The big event is happening as we speak down in Utah. Check out the photos on the Red Bull Rampage website-these are some of the best mountain bike photos I have seen in a long time by Hylands and co. NSMB also has a few new pics. I wish I was there. Some of those shots scare the hell out of me-check out that Doerfling kid going ass over tea kettle from way up high closing in on the Utah hardpack/rock/dirt on the NSMB site-scary. It reminded me of that Wade Simmons TV ad on safety and helmuts. I have been to my fair share of bike events over the years from Crankworx to the old Grundig world Cup Downhill events on Grouse and everthing in between.

I have seen  many of amazing things done on bikes, that still blow me away. The free ride part of this sport is growing leaps and bounds. I have also seen some nasty crashes and horrific injuries up close. Too many to count but one will stick in my head for a long time. The downhill up on Grouse about 8 years ago when a very young local promising hotshot paid the price. I was shooting close ups on the bottom of the course on the last large jump getting riders with the city in background. This kid was at the back of the pack and showing off with very large tail whips-on a world cup downhill course. The last one during the race and he flew and crashed hard and smashed his femur bone to pieces. Not good. His best friends mother was right beside me and lets just say you did not want to be there.

Now I am a little skewed due to my age but it still amazes me when I see these pros riding with out armour. At Cranworx this summer we watched some incredible riding and some incredibly stupid guys get knocked out of the comp due to injuries with no pads. We also witnessed two kids being helicoptered out.  One of the kids that was injured is a good old ski racing friends kid. He is competing this weekend and we all wish him a safe successful Rampage.

I have put up a photo(temporarily) from the big air event from Grouse last winter. It was my first snowboard event and it was big. The shot is of a competitor who took a very bad landing and his buddies got there before the patrolers. These kids were flying over 150 ft and up to 60 ft high. There is an old quote I like " THOSE WHO DARE MUST SOMETIMES RISK A FALL". This kid fell and it was nasty. He ended up ok, but he was out for quite awhile. The only reason I put up this photo is that it may be a reminder for us all to ride smart-so we can all ride another day. Injuries are part of our sport and we take the risk for this sport is a cool one. 

And just so you younger ones think I am yapping like a Dad( I am) I will post some shots of the old guys on the wall and other kinda cool/old guy/lame shots soon.

Ski2die