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Red Bull Rampage 2026 Returns to the Iconic 2001 Venue
Red Bull Rampage 2026 honors its 25-year history by revisiting the first event site. Top freeride talent will compete in a venue of new and old terrain.
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The 2026 Red Bull Rampage is returning to where it all began: the original venue. This October, top female and male freeride talent honors those first pioneers by using these historic grounds, while incorporating a new swath of terrain above the old site.
To view a 3D render of the mountain check it out here.
Red Bull Rampage returns to the original venue
© Christian Pondella
Unlike recent Red Bull Rampage venues, the original site is across the valley on Kolob Terrace Road. Fans and athletes affectionately dubbed it the “OG” site, as it saw many firsts for the sport. Twenty-five years ago, a group of downhill racers, dirt jumpers, and early freeriders arrived at this spot in Virgin, Utah, with an audacious goal: to ride the imposing desert landscape. Together they carved their way down ridgelines and soared over cliff drops. Their 40lb bikes descended through terrain once unimaginable for mountain biking.
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Red Bull Rampage 2026 site: a welcome return to an OG
This venue hosted the competition from 2001 to 2004, and was the most raw and natural of them all. “I remember being up in the helicopter and seeing the ridgeline after ridgeline after ridgeline,” reflects photographer Christian Pondella, who’s documented every Red Bull Rampage since the beginning. One of his first impressions of the venue was how much it paralleled big mountain skiing and snowboarding terrain.
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Best Red Bull Rampage runs from 2001 to 2003
Check out the best Red Bull Rampage runs from 2001 to 2003.
Part of this natural approach stemmed from the sport’s youth. “It felt like you were stumbling onto a new sport,” explains Wade Simmons, who won the inaugural competition and is one of freeride's godfathers. Digging wasn’t an established process as it is now with teams and dedicated days for building a line. Any trail maintenance was informal and done as a group. “Takeoffs and landings were footpaths, or they were pioneering new lines in the middle of their run,” shares Pondella. Water access was limited during the early days, so it wasn’t uncommon for the riders to land in loose piles of dirt. Now the line building is a serious craft, with takeoffs and landings feeling like works of art.
Wade Simmons at the 2001 Red Bull Rampage
© Christian Pondella
One constant has remained the same all these years: creativity. Those early Red Bull Rampages were full of iconic moments that shaped the sport. There’s the old-school gap Robbie Boudran sent in 2001, and he almost tumbled off a cliff when he crashed on the landing. Mike Kinrade built a wild toilet bowl double drop feature in 2004. There’s also the legendary “Canadian Bacon” line that Simmons rode to victory in 2001. It caught the judge’s eye for its exposure and series of drops. 2026 competitor Cam Zink even made his competition debut here in 2003, going on to win the event in 2010 and 2023.
The remnants of these early features will be in play, combined with a new section that extends past the original start gate. This expansion makes the 2026 venue the tallest Rampage venue in history, with the previous tallest being the 2018/19/23 site. From the start gate, the riders will descend 678 feet to the finish corral. They’ll have 90 acres to work with—that’s about 68 American football fields.
The very first run at Red Bull Rampage in 2001
© Christian Pondella
Returning to the OG venue means fresh terrain, something akin to a new canvas, and the athletes are thrilled. Veteran competitor Thomas Genon believes that the spirit of the event is interpreting the mountain and creating something from nothing.
“I’m excited that it’ll be going back to the original site. I think it has a lot of potential for epic lines,” says fellow competitor Hannah Bergemann, who’s a big fan of all the history. Another exciting addition is that the men and women will drop from the same start gate. It’s a nod to this new chapter in which the women are adding their part to freeride’s story.
“I’m excited that it’ll be going back to the original site. I think it has a lot of potential for epic lines,”
Over the last 25 years, tricks have only become bigger and bolder. Back in the 2000s, you’d mostly see backflips, t-bogs, or suicide no handers. Now, front flips, caveman drops, cork 720s, and heelclick backflips are just a few of the many feats that dazzle the audience each year. “When we first did it, you were applauded for making it down and linking together a line,” explains Simmons. Now it’s about the full package: features, tricks, fluidity and amplitude. “The biggest change is how big they’re going now and how consequential the lines are,” Pondella reflects on the progression over the past 25 years.
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Best of Rampage: 2003
Watch all the best highlights from year three of freeride mountain biking's premier event.
Much has evolved since those early Red Bull Rampages. Mountain bikes are now sophisticated machines, water access has revolutionized trail construction, and building a line is an art in itself. However, the question those pioneers first pondered remains: what’s achievable in freeride? Year after year, these riders seek to find an answer, changing mountain biking in the process. Even as the sport progresses, the essence of Red Bull Rampage continues. As Simmons puts it, “When you send a satellite into deep space, sending the second is always easier. You learn a lot from the first voyage.”
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