Red Bull Rampage
Thursday, October 8, 2026 – October 10, 2026 · All day
Virgin, Utah
Freeride Mountain Biking's Biggest Stage
Red Bull Rampage is the sport's defining event: an invitation-only field of the world's top big-mountain freeriders drops into desert cliffs near Virgin, Utah, on terrain no groomed course would ever sanction. There is no clock. Each rider gets two runs down a line of their own choosing, and a panel of judges scores every run on the difficulty of the line, the tricks landed, and the size of the airs; the higher of a rider's two scores decides the placing.
Riders Build the Course They Ride
What separates Rampage from every other mountain-bike event is that competitors design and build their own descent before they ride it. Each rider gets up to two teammates to help dig, working the sandstone by hand — no power tools and no imported material, aside from sandbags used to shore up a landing. Building and practicing a line runs just under a week before finals, so the same cliff face ends up carrying a dozen-plus different routes down it by the time anyone drops in.
Twenty-Five Years Since the First Rampage
2026 marks 25 years since Wade Simmons won the inaugural Rampage in 2001 — not 25 straight editions. The event went dark from 2005 through 2007 while organizers searched for a new venue, and it was canceled again in a handful of years since, including 2009, 2011, and 2020. The 25-year figure counts the span from that first competition to this one; Rampage has not run every year in between.
Public Land Near Virgin
Rampage runs on Bureau of Land Management ground and adjoining private property in Washington County, a few miles from Zion National Park and just north of Gooseberry Mesa, which hosts its own, very different, mountain-bike race each fall. The site has moved: the event left its original venue after the 2004 competition, and organizers have used more than one piece of ground in the area since. Riders who want to know what the surrounding terrain actually offers outside competition week will find it in the mountain biking guide.
Watching From the Ground
On-site viewing is limited and ticketed — Red Bull sells passes into a general-admission area, with no walk-up or roadside viewing available. The terrain is remote, exposed desert with essentially no shade, and conditions can turn brutal fast for anyone who shows up without water and sun protection. For most fans, Rampage is something watched rather than attended: the finals are broadcast live, while on-site capacity is limited and passes go on sale months ahead. Anyone staying over for the weekend has options in nearby St. George; see the where-to-stay guide.
Who Rampage Suits
This is a spectacle for people who want to see the outer edge of what a mountain bike can do, not a participatory event — there is no open division and no entry list to join, only an invited field competing for scores a judging panel assigns. It runs in early October, on the same fall trail season that draws riders to the region's slickrock, but it draws a different crowd than the area's endurance mountain-bike races: judged artistry on impossible terrain, not a stopwatch.
Frequently asked questions
Is Red Bull Rampage free to watch in person?
No. Spectator access requires a ticket into a general-admission viewing area, and passes go on sale months before the event with limited capacity. There is no free walk-up or roadside viewing near the course.
How many riders compete each year?
The field is invitation-only and modest in size. The 2026 event invited 18 men and 12 women, mixing riders who pre-qualified from the previous year's results with wildcard picks chosen by a committee of former competitors, athletes, and judges.
Are dogs allowed in the Rampage spectator area?
No. Pets are not allowed in the spectator areas, and the exposed, shadeless terrain would be dangerous for an animal regardless of the rule.
What happens if it's windy or rains?
Organizers have pushed finals back by hours, or to a different day, when wind or rain made the sandstone landings unsafe — that happened in 2025. Riders are dropping into custom lines at speed, so a wet or gusty course isn't worth the risk.
How is a winner decided without a clock?
Judges score each of a rider's two runs on line difficulty, trick execution and style, and amplitude. The higher of the two runs stands as the result; only a tie falls back to the combined score of both runs.
Where do I park, and how far is the walk to the viewing area?
Parking and wristband pickup are at the corner of Highway 9 and Kolob Terrace Road in Virgin. Overnight parking is not permitted, and even shuttle-pass holders cover roughly half a mile on foot to reach the general-admission viewing area.
Has Rampage always run on the same cliffs?
No. The event left its original site off Kolob Terrace Road after the 2004 competition and used a different location for most of the years since. The Bureau of Land Management's St. George Field Office approved the 2026 course on public land near that first venue.