik. "Make something personal and your own, something with soul. I'm driven by the process of creating."
While other riders work to shave off 10ths of a second, chasing a more efficient landing, Vestavik is different. With the same intensity, he seeks better camera angles, more creative tricks and producing video parts that inspire.
Deep in the sesh at Hafjell
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
His huge edit for Real Mountain Bike 2021 – an all-video MTB contest hosted by the X Games – picked up big numbers on YouTube, gave him kudos and put him in the eye of freeride fans. Shot in Norway, it sees Vestavik send massive skinnies, drops and lines deep into dark, muddy Norwegian woods.
The video paved the way for Vestavik earning his wings and becoming a Red Bull athlete – an occasion he marked with his own MTB Raw – an edit that saw saw him go full circle.
"We chose to film at Hafjell Bike Park, where I rode for the first time when I was seven years old, and where I've ridden every year since. Some of the trails there are the same as when I first tried them and they mean a lot to me."
Watch his MTB Raw edit below:
16 min
Norwegian freeride with Brage Vestavik
Norway's Brage Vestavik has made a name for himself as the toughest freeride mountain biker to hit the scene.
05
Creative competition
Racing at Red Bull Hardline in 2021
© Nathan Hughes/Red Bull Content Pool
While his main focus is films and video segments, that's not to say that Vestavik doesn't ride competitions or do contests anymore. He's taken part in urban downhill races in South America and been part of a couple of Red Bull Hardline events. There's no pressure to win and the appeal here is having fun riding his big bike on tracks that offer him the chance to ride huge and unusual features.
There's also a freeride contest that, early on, inspired Vestavik – Red Bull Rampage. "It's a completely different type of competition. It's based on creativity, the line you choose and cool tricks with a track you built with your crew," he says. "It's a more artistic approach to competition, closer to how I feel my riding is now."
Vestavik hard at work building his line at Red Bull Rampage
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
Vestavik's spirit and drive at Rampage earned him the McGazza Spirit Award
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
He was lucky enough to be invited for the first time to the 20th anniversary edition in 2021, but didn't compete in finals after coming short on a landing on a big drop and slamming down hard, dislocating his shoulder and fracturing his humerus.
06
He may be a Viking, but he's not fearless
Nothing about Vestavik is conventional
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
His crash at Red Bull Rampage was just one of a number of injuries he’s sustained during projects and contests over the years. His most recent though was his worst yet.
“I've been struggling with a back problem in the last year,” he explains. “I started getting back pain after a long project, a new kind of pain for me. I would feel nerve pain going down my legs, which was kind of scary. But I kept going, and we finished the project.”
Vestavik put it down to years of hard impacts and a lot of heavy trail building, but after further investigation it became clear he had a serious injury that couldn’t be ignored.
Scree surfing in Chile with Kade Edwards
© Paris Gore/Red Bull Content Pool
“Two of my discs had compressed and prolapsed. We thought we could fix it with therapy.” The Norwegian continued to ride, heading to Chile for two months for a project and to film his ANYTIME segment alongside Kade Edwards. He’d undergo rehab between trips to keep the pain manageable, but the underlying issue wouldn’t go away.
“[Later] we decided to do another X-ray just to be sure, and the prolapse was double the size.”
He underwent back surgery to remove the prolapse after filming Planet Alaska in August 2024. The procedure was successful and Vestavik has undergone an extensive bout of rehab since to get him back on his feet.
“Since October [2023], I haven't been able to straighten my legs out, so this is the first time I can do this fully, which feels amazing.”
Having fun at Dyfi Bike Park in Wales
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
He's now back on his bike, doing what he does best at the same intensity, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t feel fear when he’s riding: "I'm afraid all the time. Scared, but scared in a good way. That's the fear I seek and want to find. If I'm not afraid, it's not as much fun somehow."
Injuries are a fact of life for someone who rides their mountain bike for a living and Vestavik says that his injuries have made him much wiser: "If it weren't for those things, I wouldn't have the same respect for riding. It’s not like a video game where you sit with a controller in your hand and can try again if you fail. It makes you extremely sharp.
A deep thinker
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
I'm afraid all the time … If I'm not afraid, it's not as much fun somehow.
"Injuries have made me more confident in myself and less afraid. Before some of my injuries, I was scared, because I didn't quite know what would happen after such a big fall."
What he is most afraid of is actually being away from his bike and not being able to ride: "What I'm probably most scared of, in a crazy way, is not being able to ride a bike for a while. But getting hurt seems perfectly fine."
07
Finding his own meaning of life
This sketchy drop was part of Vestavik's Rampage line
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
“My bike feels more like a religion to me,” he says. “I feel first of all alive and disconnected from everything, as weird as that is to say. You're also more connected than ever with yourself, which is the coolest thing. Nothing else matters in that moment. Time stops and it gives my life some sort of meaning.”
Given the terrain he tackles and the risks he takes, it’s no surprise that he is also aware of his own mortality – and it gives his creations even more purpose.
“If I didn't know I was going to die, nothing would really have meaning to me. But if you know you have only so many years, you can do these things and it has way more meaning. It's something you can lose.”
08
Unleashing creativity with hope of inspiring others
Getting rowdy on the bike is part of Vestavik's style
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
In a relatively short time, Vestavik has made a serious name for himself in the mountain biking community. With over 387,000 followers on Instagram, and a YouTube channel with almost 2m views, the public clearly appreciates his films.
He says he does what he does mostly for himself – to express himself and release all the creative ideas that are circulating in his head. It isn't his goal to get an extremely large number of followers, instead it is to inspire.
"It's awesome that there are so many people following along, I appreciate it a lot," he says. "I don’t make videos to get more followers. If people like what I make, that's cool, and if they’re inspired that's even better. But I’d rather have a smaller audience that really digs what I do than have three million people just having a quick look and thinking it's just OK.
"I'm generally driven by making new things. Sometimes you almost don't need to post it online, it’s just fun to create something."
Those downhill riding skills came in handy on the MTB Raw shoot
© Gisle Johnsen/Red Bull Content Pool
And when he himself needs to be inspired, Vestavik looks beyond biking. “One movie director I'm really into now is Andrei Tarkovsky, a Russian director from the ‘70s and the ‘80s. A lot of his movies tap into the deeper meaning of life and some of the movies are four or five hours long. I enjoy the way people are put in situations where they reflect on their life and the deeper meaning of it. I find those really interesting. The way they're expressing themselves. I could see myself directing other stuff when I'm not riding.”
His biggest inspiration though is music. “I always listen to music throughout the day when I'm riding, when I'm building. And through music I'm able to tap into almost the same feeling as riding.” Current favorites include The Doors, while he has previously listed an eclectic blend of Pink Floyd, rap and Norwegian black metal to help take his riding to a new level.
“I'm starting to think about [a follow-up project in] Alaska and every time I'm putting on music, I’m there, I'm riding the lines I know I'm going to ride. I'll get instant goosebumps envisioning being back in that place.”
Given the amazing riding in Planet Alaska, it’ll give Vestavik’s fans the world over goosebumps to know that there’s even more to come.
