We had a hotel booked but were considering changing to the RV park close to the new Rampage site, however after checking into our hotel we knew we made the right decision as contending with the desert dust for 7 days while trying to prepare for the biggest comp of the year probably wasn't going to be too good.
Digging on the new site was closed until Tuesday, however we were allowed to walk around the new site on Monday and Kelly tried to pick out his line and make plans of attack for the following day.
Walking around the site isn't easy, you have to clamber your way around cliffs standing on dirt and rocks that can give way at any moment, but by early afternoon we had a line figured out.
In 2012, Kelly broke his leg 2 days before qualifiers, so he never got to ride the line he built last year, so this year he is going the same direction down the mountain which includes a jump over a canyon that is 8ft longer than last year, bringing the distance to jump at 73 feet!!
After lunch, we headed back to the old rampage site where pretty much all competitors were practicing, it was a great session and the sunset that night was incredible. The sky looked like it was on fire and made for some wicked photos.
Kellys bike for the comp
Tuesday - Time to start digging!
We had planned to get to the site at sunrise to start however we were told by officials that we weren't allowed to start digging till after the riders meeting at 10am, so we were pretty gutted when we arrived and found out there had been some riders digging since sunrise.
But we got on with it, grabbed some tools and hiked to the top where we were later joined by the rest of that days dig crew who had driven through the night from Winterpark Colorado to be there.
It was hot, dry & dusty, but by the end of the day we had created an awesome feature in Kellys run that added creativity and fun to an otherwise gnarly ride down cliff faces.
Super successful day of digging and we were wrecked but happy with our progress, Kelly contemplated hiking back up the mountain with his bike to make the most of the good weather but with only 30 mins of sunlight left he ran out of time.
Video from Redbull about digging Kellys line
The weather for Wednesday was scheduled to be super windy, with chances of rain in the late afternoon, so it was an early rise to get up the mountain and finish as much of the line as possible so Kelly do ride as much as possible.
Kelly managed to ride a lot of his line, except for the big features including the landing of a big drop, which is shared by a few riders of which one of them decided to hack away at to make their landing better but in the process destroyed everyone elses.
My nerves leading up to this competition are ever increasing, being apart of the building process this year means that I truly know what Kelly has to ride down, and it absolutely terrifies me.
There were points where during practice runs he would have to ride down a cliff and some how magically stop before another, as that next part wasn't built yet. I think if I knew that the next landing was built and he was just going to flow onto the next part I would be ok, but the sight of the person you love ride down a cliff to then know that if he doesn't stop cleanly before the next one will fall off an even bigger cliff makes my stomach churn. Coping mechanisms for such things include, looking through a camera lens instead, or just turning my back and blocking my ears.
Rain was forecast as we could see if brewing across the valley, but it kept getting blown in the other direction. Thunder started rolling in the distance, and it wasn't long before it was a mad scramble to the bottom of the mountain, whilst getting sandblasted in the face and soaked from the downpour. On our way back to the hotel we just hoped that it would rain overnight, then clear up the next day for another full day of practice and perfecting lines.
Wasn't to be unfortunately, waking to more rain and word from Redbull that the venue was closed due to the access road being unable to be driven on.
Watching the hours tick by as we waited and waited for further word on when we could get up there, we took some solace in that Kelly was one of the few riders to have ridden any of their line at all, although his big features are still left untouched.
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