The Road to Rampage: Thomas Vanderham and Geoff Gulevich

Words by Rocky Mountain Bikes // Video by Ross Measures // Photos by Margus Riga

Rampage is, in our opinion, the pinnacle of modern freeriding and words can't describe the intensity of being there in person. Yet, behind all the glamour and media attention of the Finals are countless hours of planning, traveling, digging, testing, sculpting and refining the ridiculous lines that epitomize the competition. This is a short film about all the blood, sweat, and beers that happen behind the scenes of Rampage.

We traveled down with Rocky Mountain riders Thomas Vanderham and Geoff Gulevich, as well as a solid crew builders and photographers. In the days leading up to the Finals all of us put tools to dirt, scratching Thomas and Gully's lines into the harsh Utah landscape.

Gully's line took the knife edge ridge to riders right, dove down steep chutes, some nasty, loose drops, and into a hip line we built; then he boosted the ridge down towards the Oakley sender, where he was the only rider to drop into the approach before hitting the 40+ foot sender; finally he flipped the big double after the sender and boosted the wood booter to finish his run. His 11th place was well earned.

Thomas's line dove straight down from the top, off a ledge into a very exposed, sniper transition; he carved down a steep loose chute, hitting several drops before a double drop line into a massive compression. He threw a suicide no-hander off a hip that took 3 days to build, descended into the lower Oakley sender, boosted up the other side into a stepdown-stepup with no margin for error. He finished his line with a big drop, traverse, and the massive wall transfer drop.

With his 8th place finish at the 2012 Red Bull Rampage, Thomas becomes the only rider to place in the top 10 at every Rampage ever held. We're incredibly proud of both Thomas and Gully and can't wait to be back next year.

Join the adventure at www.bikes.com.