One month before the return of Red Bull Rampage, the event is heading back to where it all started. For its 25th anniversary, the sport’s toughest action sports event will once again be staged at the original 2001 competition zone in Southern Utah.
The world’s top 12 female freeriders will take on the venue on Thursday, October 8, followed by the top 18 male athletes on Saturday, October 10. The return reconnects Red Bull Rampage with the terrain that helped establish big-mountain freeride as one of mountain biking’s most defining disciplines. Here is all you need to know:
- Red Bull Rampage will celebrate its 25th anniversary by returning to the original competition zone used for the inaugural event in 2001. The Southern Utah venue, known among freeride fans as the “OG” site, hosted Red Bull Rampage from 2001 to 2004. It is the terrain where the event first established its raw big-mountain freeride identity.
- The 2026 event will feature the world’s top 12 female freeride mountain bikers and the top 18 male athletes. The women’s competition takes place on Thursday, October 8, before the men’s event follows on Saturday, October 10. Both fields will take on the same iconic landscape that helped shape the sport’s most influential event.
- The competition zone spans approximately 364,000 square meters, which is equivalent to approximately 51 standard soccer fields, across the men’s and women’s venues. For 2026, the site will feature Red Bull Rampage’s longest vertical drop at +206 meters. A new start gate will sit roughly one-third higher than those used during the 2001–2004 competition years.
- Returning to the original terrain does not mean repeating the first edition. “Fans are going to recognize the terrain, but they’re going to see it through a completely different lens,” says Belgian slopestyle legend Thomas Genon. “It’s going to be amazing to have the chance to compete on the terrain where freeride started.”
- The venue has been central to Red Bull Rampage history from its earliest days. Freeride pioneer Wade Simmons (CAN) won the first edition in 2001 with a score of 78.4. The original site also hosted Cam Zink’s (USA) Red Bull Rampage competition debut in 2003, before he went on to win the event twice during his freeride career.
- Red Bull Rampage began in 2001 as a raw expression of big-mountain freeride in Virgin, Utah. In the 25 years since, the event has produced 19 editions and 11 different winners, with each generation of riders adding new lines, tricks and moments to its history. The 2026 return to the original site creates another opportunity for riders to add their names to the list of Rampage champions.
Red Bull Rampage 2026 will be broadcasted live on Red Bull TV and Red Bull Bike YouTube.
Words & Image courtesy of Red Bull Media
