A towering three-part climb with practically no run up at the Red Bull Hare Scramble.

Enduro

Red Bull Hare Scramble's signature sections

A look at the key sections of the Erzbergrodeo’s iconic Red Bull Hare Scramble.

By Robert Lynn

3 min readPublished on 06/14/2017 · 5:00 PM UTC

Erzbergrodeo’s Red Bull Hare Scramble is the toughest single day enduro in the world. A 35km-long course may not sound overly demanding, but when you factor in its punishing sections then it’s easy to see why it’s as hard as they come.

Start line

With 500 riders assembled on the Iron Giant’s quarry floor, event organiser Karl Katoch will wave the 23rd edition of the Red Bull Hare Scramble into life on Sunday, June 18. Easily one of the most tense and nervous times of the entire Erzbergrodeo festival, you can literally hear a pin drop as all eyes and ears are focused on the starting flag as the clock strikes noon.

Wasserleitung

The immediate stages of the race are a full-gas affair as everyone fights for position – there's no time to settle into the race. The gigantic quarry wall climbs come thick and fast with no rest to catch your breath. Wasserleitung is one of the trickiest, as competitors try to avoid water pipes that line the most direct route up the hill. Get it wrong here and you slip deep into the pack.

Three Kings

The last of the early climbs, Three Kings is a towering three-part climb with practically no run up. It’s wide open from top to bottom as riders aim for the Red Bull arch perched on the summit. Clear it cleanly and you can finally catch your breath and assess your race position before diving into the woods.

Ludwig's Land

Hidden horrors in the forest of the Erzbergrodeo. — Ludwig's Land
© Future7Media

While sections like Carl’s Dinner, Dynamite or Wasserleitung are most memorable to spectators, it’s the hidden horrors of the Iron Giant's forestry that linger longest on the minds of competitors. Vertical banks littered with nasty roots, rocks and slippery mud stop rider after rider in their tracks.

Machine

One of the shortest, but hardest climbs on the Red Bull Hare Scramble. — Machine
© Future7Media

One of the shortest climbs, but also one of the most fearful, Machine is filled with boulders from bottom to top. In 2016 Graham Jarvis produced a scorching ride clearing it in an astonishing 20 seconds, while the majority of the field took over 20 minutes.

Carl’s Dinner

A gigantic boulder field where the race is won or lost. — Carl’s Dinner
© Future7Media

The only thing on the menu at Carl’s Dinner is rocks and lots of them in every shape and size. One of the most punishing sections of the race, the gigantic boulder field is often where the race is won or lost. A 500m-plus strip of rocks, they navigated it three times in 2016.

Dynamite

A loose, shaley rocky climb christened Dynamite due to the quarry’s explosives stored at the foot of it.

Lazy Noon

First introduced in 2015, Lazy Noon didn’t create much of a stir, but in 2016 it became one of the most talked about sections of the race. While it didn’t cause Jarvis much trouble, Alfredo Gomez, Cody Webb, Taddy Blazusiak, Paul Bolton and Mario Roman all struggled. Then-rookie Billy Bolt bounced his way up past Blazusiak and Bolton to snatch a fantastic fifth in the dying moments of the race.

Finish

Of the 500 riders who start only a fistful of competitors will complete the 35km-long journey to reach the Red Bull Hare Scramble finish line within the four-hour time limit. Get there first and you cement your place in hard-enduro history.