Red Bull Rampage 2012
October 23, 2012 2:30 PM Subscribe
Red Bull gives you gratuitous significant damage to a fragile mountain environment!
posted by gurple at 2:53 PM on October 23, 2012 [11 favorites]
posted by gurple at 2:53 PM on October 23, 2012 [11 favorites]
Bicycles seem like a poor fit for that terrain.
Better wait a few months and try skis instead....
posted by schmod at 2:53 PM on October 23, 2012
Better wait a few months and try skis instead....
posted by schmod at 2:53 PM on October 23, 2012
I can appreciate the spectacle, but I tend to favor cross-country mountain biking as opposed to downhill. It's more of an athletic endeavor and less a measurement of insanity.
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:04 PM on October 23, 2012 [9 favorites]
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:04 PM on October 23, 2012 [9 favorites]
I find it amazing that a single soft-drink brand can support what appears to be several different professional sports completely on its own, and that nobody else is trying to get in on that action. It suggests to me that the brand is extremely profitable, and that the market it's filling is very narrow.
Ponderings over the economics aside, I'm torn between "This gladiatorial spectacle is awesome!", and what Mitrovarr said.
posted by straw at 3:10 PM on October 23, 2012
Ponderings over the economics aside, I'm torn between "This gladiatorial spectacle is awesome!", and what Mitrovarr said.
posted by straw at 3:10 PM on October 23, 2012
brokkr: “What's the over/under for when an athlete sponsored by a certain Austrian soft drink manufacturer offs him/herself while performing?”
Ever since I saw this, I've been a bit less okay with crazy stunts done for sponsors.
posted by koeselitz at 3:14 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ever since I saw this, I've been a bit less okay with crazy stunts done for sponsors.
posted by koeselitz at 3:14 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Bicycles seem like a poor fit for that terrain.
The muddy people with muddy bikes we saw when we were in Utah beg to differ! Moab has more bike shops than grocery stores, from what I saw when we were there.
posted by rtha at 3:14 PM on October 23, 2012
The muddy people with muddy bikes we saw when we were in Utah beg to differ! Moab has more bike shops than grocery stores, from what I saw when we were there.
posted by rtha at 3:14 PM on October 23, 2012
Red Bull gives you gratuitous significant damage to a fragile mountain environment!
Pretty sure this sort of thing predates Red Bull.
posted by setanor at 3:15 PM on October 23, 2012
Pretty sure this sort of thing predates Red Bull.
posted by setanor at 3:15 PM on October 23, 2012
This has been making the rounds here since a local (Kurt Sorge) won it. Seeing the crazy trails that they build here I'm not too surprised to see a few locals competing.
That being said, I think they're absolutely nuts. But in a good way. These guys are incredible athletes.
posted by sauril at 3:16 PM on October 23, 2012
That being said, I think they're absolutely nuts. But in a good way. These guys are incredible athletes.
posted by sauril at 3:16 PM on October 23, 2012
I am becoming increasingly convinced that Red Bull should be classified as a Schedule I drug and regulated as such.
posted by vverse23 at 3:21 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by vverse23 at 3:21 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
straw: "It suggests to me that the brand is extremely profitable, and that the market it's filling is very narrow."Don't know about the US, but here in Germany there are three "premium" brand energy drinks (RB, Monster and Coca-Cola's Relentless) and a handful of widely sold, cheaper alternatives (e.g. Take-Off, Effect). Then there's also Club Mate, which has a certain overlap with the customer base but isn't quite the same. I think RB's advantage is that in a lot of markets, their brand name has become synonymous with energy drinks.
posted by brokkr at 3:24 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
I find it amazing that a single soft-drink brand can support what appears to be several different professional sports completely on its own, and that nobody else is trying to get in on that action. It suggests to me that the brand is extremely profitable, and that the market it's filling is very narrow.
Eh. Red Bull mostly turns people's dangerous hobbies into EXTREEEEME!!! publicity stunts. Actual sports, with significant fan following, not so much.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:28 PM on October 23, 2012
Eh. Red Bull mostly turns people's dangerous hobbies into EXTREEEEME!!! publicity stunts. Actual sports, with significant fan following, not so much.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:28 PM on October 23, 2012
Personally I'm always surprised to note that Red Bull sponsors some really legitimate and worthwhile things. Like that Red Bull Music Academy thing, which has had DJ Sprinkles / Terry Thaemlitz in for a few really good talks.
posted by koeselitz at 3:32 PM on October 23, 2012
posted by koeselitz at 3:32 PM on October 23, 2012
There is medication that these Red Bull enthusiasts could be taking.
posted by fredludd at 4:32 PM on October 23, 2012
posted by fredludd at 4:32 PM on October 23, 2012
THAT'S NOT MOUNTAIN BIKING.
this is mountain biking.
posted by alex_skazat at 5:00 PM on October 23, 2012 [4 favorites]
this is mountain biking.
posted by alex_skazat at 5:00 PM on October 23, 2012 [4 favorites]
I heard that they took away the winner's trophy because his blood tested negative for Red Bull.
posted by orme at 5:44 PM on October 23, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by orme at 5:44 PM on October 23, 2012 [5 favorites]
Red Bull blue.
(Apparently, they needed the money)
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:59 PM on October 23, 2012
(Apparently, they needed the money)
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:59 PM on October 23, 2012
Even if I had trained as much as these guys have, the idea of running this course would discourage me from even attempting it. The idea of doing tricks on the way - of having to do tricks on the way - would reduce me to a gibbering wreck.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:05 PM on October 23, 2012
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:05 PM on October 23, 2012
THAT'S NOT MOUNTAIN BIKING.
this is mountain biking.
That was wonderful! 20 years ago - a lot of steel frames, I bet, and most of those participants are probably pushing 50 by now. Wow.
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:07 PM on October 23, 2012
this is mountain biking.
That was wonderful! 20 years ago - a lot of steel frames, I bet, and most of those participants are probably pushing 50 by now. Wow.
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:07 PM on October 23, 2012
transcendent. so far beyond what i've been doing on my bike for the past 25 years as to be, almost, an entirely different thing. but not.
posted by RockyChrysler at 7:11 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by RockyChrysler at 7:11 PM on October 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Red Bull is incredibly profitable, and one reason they do so well has to be the way they aggressively market to college students. They are all over college campuses, handing out samples and getting the kids hooked.
The Red Bull truck has visited my son's university, I think, 3 or 4 times since Fall last year. It's pretty much a given on campus now that when midterms and finals roll around, you load up on energy drinks, and Red Bull has cornered that market.
posted by misha at 9:40 PM on October 23, 2012
The Red Bull truck has visited my son's university, I think, 3 or 4 times since Fall last year. It's pretty much a given on campus now that when midterms and finals roll around, you load up on energy drinks, and Red Bull has cornered that market.
posted by misha at 9:40 PM on October 23, 2012
That was wonderful! 20 years ago - a lot of steel frames, I bet, and most of those participants are probably pushing 50 by now. Wow.
I was surprised at the end to see the winner: David Wiens.6 7 time Leadville 100 winner, losing finally in 2009 by Lance Armstrong.
posted by alex_skazat at 12:14 AM on October 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
I was surprised at the end to see the winner: David Wiens.
posted by alex_skazat at 12:14 AM on October 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
I love mountain biking and I love watching watching this sort of crazy stuff but I'm never going to DO this crazy stuff.
posted by Spumante at 2:14 AM on October 24, 2012
posted by Spumante at 2:14 AM on October 24, 2012
Man, it's a little cruel to post this just as all the mountains around here are closing for the season. Not that I'd do anything as crazy as this, but still. It gives me the itch to ride.
And I don't mind the sponsorship aspect of it - pretty much no one is going to do any building or maintenance of a course like this unless there's money involved. If the price of that is naming the event after the sponsor and having Red Bull logos all over the place, I can deal with that.
It's like when Travis Pastrana went skydiving without a parachute (WARNING FOR THE EASILY TERRIFIED: That is not a euphemism - Travis Pastrana, in this video, jumps out of an airborne plane without a parachute and I don't want to spoil it but he is not harmed in any way and it is awesome but also kind of anus-clenching to watch) - yeah, he happens to be drinking a Red Bull and making sure to face the product, indicating that obviously Red Bull was involved in making this happen, but regardless of where the money came from, it's pretty fantastic.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:05 AM on October 24, 2012
And I don't mind the sponsorship aspect of it - pretty much no one is going to do any building or maintenance of a course like this unless there's money involved. If the price of that is naming the event after the sponsor and having Red Bull logos all over the place, I can deal with that.
It's like when Travis Pastrana went skydiving without a parachute (WARNING FOR THE EASILY TERRIFIED: That is not a euphemism - Travis Pastrana, in this video, jumps out of an airborne plane without a parachute and I don't want to spoil it but he is not harmed in any way and it is awesome but also kind of anus-clenching to watch) - yeah, he happens to be drinking a Red Bull and making sure to face the product, indicating that obviously Red Bull was involved in making this happen, but regardless of where the money came from, it's pretty fantastic.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:05 AM on October 24, 2012
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posted by brokkr at 2:47 PM on October 23, 2012