First Glimpse of the 2012 Red Bull Rampage Course 56

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 30 2012

The Oakley Icon Sender has offers riders a new option this year. It's huge.

More and more riders are arriving daily to scope out lines and get used to the unique terrain in Utah. Here's Brendan Howey sampling some air time courtesy of Brett Rheeder:

Not everyone is 100% stoked about the course, though. This is what Claw had to say about the changes:

Been scopin and digging at rampage and i must say new line choices are slim pickings. Im forced into a hole once again At least i like digin

— darren berrecloth (@darenberrecloth) September 29, 2012

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 29 2012

Greg Minnaar's neighbor made the trophies for Rampage this year. Here's a sneak peek:

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 26 2012

The Oakley Icon Sender looks meaner than ever. Check out the full story behind the design and more photos from Russ Hennings here.

Adam Billinghurst wants you all to know that the course starts here, high above any wood feature. Scared of heights? We hope not.

Women's freeride movement rock stars Lindsay Beth Currier and Aurelie Tournier were also recently out getting the lay of the land. Wouldn't want to slip off the side, that's for sure!

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 25 2012

Chris Van Dine is out scoping lines. Here are a few snaps that he posted to facebook. Judging by the height of the take off on the left, it looks like there are some new options on the Oakley Icon Sender this year. Also, check out that lip on the right. Huge!

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 24 2012

The playground is shaping up! Here's a pic of what looks to be choice of a stepdown to a dirt kicker, or a trick booter before linking to that final big wood feature, thanks to Jeremy Witek of GASSparks:

Canyon gap shaping up again too!

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 19 2012

The course build is progressing, with less than a month to go to the event. Here are a couple of new pictures from the Red Bull Builder's Blog of the crazy-looking ramp gap to massive quarterpipe. Visit the official event site for more pictures and updates.

This was Russell Shumaker sending the new gap, before they even started putting in the woodwork for the landing. "RAMP-age guinea pig," according to Adam Billinghurst:

This is what it looked like when the course had been under construction for a little over a week, and we had just received our first glimpse of what was going on in the Virgin, Utah desert. Sender of all things huge, Adam Billinghurst, tagged @VitalMTB in his tweet with this photo:

Needless to say, that sparked our curiosity so we started digging around more. A quick seach yielded several more photos from one of the course builders, Jeremy Witek of GASSparks:

This year's Red Bull Rampage will start on top of a new cliffside at the highest possible elevation within the pre-existing venue, opening more options for riders on the way down. The build crew includes Jeremy Witek, Randy Spangler, Josh Bender, Adam Billinghurst, Russell Shumaker, and H5 Events, and they've got some tricks up their sleeves. Everything is going to be bigger than before, and the landings are being lengthened and groomed to ensure more riders make it to the bottom. The Oakley Sender is making a comeback as well, but with a new twist we're told. We can't wait to see it all go down on October 5-7, 2012. For more details, visit the official Red Bull Rampage website and be sure to keep it locked on Vital MTB for more coverage as the event unfolds.