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Red Bull Rampage 25th anniversary commemorated with new photography book
Red Bull Rampage photographer Christian Pondella reflects on witnessing decades of freeride history in the making.
When Red Bull Rampage debuted in 2001, it was born from the progression of the sport. Since the competition’s first iteration amid the sandstone cliffs of southwest Utah, one photographer—Christian Pondella—has captured that evolution year after year. To celebrate the event’s 25th anniversary, Pondella pored through more than 50,000 images from his archive to curate an extraordinary retrospective for the limited-edition photography book Red Bull Rampage: Photographs 2001–2025.
Christian Pondella has photographed every Red Bull Rampage since 2001
© Christian Pondella
This collector’s volume chronicles every era of Red Bull Rampage through the lens of one of the event’s most enduring visual storytellers. The result is a stunning compilation of iconic moments, defining performances, intimate outtakes, and never-before-seen photographs from Red Bull Rampage’s earliest years.
In the following excerpt, Pondella reflects on what it was like to witness—and photograph—the progression of Red Bull Rampage firsthand, from its raw beginnings in the Utah desert to the global spectacle it has become today.
When I think back to those first years, the word that comes to mind is “raw.” Everything about the event was different from what people know today. At the base, there was a trailer, an EZ-Up tent, and maybe one or two other structures, and that was it. Spectators wandered everywhere, all over the course. The structure of the event felt very grassroots. Production was minimal—no livestream. Film cameras captured most of the content.
The vibe among the riders also felt loose. It was just a bunch of friends hanging out and having a good time. The vibe is still the same today, but the event itself is more serious. There was practice, but it wasn’t sunrise to sunset like it is now. There was no team of diggers spending hours manicuring lines and building huge takeoffs. We had more free time, so in the afternoon, we would go mountain biking together.
Five-time Red Bull Rampage winner Brandon Semenuk in 2021
© Christian Pondella
Reed Boggs in 2019 launching off the “Price is Right” drop
© Christian Pondella
The art of digging (and dig crews)
© Christian Pondella
Kelly McGarry flipped a 72-foot canyon gap at Red Bull Rampage in 2013
© Christian Pondella
Kyle Strait competed in every Red Bull Rampage event from 2001-2024
© Christian Pondella
Cam Zink does a massive 360-degree drop off Oakley Icon Sender in 2010
© Christian Pondella
When Red Bull Rampage returned after its hiatus, the sport entered a new chapter. I saw where they put the starting gate and thought, “This is insane.” Riders like Brandon Semenuk began incorporating freestyle tricks. Builders started constructing features and shaping terrain. Dig crews became part of the process.
The event has also become generational. Some riders competing today were not even born when the first Red Bull Rampage took place. Others, like Kyle Strait, have careers that stretch back to the beginning. Looking through old portraits, I see teenagers who have become veterans of the sport. Watching that evolution unfold through a camera has been one of the privileges of my career.
Among hundreds of events I’ve photographed for Red Bull, Red Bull Rampage stands above the rest. It has given me memories of helicopters hovering above untouched ridgelines, of riders launching impossible canyon gaps, of landmark moments like Kelly McGarry’s backflip, and of athletes continually redefining what seems possible. It has progressed from a raw gathering in the desert into the pinnacle of freeride mountain biking.
Yet despite all the progression—the bigger features, better cameras, larger productions, and greater crowds—the essence remains the same. At its core, Red Bull Rampage is still about a group of people coming together in the mountains to push boundaries and chase creativity. Twenty-five years later, that feeling is what I remember most.
