Photo Epic: Tires in Dirt - Red Bull Rampage 2023 Practice

Oct 11, 2023
by Izzy Lidsky  



The second full day of riding at Red Bull Rampage was hot and blustery, as it often is out in Virgin, but riders still got busy putting finishing touches on their lines and continuing to tick off features. Emil Johansson ticked off his new features which link Brett Rheeder’s old line to the road. Kyle Strait and Cam Zink both hit the drop that took Strait out last year, which was huge for Strait. On his second time, Strait cased the following jump and demolished his rear wheel, but walked away otherwise unscathed.

The day's biggest news was that Gee Atherton sent his massive plumb drop. He wasn't planning on riding, and the wind had picked up a bit, but all of a sudden he was kitted up and standing on top of that monster for a good 15 minutes. He rolled into it with a lot of speed, and sent it deep before a heavy crash. He was airlifted to hospital, and we're all sending healing vibes his way. [Note: we're not sharing photos of his crash at this time —Ed.]

Brendan Fairclough spent the day filling in the run out of his canyon gap before testing the run in – there’s a rumor he’ll try and hit it shortly. When Gee crashed, Brendan's team had to turn their attention back up to the battleship build at the top. They'd been sharing the workload with Gee's team, so there's some time pressure to finish that feature now.

Talus Turk spent the day checking off and tricking some of the lower parts of his line before stepping up to his big drop. Turk and Silva took turns running in the big one before Turk finally hit it. Keeping with the theme of the day, the wind picked up again before Silva could hit it. Turk and Silva also share that bit of their line with Reed Boggs who checked off many of his lower features before perfecting the run in on his section of the big drop. Rumor has it Sorge’s crew needs more beer to finish his line–here’s hoping they find some and the wind calms down a bit today.


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Daybreak on day two.

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Riders took advantage of an early morning wind-free window to tick off some of their features.

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Not only is water useful in the desert, it also looks amazing in morning light.

Not only is water useful in the desert it also looks amazing in morning light.
The wind was fairly calm earlier in the morning.
Few riders look at comfortable in the air as Reed Boggs.
Few riders look at comfortable in the air as Reed Boggs.]

Carson Storch and his Metallica inspired bike.
Carson Storch and his Metallica inspired bike after sessioning the stepdown he shares with Tom Van Steenbergen.


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Talas Turk hit his big drop.

Talus Turk guinea pigging his big drop.
Talus hitting his biggest feature.
Talus Turk guinea pigging his big drop.
Take two.

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Tommy G stylish as ever lower on the hill.

Adolf s crew.
Adolf's crew (and Dan Wolfe).

Talus Turk flipping one of his lower hits.
Talus flipping a lower feature.
Adolf Silva ticking off features.
Adolf Silva putting the pieces together.

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DJ Brandt watching out for snakes.

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Gee stood there looking at his monster drop for 15+ minutes, before taking a heavy slam. Heal up Gee!

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Brendan's canyon gap is terrifying from every angle, but he did manage to test the run-in without going off the end.
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Builds have come together nicely.

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Go this way please.

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Dialling things in.

Tom Van Steenbergen using last light to water down his line.
Tom Van Steenbergeen using last light to water down his line.
Cam Zink and Kyle strait putting finishing touches on a shared step up.
Cam & Kyle.

Sunset over Red Bull Rampage
Sunset over Red Bull Rampage.


Author Info:
izzylidsky avatar

Member since Nov 5, 2020
6 articles

19 Comments
  • 30 0
 The photo epics are the best Rampage content, broadcast included
  • 16 0
 Thank you. Izzy and Alexa are doing a great job this year.
  • 15 4
 No more whammies please. Good luck to all the competitors, praying for no more injuries! Heal up Gee!!!!!!
#cantnotlook
#getsweatyjustlookingatit
  • 5 0
 No joke man. Watch the build vids by Deakin et al and you will fully appreciate what you see on Friday. The battleship gap for one is messed up, I can't get my head around it. And that's just one of the horrors they're cooking up. Hope the wind gods stay in bed that day.
  • 1 0
 That wind post is down on the pic while when he send it was completely horizontal...
  • 12 0
 Do a skid!
  • 2 0
 ...Ride the Lightening - Mega Drop to Snake Squish \m/
  • 3 0
 @zeeman Woah, calm down you lunatic, these riders have to draw the line somewhere you know.
  • 4 0
 Shout to the builders for making features so perfect with so little time on hand. Many of them could get paying gigs as stone masons. The way those rocks are stacked is perfection!
  • 3 0
 Gee? hope he's ok
  • 2 0
 title is a misnomer; far more "Tires in air" than "Tires in Dirt".
  • 1 0
 sorry im delayed, upstairs, so cold @Notunormal
  • 1 0
 O dang
  • 1 0
 Carson Propain bike color Dabomb molotov! ))))))))
  • 1 0
 Those photos are absolutely outstanding.
  • 1 0
 These guys have some massive balls
  • 1 0
 Looks cold
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