Red Bull Rampage is an awesome event. It chucks the best riders in the world down some gnarly mountains and consistently produces mind-blowing results.

With a new course set up for this year’s contest, it’s safe to say that we were expecting big things from the freeriding frenzy, and despite an early rain delay, that was exactly what we got.

Here are just a few of the highlights from Rampage that got us struggling to contain all our stoke…

1) Andreu Lacondeguy Finally Got His Win

Years of Red Bull Rampage frustration finally came to an end for Andreu Lacondeguy, who claimed the 2014 crown in style with a run scored at a colossal 95.25.

The mountain biking legend has come fourth in the contest for four straight years, and before the tournament insisted: “It’s either first or last this year. I’m not coming fourth again.”

Andreu was true to his word, and while there’s been a bit of debate over whether his run should’ve been ranked so highly, the win certainly confirms what most of us already knew – this guy is about as badass as it gets.

2) The Rampage Champion’s Curse Was Broken

If you don’t know about the curse of the Red Bull Rampage champion, you can read all about it here.

Basically, no defending champion of the contest has ever been fit to defend their crown at the next event – they’ve all been injured in some fairly brutal manner before they got the chance.

We’re glad to say that freeriding hero Kyle Strait has now put an end to that! He may not have won a record third title, but the Rampage icon finished in a more than respectable fourth place after a cool run including an awesome superman.

Let’s hope Andreu can keep up the trend next year!

3) Cam Zink Produced Some Cam Zink Magic

It’s not Red Bull Rampage without Cam Zink stomping some obscene moves on an unreasonable step down, and once again, the American rider did not let us down.

Cam claimed a first Rampage crown in 2010 after nailing a huge 360 from the Oakley Icon Sender, and he mirrored that move on the new course this time around with a three from a huge step off in finals.

His reward? An 89.50 beaten only by Andreu Lacondeguy’s torching run.

Zink will probably be a bit gutted not to have claimed the top spot, but we’re hoping it’ll only spur him on to take on some ever sicker lines in years to come.

4) Riders Walked Away From Some Ridiculous Bails!

You’ve probably seen Kelly McGarry’s gargantuan bail from practise by now. His bike was in questionable shape afterwards, with the tyres crumbled to an unrecognisable standard.

Luckily, Kelly managed to somehow avoid a serious injury, and so did his coutnerpart Tom van Steenbergen when he bailed out on this finals front-flip bail:

18-year-old rider Tom ended up qualifying in third, so it was a shame that he bailed out. At least he can get back on the bike though and keep shredding. This teenager is definitely worth keeping an eye on…

There were plenty of other crashes over the weekend too. French rider Louis Reboul in particular took a huge crash on a backflip attempt, but thankfully he’s now on the road to recovery as well:

5) The New Course Was Scary As Hell…

The moving of the Rampage course was always going to be a huge talking point, and if you hadn’t noticed from the pictures and videos above, the track was anything but inviting.

Gone were the nailed in lines, built-in obstacles and well-known step-downs that riders had been stomping since 2008. In their place, refreshing ridges, ridiculous drops and a whole new world of opportunity for the world’s best freeriders to show what they can do.

The set up did not disappoint, either, bringing a more organic feel to the event loved for its raw nature.

New lines, new tricks and new reasons to fear for your life. Bring on Rampage 2015.

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