MTB
This year’s Red Bull Rampage has some talented debutants so we spoke to Talus Turk, Clemens Kaudela and Alex Volokhov to learn about competing at mountain biking’s top event.
There’s no clear-cut path to Red Bull Rampage. As one of the most creative events in mountain biking, it attracts riders from all kinds of backgrounds. Competitors design and ride their line, so the event has hints of influence from DH racing, slopestyle, motocross, big mountain skiing, snowboarding and more.
Red Bull Rampage’s ever-evolving format means there’s no typical Rampage rider. Competitors ranging from World Cup racing legend Gee Atherton and slopestyle phenom Emil Johansson to freeride pioneer Kyle Strait all drop in from the same platform. This blend of skill and style lends itself to the annual progression on Utah’s dusty, ochre cliffs. Each athlete’s vision plays out on massive jumps, making it the Super Bowl of mountain biking.
Earning a place on the roster is an accomplishment in itself. This year’s 18 riders are regarded as the best freeriders in the world, and the road up until this point differs from athlete to athlete. For some, digging at the event is the best way to get a foot in the door. Others move to Utah or buy a plane ticket with their savings and toil on the terrain, hitting one feature after another, proving they have what it takes.
Regardless of the path, every Red Bull Rampage athlete shares some common denominators: passion and a bold vision. We caught up with some of this year’s rookies to learn more about their journey to the greatest event in mountain biking.
01
Talus Turk
Talus Turk is a rising talent who was born and raised in the US biking haven of Bellingham in Washington state. Progressing from his local jumps in Washington to behemoth senders at events like Loose Fest, it’s evident that Turk is no longer the local grom but a freeride athlete in his own right.
Turk started riding when he was 12 years old, doing laps on Galbraith Mountain on a clapped hardtail with rubber rim brakes. At first, Turk wasn’t hooked immediately but kept with it, eventually falling in love with jumping. He was a regular at local haunts like the Cedar Dust jumps, later stepping up to the pro-sized jumps of Blue Steel.
He turned pro at the age of 20 and his growth has been explosive since then. Two years ago, he did his first backflip but now he’s hitting step-down flips on massive cliffs in Utah. “That’s why I want to do freeride events – there’s so much opportunity to ride different features, which leads to progression,” he explains. As he progressed, so did his bag of tricks ranging from 360s, flip variations and more.
The mesas and ridgelines trickle downwards, creating these perfect features to build
Beyond his natural talent, Turk’s growth stems from his drive, which resonates with the community and freeride legends like Cam Zink and Tyler McCaul. Turk fondly recalls riding at Zink’s freeride invitational and getting recognised by the legendary Rampage veteran: “It was crazy to see someone I’ve looked up to my whole biking career give me a shout-out and that these veterans are stoked about the next generation,” he says.
This past winter, Turk relocated to Hurricane, Utah, close to where Rampage is held in order to spend more time riding in the red dirt. Driven by the desire to see what’s possible with his riding, Turk began checking off notable features on past Rampage venues.
Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest and always ridden in the woods, the terrain in Utah felt like a game-changer for Turk. “The mesas and ridgelines trickle downwards, creating these perfect features to build,” he says. The landscape initially felt intimidating, but Turk built his confidence by chipping away at one feature and ridgeline at a time.
One of the biggest learning curves was getting used to the blind features, where a rider can’t see the landing when approaching the jump. “Having features that are blind and exposed makes this place what it is,” he explains.
Curiosity drives much of Turk’s progression and he’s excited to be part of Rampage. He’s coming into the competition with an open mind, eager to have fun and learn. He’s hoping to have one stand-out feature and then a mix of jumps throughout his line. Regardless of what he builds, he’s elated to dig with his friends in the desert. The rest feels like a bonus.
02
Clemens Kaudela
For some, being part of Red Bull Rampage takes a leap of faith. Austrian freerider Clemens Kaudela’s leap of faith was literal: a massive step down that was roughly the equivalent of a quarter of a football pitch. This feature and more were part of a heavy-hitting video submission, The Minister, emphasizing Kaudela’s creativity and skills as a freeride athlete and accomplished builder.
His first taste of freeride mountain biking was watching a video of Cranked 3, which showed early pioneers riding and building features. Shortly after, in 2001, a one-of-a-kind event, Red Bull Rampage, debuted, sparking Kaudela’s dream of riding on those fabled ridgelines. But Kaudela knew the road to Rampage would be challenging growing up in Vienna, where there are no bike parks and few trails, inspiring Kaudela to make his own, starting at 13.
I have a written collection of every track that I’ve built, and it has heights, lengths, angles, takeoff angles, landings and feedback from myself and other riders
Eventually, he cultivated a career by building courses for slopestyle and freeride events while competing as a slopestyle and freeride athlete. After years of competing and building at some of Freeride’s most notable events, Kaudela realised that his dream of Rampage wasn’t a crazy notion. In 2019, he made his first trip to the Utah town of Virgin as Szymon Godziek’s digger, which helped him towards his dream of competing.
In 2023, he put all his bets on Rampage, using his savings to fly out from Europe to Utah and film an edit in February. Halfway through filming, Kaudela crashed and knocked himself out, putting a hiatus on the film, and Kaudela flew home to recuperate. After six weeks off the bike, Kaudela returned in May to finish his segment, which was chock full of Rampage-worthy feats.
Utah has left a considerable impression on Kaudela, who says: “Only once you have been there and worked with the dirt can you understand why this has been the place where Freeride has evolved.”
Utah is a place where you can build features by hand quickly – anywhere else, you’d need a machine to do something comparable. The combination of hero dirt and slate rock makes it a builder’s paradise. Still, whether you’re a rookie or a veteran, Rampage demands respect and awe.
“The takeoffs are always blind,” explains Kaudela, who always uses his landing as a gauge for speed when he's riding a new feature, and his builds are constantly informing his style. “I have a written collection of every track that I’ve built, and it has heights, lengths, angles, takeoff angles, landings and feedback from myself and other riders. I find that this kind of approach works right away almost every time."
Kaudela has a few different ideas for his line at Rampage 2023, but the biggest item on his wish list is at least one big huck like the step-down that featured in his submission video. His database of the tricks he's built over the years should give him confidence in what he can achieve in Virgin.
03
Alex Volokhov
Alex Volokhov’s quest to compete at Rampage has been ten years in the making. It started in 2013, when the Canadian dug for Garett Buehler. Hooked, he continued to dig for three-time Rampage winner Kurt Sorge for six years.
Last year, Volokhov graduated from digger to rider, having received an invite to compete, carrying a wealth of experience to make his mark on the event in what would have been his rookie year. His debut was looking good after he built an impressive line with Sorge, but a crash on the morning of finals while testing his last prominent feature halted his momentum. That resulted in him making the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the event, so this year is all about redemption in his first Rampage competition proper.
To build a line, test it and then do the gnarliest run of your life is crazy
Growing up in Nelson, British Columbia, Volokhov is a product of the gnarly, exposed trails he routinely rides and the term 'backcountry' goes hand in hand with his riding style. His home patch of Nelson, in British Columbia, doesn't have desert, but its precipitous, exposed riding parallels many of the same aspects of the Rampage terrain. “It’s pretty similar to Nelson – but with no trees,” explains Volokhov.
Volokhov’s passion for snowboarding pushes much of his creative decision-making in biking. Once part of the Burton development team, he applies that same mentality from the snow to the dirt, and carving turns in the scree feels no different than being on his board. This thirst for adventure and wilder mountains has taken him and his bike to distant landscapes worldwide, ranging from Alaska to Chile to Europe.
Competing in Rampage has long captured Volokhov’s imagination because it’s one of the few freeride competitions where big mountain riding can play a significant role in the scoring. “That’s the coolest part of Rampage – you can build a line for your style and then compete on it, there’s nothing else like that in [freeride competitions],” he says.
This blank canvas approach is coupled with what he argues is some of the best terrain in the world for freeride mountain biking. Unlike other riding destinations like his home of Nelson – where you have to navigate trees, stumps and roots – the terrain in Virgin has the perfect soil, natural landings, and lips that riders can shape into anything imaginable. Whatever you dream of building, you can likely bring it to life at Rampage.
Arguably, one of the best prerequisites for competing at Rampage is digging. “It’s 50 percent a digging contest,” he says. “To build a line, test it and then do the gnarliest run of your life is crazy.”
Volokhov will return to his line from last year, eager to put down a top-to-bottom run. It’s a blend of the big mountain riding he loves and features like a ridgeline trick jump and big step down that will wow the audience and judges alike.
