Nearly There: Linking Together Massive Hits at Red Bull Rampage 2014

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<b>Welcome back to the dust bowl. With qualifiers just a day away, riders took to the hill with the goal of finally linking it all together. We've never seen Andreu Lacondeguy prep and roll up to a jump as many times as he did to this stepdown today, but for good reason. It's HUGE.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Aggy was more than eager to put down the shovel and start riding. He's got more style on a bike than on a shovel anyways.</b> - Steen
<b>SEVENTY SIX FEET. Graham Agassiz went so big his landing spot doesn't even fit in the picture.</b> - Turman
<b>Does Geoff Gulevich's bike look new to you? Talk about proper prototype testing. #RampageApproved</b> - Turman
<b>James Doerfling has a line that showcases what James Doerfling does best: steep, raw, and rowdy.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Jacksone Goldstone is in the house and taking notes.</b> - Turman
<b>Gully is feeling good on his line and laying down some buttery backflips.</b> - Steen
<b>After Brendan Fairclough hits a sketchy transfer gap and two canyon gaps, he then comes to this move. It's followed by a huge hip and another massive stepdown. Techy? Big? You bet.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Brendan Howey losing elevation fast.</b> - Treml
<b>Bernard Kerr is #freeracing here at Rampage and has built one of the straightest and fastest routes down the mountain. He's also clipped in. Eliot Jackson is helping out.</b> - Trumpore
<b>This should give a bit of perspective to how rowdy Cam Zink and Kyle Strait's drop out of the start gate is. It's a very steep, exposed chute to a large drop with a slight turn in midair.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Zink rode parts of his line for the first time today, including this "small" drop that is just the prelude to some much bigger moves.</b> - Trumpore
<b>KC Deane and Paul Bas share this monstrous gap. It's a high consequence move with a potentially big reward, but it's a tricky one to hit perfectly.</b> - Turman
<b>Going large isn't easy, even when you're KC Deane.</b> - Turman
<b>Szymon Godziek is better known as a slopestyle and park rider, but he hasn't had any trouble throwing down at Rampage.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Thomas Genon is looking incredibly fluid on his fast and poppy ridge line. He still has to hit his upper cliff drop, but as a pre-qualified rider can take a breather for a day.</b> - Turman
<b>Which way is Chris Van Dine headed? He was seldom seen this week, so that's a question not many know the answer to.</b> - Steen
<b>Gully's build team put in a massive amount of work to carve out this double drop, and it was a huge relief for everyone involved when he nailed it clean on his first try.</b> - Trumpore
<b>The golden glow on Mitch Ropelato gives a not so subtle reminder that while the new venue sits in the dark each evening, the old venue is being bathed in beautiful golden light.</b> - Trumpore
<b>The Flow Fest was strong today, and sessioning was the name of the game.</b> - Turman
<b>Tom Van Steenbergen boosts down a gnarly ridge as the last two minutes of back lit dust and sunshine fire away.</b> - Trumpore
<b>In contrast to Van Steenbergen on this same section, Nicholi Ragatkin struggles to look comfortable in the big mountain environment or using a bike with a front brake. He's in his element lower down though, and will surely put on a show.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Tom Van Steenbergen was the first to step up and test the new canyon gap. Right on his wheel was Spain's Nick Pescetto with a little bit of extra style. Watch for some big tricks off this feature over the next few days.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Last year's third place finisher, Kelly McGarry, has a big transfer line over one cliff face and onto another.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Kelly going huge. Perhaps a little too huge.</b> - Treml
<b>This year it was Kelly's bike that did the canyon gap flipping when his front wheel detonated on impact. He jumped nearly 100-feet.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Unlike Kelly, his bike wasn't walking away from this one.</b> - Steen
<b>Things don't always go as planned as Jeff Herbertson shows. KC Deane, Brendan Howey, and Nico Vink may sit out the big day do to injuries. Heal fast boys.</b> - Gibson
<b>Rheeder's looking mighty fine on the 9/10ths of his run that he's ridden.</b> - Turman
<b>Watch that step, it's a doozy. Kyle Norbraten has no trouble with this mega hit on a line he shares with Rheeder. With a landing like that, we're sure to see some backflips and 360s.</b> - Steen
<b>Visualizing a line is one thing but doing it is another. Paul Basagoitia takes a moment to contemplate a piece of the puzzle, and like many others will be practicing at the break of dawn before the qualification round commences.</b> - Steen
<b>Aggy take one.</b> - Turman
<b>Aggy take two.</b> - Turman
<b>Aggy take three. As he became more comfortable with his line the blasting began, and continued long after the setting sun disappeared behind the ridge.</b> - Trumpore
<b>Just one night of rest separates riders from the top of the mountain and what could be the biggest runs of their lives. Check back soon to see how it all shakes down...</b> - Turman
Intro Graphic
Rampage Intrographic
Description
With the qualification round just a day away, riders took to the hill with the goal of finally linking it all together. For some this went well. For most, though, there's still more work to do and they'll be going huge for breakfast.



Photos by Dave Trumpore, Brandon Turman, Courtney Steen, Dean Treml, John Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
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