Rampage Qualifying in Photos

Red Bull Rampage qualifying is like a separate contest in itself. It’s a do-or-die day for those with a chance to qualify, and we saw a lot of meat hucked today in the name of survival. We’re stoked to see five Canadian riders of the twelve qualifiers joining the pre-qualified ranks for another day on the loose and jump-filled slopes of Virgin, Utah on Sunday. Full qualifying results are HERE; photos from Toby Cowley, Morgan Taylor, and – yes, you read it right – Matt Dennison below…

  CLICK to make LARGE. Matt Dennison has been forced to learn to shoot stills. Cam McCaul over the canyon gap. For another angle, check out the next shot below. Photo ~ Matt Dennison

  CLICK to make LARGE. Morgan Taylor’s angle on the same jump. This one really conveys the length and amplitude of that sender. Cam McCaul took top spot in qualifiers. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  BC Big Mountain shredder James Doerfling had a super solid run yet evaded our cameras, and wouldn’t need to do a second run to secure himself a spot in Sunday’s final. Just behind McCaul. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Kyle Norbraten of the Coastal Crew dropping in. Norbz was the only dude to stick a 360 on the course today… Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Said 360. And the crowd goes wild. 3rd place for Kyle. Rueben Krabbe with the photobomb. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Brett Rheeder from Onterrible Canada dropping along the upper ridgeline. Rheeder stuck a sick second run to secure 5th place. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Ramon Hunziker from Switzerland was steezing his Trek Session like a madman. 7th. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Brendan Howey of Tsawwassen BC kept it together for 8th in the final. Dude was WAY stoked. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Martin Soderstrom upped the fire power on the front end of his Status from the 180mm we saw earlier this week. Mr. Swedish Style squeaked in for 9th, and probably would have done better with a cleaner second run. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Kelowna’s Casey Groves qualified 10th. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Groves with a suicide no hander lower down. Photo ~ Matt Dennison

  Brendan Fairclough transferring from the wooden lip at center to the sneaky landing to the right of the Red Bull flag. Matt Dennison caught this through his lens standing pretty much in Brendog’s landing… and can be seen in this shot running for his life. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

And Those Who Didn’t Make It…

Not all who make the trek to Rampage come away unscathed. The terrain here is difficult to judge speed on, wind changes throughout the course, and going big means taking chances. Here are the stories of some of the guys whose days were ended short…

  CLICK to see LARGE. Mike Hopkins blasted into the stratosphere, overshot the landing of a very long jump by 20 feet, and exploded on impact. He walked away, but didn’t head up for a second run. Wins “crash from the highest and longest jump of the day” award. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  MOUSEOVER for the next shot… Sam Pilgrim was out of his element here at Rampage, but gave it a go twice. This crash looked especially bad, but Sam walked away seemingly unscathed. Photos ~ Morgan Taylor

  Kenny Smith launched into a chute and landed in the wrong place. Walking thereafter was a problem. Ice bags during the day, purple feet tonight. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Anthony Messere was taken away by the wind on both of his qualifying runs. Photo ~ Matt Dennison

  2012 Crankworx Joyride champ Thomas Genon wasn’t able to keep it together on the wilds of Utah. Another two years on the big bike… Photo ~ Toby Cowley

See You Sunday…

  Rampage Qualifiers podium. We’ll see these guys back on the bikes on Sunday.

  The Coastal boys are really happy to have Norbz in the finals Sunday… and so are we!

  Brandon Semenuk was spectating Friday, but also spent some time sculpting a canyon transfer that we’ll hopefully see him sending on Sunday… Photo ~ Matt Dennison

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Tune in to redbullusa.com/rampage at Noon PDT to catch the live stream of the Rampage finals – and we’ll see you on Monday morning with photos to distract you…

Now that the finals roster is secured, do you have any favourites? Stoked or disappointed with any of the qualifying results? Sound off below…