November 10, 2025 • 57 mins
Live from Red Bull Rampage, Ashlyn takes advantage of rain delays to talk to some of the competition's most exciting stars. Hannah Bergemann and Chelsea Kimbell are two freeride slopestyle mountain bikers who are undaunted facing huge heights, long jumps, and steep drops of the treacherous Utah mountain trails. Alongside commentator Selema Masekela, Ashlyn talks to Hannah and Chelsea about how they mentally and physically prepare for these extreme challenges, which could end in disaster with one wrong landing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was recently out at a Red Bull rampage and
we were located in Utah, and there ended up being
a lot of rain and weather delays. So I just decided,
what a great opportunity if we're all sitting around, let's like,
(00:20):
let's have a little let's have a little chat with
some of these athletes. So I sat down with two
incredible athletes and a legend himself, Selemma, who has been
a part of extreme sports and Red Bull Rampage. I
think of gosh over ten years. But we got the
(00:41):
opportunity to sit down with Chelsea and Hannah, who are
two athletes that are competing in Red Bull Rampage, just
to talk about the levity and the mental and physical
strength it takes to do with these incredible, credible athletes
(01:01):
are about to undertake, which is charging some of the
most extreme cliffs and mountains and some of the most
dangerous peaks in Utah, and I thought it was incredible
just to get a little bit of their mindset on
how they move into these competitions. Welcome to Red Bull
(01:34):
Rampage twenty twenty five. We're here with the legendary Salima.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Thank you very much. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, welcome to the new show we've created due to
a massive rain delay, but we want to dive into
the stories of the athletes off the bike. So we're
here today with Hannah Bergman. Welcome to the show. We
really just want to take a deep dive into who
you are, how you show up, what is your why,
the mental and physical load that comes with free riding.
(02:07):
But before we get into that, for our viewers and
listeners who may have never tuned into Red Bull Rampage, Solima,
would you give us a high level tactical breakdown as
a veteran who's been doing this for over a decade,
Might I add of what Red Bull Rampage actually is
in the history behind it?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, first we have to quantify doing this. By doing this,
you mean I talk at rampage, I don't ride by rampage.
I ride mountain bikes in a pedestrian manner like the
general population that watches. But Rebel Rampage is the ultimate
free ride mountain biking event on the planet. It's probably
(02:49):
also one of the most challenging events in all of
the action sports landscape. I've had the privilege of commonating,
back country snowboarding, skiing, big wave surfing, freestyle motocross, big
air skateboarding. And I remember the first time that I
(03:10):
came to rampage and I just stopped and looked up
and I was like, oh, I've never been to a
this now before. It's backcountry snowboarding or skiing without powder
landings on a bike. So these athletes come here, they
(03:32):
figure they look up at the mountain and they figure
out a line that they would like to take down,
and they have to dig by hand with sandbags, pick axes, shovels,
and water. Seventy five sandbags per team, only two diggers
to go with the rider. And then it's like, oh,
off you go. And after eight days they formulate a
(03:54):
line with jumps and all sorts of shoots and really
critical things that they have to go shape from the
top to the bottom. Within three minutes. You scored from
one to one hundred overall impression, degree of difficulty, flare,
and the crown of winner at the end of the
of the event. How'd I do? Hannah? Pretty did all right?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I think. I mean I my first experience Hannah was yesterday,
and the realness of what I got to actually see
there's no question you are a one percenter, Like not
everyone's doing this, So why free ride? Why did you
choose this? Why was this a part of what you
(04:39):
wanted to do and how you show up in the
sport you love? Like what led you to this moment?
Because you are sending it in a way I have
never in my life witnessed. And there's just so much
that's involved in what you do. I don't think most
(05:02):
people understand, but I before we even dig into the
mental aspect of it and the physical, why did you
choose free riding? Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah? I started actually in skiing when I was like
in high school. I was on like the high school
race team because that was an easy way for me
to get rides up to the mountain. They had a
team and they would like take us up there to ski.
But then when I was up there on the race team,
I was sneaking away to go free riding free skiing,
(05:35):
riding the park, hitting jumps, all that stuff, and kind
of I have a similar story when I transitioned into biking.
So I got my first mountain bike when I was
like eighteen and kind of started doing some races to
just have an outlet for my riding. At the time,
it was fun to go travel to new places. I
was doing like some enduro style racing, but I didn't
(05:57):
really ever like find that love. I just kind of
did it because it was this outlet for meeting new people,
getting into the mountain bike community, exploring new places. But
then in my own time, I was like wanting to
hit jumps and push my riding on gnarly technical terrain
and essentially free riding. I just didn't know it at
(06:17):
the time because at the time there weren't a lot
of women doing that. So this is yeah, back in
about twenty fifteen is when I was starting to get
into it. And then in twenty nineteen, we had an
event here at this exact venue that was called Formation
and it was essentially like that they organized a session
(06:44):
for women to come and ride here and experience like
this style of riding, this terrain which is super unique,
and I got invited to come to that session and
I just fell in love. I was like, this is
what I've been doing and want to do and where
I want to take my riding. I just didn't know
and I didn't have that like outlet for it or
that role model or example for that path forward, and
(07:07):
that gave that to me from men on and I've
just been pursuing free.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Ride And that's what I love about all of you
women here, Like you're really laying the foundation of what
is possible for this next generation. And I don't say
that lightly because you didn't see it. And the visibility
piece is a massive part of believing you're capable of
(07:31):
doing something. What I love about Red Bull Rampage is
this is a massive live event. It's an equal purse.
They are giving you the same landscape to do what
you love as the men, and that doesn't happen often
in sports, especially for women. So how does that feel
when I say that to you, that you are a trailblazer?
(07:53):
You are changing the dynamic of what people are going
to see moving forward in this next generation and say, hey,
you know what I want to be just like him?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yeah, it's pretty powerful, Like you've already seen, like how
being a role model has led to some of these
up and cooming riders now participating in this event. Like Janelle,
for example, is just turn twenty. She's super young and
has been able to like have some of us older riders,
(08:24):
more veteran riders as an example, And she's told me yesterday, yeah,
that she decided to pursue it because she was inspired
by us and saw the path that we had started
to create and was able to take it. And now
she's here competing at this level, which is pretty incredible.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
It's so powerful. And I think what we're noticing and
what I appreciate so much about Red Bull is the investment.
Because we need visibility, we need investment, We need this
to have scale and reach, and they're doing that. And
what's important too, is you're choosing to show up Selimma,
which I said to you earlier. I don't think the
(09:00):
you understand the impact you have of choosing to be
a part of this and be such an advocate and
ally for us women trying to pave the way for
this new landscape we want to create. And that is
you know, this is the super Bowl, a free ride.
So what are your thoughts, you know, being up there
(09:20):
seeing these women charge these courses and they're absolutely fearless
and so extremely talented, talented, Like, how do you digest
this as someone who's been doing this for so long?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, I have had the privilege. In my twenty
five years as a broadcaster in action sports, I've been
there for many of the women's fights. I was there
for to watch it in skateboarding, I was there to
watch it in snowboarding, in surfing, the fight for equal
(10:00):
pay and the fight for an equal playing field, Like,
there's a lot of time is the conversation around equal
pay and yes, but for a long time in all
these sports, the biggest barrier for women's entry wasn't that
women wanted to participate. It was frankly a group of
men saying, but they're gonna get hurt. And this idea
(10:25):
of men gatekeeping low key gatekeeping a sport for themselves
by saying, well, the women are softer, bad things are
going to happen to them. Ie, they don't really have
the ability to be here, so we're going to protect
them from themselves. And when you watch that same story
(10:46):
over and over and then watch women crash the ceiling,
break it, and then now be on par as, the
watch the parody just go like this with women having
less time in the space, but just collectively focused to
be like, all right, we're here, We're going to fast
track this. I've seen it. I've seen what the women
(11:08):
are doing at Pipeline and in big wave surfing, I've
seen it. You see what it is in the backcountry
at natural Selection. I see it in skateboarding. Women are
driving not just women skateboarding, but driving skateboarding culture as
a result. So when this conversation started to happen, you know,
probably about five years ago when it really started to
(11:29):
get loud where it was like the elephant in the
room was like, yeah, another rampage. Also, formation's cool that
the women are having their kumbaya a couple of weeks beforehand,
where they're feeling good in writing, but they're not getting
to compete at the highest level. At what point are
we going to give them the stage, not empower them,
(11:54):
but allow them to empower themselves. And last year when
Red Bull asked me if I wanted to be a
part of the women's event, I said absolutely, I'm like,
throw me in the corral. I want to be there
with the microphone in my hand, interviewing them and getting that,
getting their response to them making history in real time.
(12:18):
And to be able to do that with Baya and
Robin and those those trailbazers last year was incredible, Like
I could you could just feel what was I was
getting to be a little bit of a part of.
And now this year to see in the span of
just one year the growth, like you know, women's mountain
(12:40):
Biking free right, Mounta Biking has been going like this
for the last six years. I think the thought was
that Okay, they come to rampage, this is a big deal,
that the next year just maybe it'll be like this.
Instead you come here and they just they all they
did was go like.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Just keep elevating and elevating.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And I'm sure for Hannah, like you were hurt last
year so you had to watch, like, you know, chopping
at the bit. I can't imagine what it's like now
for you to be able to step into this to
this next chapter with them. You're competing against them, but
you are all doing this together. You are collectively moving
the thing forward.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah. I mean last year, watching the competition, I had
thought prior that I would feel really like I was
missing out because I obviously was super bummed that I
was invited but then didn't get to compete because of
my injury. But being there and watching the girls do
what they did last year, I was only positive feelings.
I was so hyped for everyone and like they're all
my close friends, Like we've been working to this goal
(13:41):
together for the last five six years, like since the
first formations and in before. But so yeah, to like
see that goal come to fruition in front of my
eyes was incredible.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
And now you're you're you're you're ready.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, and now we're now I'm here getting to compete,
which is even better. But yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I imagine though, at least being able to be at
the event last year. That has to calm your nervous
system a little bit. Yeah, And it gives you a
feeling of I've been here, I've witnessed, I know what
to expect. It's not all entirely new, like you know,
some people are showing up and this is just all new,
(14:24):
which adds a level of I would assume nerves. But
what I saw yesterday on the mountain and I really
because you just you just talked, you just touched on it.
You talk about community with these other women who are
building this together. I watched last year and I was like, God,
everyone's so nice, but they're like competing one hundred thousand dollars,
(14:46):
pers like, why are we all being so nice? I
watched yesterday the way you all celebrate each other's wins
and when someone you know, just to give context, yesterday,
everyone's out digging there. You know, you all are kind
of running just segments of your line, just pieces. You know,
(15:08):
you haven't ran the entirety of it yet because we've had,
you know, some delays. But every time someone hit something,
everyone was putting, you know, on their feet, cheering, clapping.
And I understood the magnitude once I went at the top,
because it really is the epitome of extreme. I mean,
(15:30):
this is like life or death. When I washed, I
mean a two foot like window and a massive drop,
I'm like, how are they doing this? Talk to me
about the community, talk to me about having each other's back.
That is so different than any other sport, because you know,
(15:50):
when I played soccer, I didn't have to worry about
making sure I survived that game. That's a whole different
level of competition. What Like I always said this, I
live on the edge. I live on the edge. No,
you are the edge. You are absolutely the edge. I
have no comparison. I can't even put myself in the
(16:12):
same category. Tell me about this sense of community with
the rest of the women and the athletes here.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, like you said, because the risks are so high
and what we're doing is so extreme, you need that
community to be successful. Like we have to work together
to bring our visions to life, and you can't. It's
not a even though you're out there riding solo, it's
not a solo sport in that sense, Like we're all
working together. We're all helping each other, like even giving
(16:41):
each other advice for speed, testing on features and support, encouragement,
hyping each other up. It's all all part of it
for sure. Yeah, I wouldn't wouldn't be here without it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I love that, And I think women supporting women and
standing on each other's shoulders instead of each other's neck
is something we all can can be down with at
this point, because I do think in women's sports it
does get a little caddy. We feel like, you know,
there's only one seat at the table, But here I
do not feel that, Like I feel this overwhelming sense
(17:17):
of joy and love to be able to do what
you all are doing, and that is a that's what
sports are about. That's that's what competition is about, that's
what community is about. It's really bringing everyone together and
it is a real sense of joy on that mountain. Yeah,
definitely talk to me about your nerves right now going
(17:38):
into rampage. How are you feeling, especially with a little
bit of a you know, rain delay and you know
timing has not really been on all of your sides
at this point. Where's your head at right now?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, it's it's been a bit of a roller coaster
this week and rampage if everything goes perfectly as a
roller coaster every motion, and then that you add all
these other elements of weather and delays and stress and
it just tightens everything. But yeah, I feel I think
a good level of stress. Like I'm definitely not not stressed,
(18:11):
but I'm feeling like appropriately stressed, I guess going into
the competition like it's a big moment and a big event,
but I feel like I'm trying to take it just
one step at a time, each day at a time,
one hour at a time, you know, and just keep
chipping away literally with a big and figuratively at getting
Michael my bringing my vision to life on the mountain.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Does that involve naps at all, I.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Haven't done any naps, but definitely I feel like solid
physio sessions massages.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Because I know there are some athletes. When I'm here
at rampage, you see the amount of stress as people
like yourself are just mind riding a line before you
hit it and then making adjustments, et cetera. And sometimes
the rider's just like all right, I'm out laving in
the hands of my diggers. I'm gonna go down get
some physio, or you just walk into the area and
(19:02):
that person's also just crashed out resetting the central nervous system.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah, there's a lot of strategy there for sure. Like
I can't really take a nap because my brain will
just start thinking about my line and all the things
I have to do, which is part of the process too,
Like you have to do so much visualization prior to
writing and building the lines because you have to like
have the vision in your head to commit to building
and writing it. So I'm doing that all the time,
(19:27):
and that makes it hard for me to like fully relax.
But like sometimes you're just so exhausted you kind of
can shut it off for a bit.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
A little physio is yeah, that'll help sort of your
nap time.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, I have to ask, like what is your relationship
with fear? Like, I like I need to know because
what you're doing out there is so dangerous and you
know watching some of you know, the other athletes have
some pretty gnarly falls the other day or yesterday. How
(20:00):
do you carry that? How do you wake up and
not let that affect you and what you're wanting to do.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, it's pretty heavy for sure. Like a lot of
like self talk and thinking and visualizing success. Like that's
kind of been my key strategy. I think is like
getting to a place in my head where I can
just only see success. I'm still scared, but then I
have like my mental process refined so that I'm much
(20:30):
more confident in myself that I am afraid, and I
can just lean into that confidence and know that I
can can do it. But it's a process I've developed it,
you know, over my career of going through these to
these events and being scared and in these situations where
I'm nervous and have to do something. I've refined that
process for like dealing with the fear and then getting
(20:53):
myself into the right head space. I feel like that's
a huge maybe underrated skill in or like you have
to be really good at that to be able to
do this well.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, the mental load in the physical load is something
that you know that most people don't understand because they
only see you when the event is live. But the
work that goes in to get you to that moment,
everything else just kind of goes into autopilot. Whence you're writing, right,
a lot of work has already been foundation. We're in laid.
(21:28):
So how are you feeling about your line this year?
And Red Bull Rampage like this is a course that
has clearly been used by the men in previous years,
So there's actually bones out there you can be building
off of. Has that made the process easier? Has that
made it more difficult?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
I think it helps a little bit. Like you have yeah,
like you said, the bones of lines that were there
ten years ago, but they're still like some of the
features are. You can see where they used to be,
and then you can watch the old videos and kind
of get an idea for how they were hitting them
in the past, like how they were building them, so
that you can sort of replicate them and know that
(22:08):
they're going to work. Where It's like if you were
building something completely from scratch. You have to fully trust
the vision that you have in your head, not one
that already exists, to make it come to life. So
it definitely helps that the boys have left the bones
of the twenty fifteen rampage here. And I chose a
line off the top that actually one of the riders
(22:30):
in twenty fifteen attempted to ride but was unsuccessful, Like,
it didn't work, he crashed.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Did you hear that? Oh yeah, no, did we hear that? Yeah,
let's hear that one more time. So you're charging this.
That wasn't even a successful line the men. The men
tried previous yea, yeah. And it's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
It's really really brilliant. It speaks to what I was
talking about before. As far as the progression curve of
the women, it's like it's from another planets, like to
rock up there and be like, yeah, I think, yeah,
that take take me to the top. Not surprising for
for Hannah, that's just that's what you see from her
(23:14):
in anything that she does. But to do so here
at rampage, it's what the sport's about in general. I
was talking to one of the judges today about where
the women's riding is at and she said, you know
what's really awesome about this time is that the women
represent the actual purity, the essence of free ride at Rampage.
(23:36):
It's not going to be a bunch of like you know,
flip tricks and spinning and and things that come from
some of the other elements of mountbike mount biking. Like
we're going to watch the purest, most hardcore free riding
and it's going to happen in the women's event. And
that's what Rampage is about. And to your point before,
it's like, I think for people who've never seen this before,
(23:58):
this is an endurance event.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Like the day of competition is just is literally like
the athletes entering the stadium after of the marathon at
the Olympics, but like they just ran twenty four, yes
and a half miles and now you're gonna watch this
last bit. This is all of all of this part
the building the start and stop, and the building relationship
(24:24):
with fear, the best athletes being able to convert that
into power. Like every athlete is terrified. Any athlete who
tells you they're not scared is line that's true.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I couldn't even walk it.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
They're scared. But what the superpower that they have is
being able to take that fear, the belief and the
ability to feel themselves doing it, and once they feel
and see it in their head, convert that fear into power.
And that's just like some other Tony Start type ability
that they have at this elite level.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So, Hannah, what do we get to look forward to? Come?
You know, I guess now we're going to be delayed,
but this on Friday, what do we what do we
have to look forward to? What are you excited about?
I know you can't give us all the secrets, but
what do we get to expect from you?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
From from my line, I'm still have yet to unlock
that very first big feature on the top of my line,
so hopefully that happens before camp tomorrow and then I'll
have my full line complete. But I chose a line
that highlights different aspects of my riding. So I wanted
to have something like really steep and gnarly and technical
to kind of highlight brake control and technical riding skills
(25:37):
at the top. And the top is where it's like
those big cliff bands, like literal massive cliff bands, like
we're using ropes and harnesses to like get a mega exposure.
So I picked a burly line up there for the start,
and then it kind of leads me back onto the ridge,
this big main ridge that I just love because it
stands out beautifully like on the venue, and it has
(26:01):
some really cool jumps and a big hip on top
of the ridge that you're just kind of jumping up
onto the ridge over the ridge, and it's super cool,
like really good flow. I feel like I can have
good amplitude on that section of my line, which is
something the judge is like too. And then as I
have a big drop that takes the off the ridge
down to the bottom, and there's some jumps that I'm
(26:22):
hoping to do some tricks on.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So I fifty three feet tip to tail, probably going
to be a little bit bigger at landing. Right.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Well, that's Chelsea's draw, Chelsea, Cammy and Georgia there is
a bigger Mine's like forty.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Three, so it'll be fifty three where she lands it.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, maybe I'll take a deep.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
What do you feel right now when you see all
of this investment and visibility and what's going on in
the women's landscape in general, Like, what do you feel
if you could close us out? What does this feel
like for you? Because you're taking up space in your
(27:00):
carving this new path for this next generation? Like what
do we need more of? How is this making you feel?
Is it surreal? Is it like? Hello, we've been waiting,
We've been here forever, Like what is this feeling right now?
Sitting in here? You know, seeing the investment being important
to be able to live your truth and your dreams
and have all this access where you didn't have when
(27:23):
you were younger. We're a grom and now these younger
kids are gonna have that being able to watch you.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, how does it make you feel? It feels Yeah,
pretty surreal. I would say. Like when we first got
that announcement last year that women are going to be
in rampage, I had this moment of like not doubt,
but just like pressure kind of like Okay, now we
made it happen, Like the event's happening. They're investing in us,
Like now we don't want to blow it, you know,
like we have to almost prove, not prove, but like
(27:53):
you want to make sure that everyone agrees that you're
supposed to be there, and then after the event last year,
it's like, oh, yeah, they're the women have are meant
to be there and they have been meant to be
there this whole time, and then coming into this year's event,
I just feel like the same, you know, just like
so happy and stoked to be here, and and also
like I'm supposed to be here too, Like the women
(28:16):
are meant to be a part of this event and
have space here in this sport, and yeah, I'm just
happy that we're getting that opportunity to be on this stage,
in this platform, and yeah, I'm just really excited to
show everyone what we're gonna do. Well.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
We appreciate your commitment and your passion to really move
the needle in your sport, and that's not easy to
do while you're competing, you know, is to really build
it on your on your back. And that's a testament
to these women out here who are literally building it
as they're flying it. And I'm really looking forward to
(28:52):
watching you compete. Wow, So thanks for being here, Thank
you for having.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Me, Thank you, thank you both for having me. I
don't even go to the school.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
You're here forever, You're here forever.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
It's an honor and wanting. I've been wanting to be
able to sit with you. So when Ashton said this
is happening, I was like, yes, please, Yeah, excited. I'll
be excited to be calling your first run at Ramby.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yes, so be amazing.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Good Black Hannah, thank you so much. Stay tuned. I'll
be back in just a moment after this brief message
from our sponsors. Up next, we're going to bring in
Chelsea Kimball and Selimma Masekela to talk about her experience
(29:38):
and expectations of this year's Red Bull Rampage. Welcome to
Red Bull Rampage twenty twenty five. I'm here with our
special guest, Chelsea Kimball. Welcome to the show, Salima. Nice
to have you back, sir. Thank you a legend.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm literally just happy to be here sitting next to Chelsea.
Just send it, just just send it.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Tell me about this, tell me about this, this name
that you have been so beautifully and gracefully given.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Yes, okay, I was a rock climber before mountain biking,
and my friend thought of the Instagram handle from rock
climbing because I back in like maybe two thousand and fifteen.
Is when I made an Instagram because I wanted to
like be a mountain biker and I hadn't climbed in
(30:29):
quite a while. And I went to Eldorado Canyon in
Colorado and climbed with my friend. And it was a
route called the Casual Route.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I think, No, nothing at all was casual about it.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
It was it was a five to ten, a sport
climbing route or not sport climbing route. Sorry, my brain's
not working at.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Great, So all right, we're in bike mode. You're switching back.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
Yeah, five ten a trad route. And I was like,
I was leading it, and I placed I was placing
some gear and a number three wild country friend right
before this overhang placed the cam and then I like,
reach up, I get the first hand, then the second
hand is like a beautiful hand jam. But my hand
(31:10):
was all sweaty and I slipped and I my friend
was blaying me. I probably I fell over three ledges.
I had time to scream multiple times and yeah, just
massive whipper. And he thought of that name.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Because of that, you know, And it all makes sense
because for those of you who didn't tune into twenty
twenty four, you had a little bit of a little crash,
and the way you recovered grabbing that rock and stopping
yourself from falling off of a ledge, I was like,
(31:46):
she went full climber mode.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I think.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Never seen anything like it. I'm like, oh, you could
actually probably do anything you wanted. You probably did every
sport as a child, and you were insanely gifted. And
you were like, you know what, I'm going to pick
the most extreme thing. Here we go free riot. It's
for me.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Oh man, I would just come back and say that
anybody could do anything.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
That's fair.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
It's all about your mindset, right.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I'm letting you know, after I hiked that mountain and
I saw all those cliffs, I don't think I could
do this. I don't think I have the you know,
balls to do this, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
But you said that in a certain way. You said
I don't think I could do this. You didn't straight
up say I can't do that. And that just says
something about you, because you are leaving like one little
possibility of like, well maybe I could, but there's these
reasons that I'm not.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Do you want to know the truth? Always? Okay, I
got here yesterday, and what I love about what you
all are doing. You women are doing is you're giving
people permission through visibility and access to say I can
do this, I want to do this. Yesterday at the bottom,
I was like, I can do this, I want to
(33:04):
do this. By the top I said absolutely not. Never.
I will not be on a bike. That drop is insane.
I can't even climb it, let alone jump it. Like
this is You're pushing the boundaries in a way as
an athlete I have never experienced in all my life.
(33:27):
Humbly say that there is no one out here who
could do what you do. Very you are the one percent.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
It's funny, And Chelsea, I think you'll back me up
on this. If Chelsea goes and walks around the rest
of the mountain and looks at the lines of her peers,
she's also probably saying the same thing, like, I'm not
doing that.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I actually just said that my team is up there
helping Hannah's team with her drop right now, and I
was walking around because I brought them all lunch, and
I'm walking around those lines, and I'm like, I would
not want to do this. This is so gnarly, so.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Exactly yeah, exactly. It really is, and you know, I
would love to know because you you know, we were
talking to Hannah earlier. And what I keep coming back
to is the space you all are taking up, the
way you're granting everyone permission to want to do this,
this next generation, because what I assume is you didn't
(34:29):
have the visibility to say, oh I want to do
that from a really early age. It didn't exist.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
There's there's there's one thing I don't like about how
you say that, and it's like granting someone permission. People
are people, They can do what they want. Nobody needs permission.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You just absolutely I feel like the key is.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Really to find what you want to do, whether that's
free Red Mountain biking or writing a book or anything like.
You don't need permission, you just need intention.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
M I love that.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
I don't want to give anybody permission because that's not mine.
That's that's theirs to take, not mine to give.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I love that and what I love and it's so
beautifully said, is I really believe seeing is believing. I
really think. You know, as a young kid, I always
saw men's sports on TV, so I wanted to be
a male athlete. I was not a man, but I
wanted to be Michael Jordan, I wanted to be Tony Hawk,
(35:29):
I wanted to be Kelly Slater. I didn't see women
like me on TV. So what I think is so
important is the visibility piece that people are going to
be able to tune into this at Red Bull Live
and see what is possible through the lens of you.
That to me is so powerful.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
It is it is super powerful. Like just having this
level of competition for us women is so insane, and
it is just so much visibility for the next generations.
Like I was just while it was raining this morning,
I was just like looking through Instagram and there's a
young girl from the Northwest named Mioumi that's out here
(36:12):
like at the old site, riding right now, just sending
such crazy features. And she's how old is she now?
Maybe like fifteen or sixteen, she might even be younger
than that, but she's absolutely crushing it. And I'm so
happy to see young girls coming up and riding like
this because we're here now. But unless there's a next
(36:34):
generation to take our spot and kick us out, like
this can't continue.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, you want to breed competition, Oh yeah, you thrive
for it. That's why you're doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
What did you see after last year's inaugural event, I
mean being here last year, just the amount of women
that and young girls that were here wide eyed being like,
Oh that's that's me. I can do that. But what
have you seen in the last year as far as
the talk and community and the idea the now possibility
(37:08):
that exists at this level that didn't exist before the
event last year.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I gotta say I haven't seen or heard huge differences,
Like it's a year in life, Like one year really
isn't that long. But I can say just like the
evolution over the last like five years is crazy and
it is super cool to see these young girls and
hear them say like, oh, I want to go I
want to be in rampage. That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, and I didn't exist.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
No, no, well, in one way it did. Women were
never specifically excluded from rampage, never like there was only
one category. But nobody ever said that women cannot compete
at rampage. So does that mean that a woman has
ever been at the same level as the men. I
don't know, we don't know, but we were never excluded.
(38:03):
Like maybe there's a few girls that could have shined
through if they decided to take that opportunity, like if
they chose to see it that way.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
How have you prepared? You've had a year, you know,
you know what to expect. You were here last year,
what did What has your preparation looked like now leading
up to Rampage twenty twenty five? Have have you shifted
some things? Have you gotten comfortable with the way the
judges are scoring things?
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
What has really shifted for you?
Speaker 4 (38:35):
I mean after Rampage last year, after crashing and like
knowing that I could have placed well and not, I
was definitely motivated right away, like, Okay, next year, I'm
coming back and I want to win. Like I'm a
super competitive person. I'm not like competitive in the way
of like screw everybody else. I'm just like I want
(38:58):
to win, of course. But there's so many things in
my life that has changed over this last year, and
part of it centered around Rampage, and part of it
is just centered around like life and progressing through life.
But yeah, I've been I've really tried to develop different
mental strategies to practice different things. I've developed more of
(39:21):
a routine. I feel like I'm still kind of learning
how to be a professional athlete and how to make
my own schedule. I've always been a person I love
manual labor. I love working hard, but I love working
for someone. I like someone to tell me, Okay, be
here this time and do this job. So it's been
a really difficult process of learning how to be my
own boss and how to show up and be respect
(39:46):
myself and show up for myself as I would show
up for someone else. And I think I've done that
a lot better this year, just developing a routine and
going to the gym consistently and just stretching and doing
different things to make sure my body's the best it
can be and mentally I'm the best I can be. Yeah,
So there's a lot of things have changed this year,
(40:08):
and I feel the I feel confident that I have
done everything that I possibly could have this year to
be the best I can be right now.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
And I imagine that gives you a great deal of
confidence moving into yes one hundred percent because you haven't
cut corners. Yeah, you didn't take shortcuts. So that to me,
you know, has to settle the nerves when you're at
the top, knowing you did all the work when no
one was watching.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Yeah, that's power. Yeah, it's like it's uh. I actually
kind of feel a little bit weird about it, Like
I'm I'm scared of there obviously, but uh, but I
do feel more comfortable than I have been in the
past in a situation like this.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
This is wide open and I'm your host, Ashlyn Harris.
Thanks for listening. We'll be right back. So tell us
what we get to look forward to this year? What
is what are you gonna give us in Red Bull Rampage,
Because right off the bat, I need to know you're
(41:15):
gonna send it. I already know, but please, like for
the audience who may not know, let us know what
you're what you're about to do.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
So you want to you know, want to know my line?
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Give us whatever you're comfortable sharing. Okay, I'll just say competition.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
I'll just say my dream run. So my dream run.
I also don't really know where to look right now.
Say you can look at us anyways.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I'm just here bringing up the rear.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
Okay, my dream run drop in, I go riders left
down the scissor drop, I have a super wiggly run
into the battleship.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
It's a yeah, not chill.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
No, Please, before you even to move on from battleship,
please tell the audience what the battleship is here, because
whoa that is like I can't wait to watch you,
but holy shit, I'm scared for you.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
I can't wait to watch myself. Well I have watched
myself in my mind.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
But it made you choose it. It's obviously it's it.
Speaker 4 (42:18):
Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure my first time coming
out to this venue was in like twenty seventeen probably,
and well, I don't know back then if I looked
up there and thought, but I have over the years
looked up there and been like, wow, I wonder if
you could make an on off right there. And then
in twenty twenty three, Brendan Fairklaw and Shimmin Godziak made it.
(42:42):
They built me on off, They did the work up
there to make it actually writeable. And actually, after Rampages
that year, I was like, I was so close to
going up there. I had a crew of friends that
were going to go up and help me rebuild it,
to hit it. For some reason. Honestly, I don't know.
It's kind of stupid, but but yeah, I wanted to
(43:03):
hit it back then I decided not to because it
was super dangerous and I felt like I could practice
more for it. But then they announced that rampage was
at this venue and I'm like, well, I'm doing the Battleship.
That was the first thing that came to my mind.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Wow, can you describe the off?
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Okay, Yeah, you jump onto the battleship twenty one foot
gap like two foot step down to an uphill landing.
Then the actual ride service gets to be like a
foot and a half wide, maybe two feet. And then
Ryan and Eric this morning actually just made the takeoff
like downhill take off to like a twelve foot drop
(43:46):
onto somewhat of a lily pad off to the right
hand side of the ridge. They moved like tons of
mountain to make this landing for me. And yeah, you
jump off down this like ramp kind of thing and
you kind of go off into the bank and then
slashed back into the catch froom. It's super fun. Oh well,
I think it'll be super fun.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
I mean, you are something special.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
I well hearing you describe it like that, so with
a smile, that actually lets me know like, all right,
you got it, because you've already you've already ridden it.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
I have in my well. I actually rolled off the
ridge into the like the landing, so I have actually
ridden half of it. Yeah, yeah, for sure, I was
just practicing last night.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
I have to ask this, is this more about proving
this to yourself, to the community, or for the one
hundred thousand dollars? Why the most complicated joke? Why did
you choose this?
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Oh, it's for you, definitely for me and then me
first for sure, one hundred percent. Like I said, I
wanted to do this on off back then. Now I've
got like recent sources to help me do it, which
is incredible and uh and then yeah, secondly because I
want to win.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yep, I'm I'm wishing the best of luck. I think
you're gonna do it. I think you're gonna nail it.
I don't think I know you are. I know you are.
I think you're in a very good place mentally and physically.
You've done the work and the rest will take over. Yep,
tell me the rest of your line? What do we
what else do we have to look forward to?
Speaker 4 (45:29):
Okay, so yeah, off the battleship blanding. Like Lily Pedri,
we're calling it the plank plank of.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
The battleship like that, it's walking a plank.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
Yep, exactly, my friend Kayley came up with that. But anyways,
uh yeah, bank, and then I dropped down the hill
into like another left hand burm into gap, kind of
long and low jump with a slightly hipped landing. Then
I shut it down before a feature that I actually
have two options on. It's like a setup step down
maybe fifteen feet long or yesterday I made it rollable
(46:03):
because right after that is like, it's just continuous. Ryan
made it continuous downhill to a step down or drop,
depending on your viewpoint on this conversation. But yeah, and
this one I'm actually calling old Greg because I don't
know if you guys have seen it, Old Greg? Do
you love me? Could you learn to love me?
Speaker 2 (46:24):
I have not?
Speaker 1 (46:25):
No, I have not. What is it?
Speaker 4 (46:27):
It's like an old YouTube video with a like a
squid guy and he's like, cause I got a man Jina.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
Oh my god, asert clip here?
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Yeah, who are you? I'm out Greg?
Speaker 4 (46:39):
Yeah you really haven't seen him?
Speaker 1 (46:41):
I will not. Now we're gonna go back. Oh yeah,
go look up Old Greg.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
But but really, I keep saying I hate that feature
and even just calling it old Greg and saying could
you learn to love me? I'm like liking it just
a little more.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
That makes you laugh. How big is the drop step down?
Speaker 4 (46:56):
That is just over forty feet? I think? Yeah, so
that's like actually a pretty big one, leading into my
biggest drop of my line, which is drop originally built
by a timer McCall in like fourteen or fifteen called
a Presidente, and that one, to me, I love it.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
It's like fifty three feet of joy.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Yeah, well somebody yesterday said fifty six. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
I hope it's bigger, but let's we'll say.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
So there we go. There's room for more in the land.
Speaker 4 (47:26):
Oh yeah, the landing, Oh is dreamy.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Depends on what your kind of dreams you're into, but
at least there's plenty of room for you your thing.
That's it's iconic. I mean, you're you're starting up with
an icon and then you you you hit this other
iconic banger. Yep, like you hammer that.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Run, put it, put a bow on it. We're all leaving.
That's it, there's no more game over. Well, you have
an an electric personality. I noticed that two seconds into
meeting you yesterday. I really want to know, and I'm
sure everyone out there, who's Chelsea off the bike?
Speaker 4 (48:10):
Who am I off the bike? It's really hard to
say anything about myself that's not mountain biking these days,
like my life totally revolves around mountain biking. But I
guess at heart I love adventure, Yeah, I have. Yeah,
I love adventure, like crazy adventures that whether it's super
(48:32):
planned or not planned. I actually did a big trip
with two friends in twenty twenty three in Chile, like
a big mission to climb up this mountain in Chile
and then ride down it, and it was Yeah. I
love stuff like that, just like going out in the
mountains and doing something really hard, and like I love
(48:56):
just the pure effort and actual danger of it rather
than something that is I don't know, everything in life
is just so like on a certain line, Like there's
so much different safety nets and all of this, and
I just love going out there and just like being
(49:16):
you and the nature.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Well, you clearly see the world differently. You know I shouldn't.
It's a fact. I mean you can. You want adventure,
you want the thrill. You know, it's very clear that
you live for these moments, they fuel you constantly. But
what about balance? How do you turn that adrenaline off?
How do you come down? How do you sleep?
Speaker 4 (49:42):
I actually sleeping really well.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
But if you actually I'm good.
Speaker 4 (49:45):
But if you have any pointers on balance, I'll take it, because,
uh that I have not figured out yet. It's really
hard for me to like sit down.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
I can see that. Yeah, I'm glad we got the
chance to sit down with you.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Then now stressed.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Yeah, she's she's like, I need to get on the mountains.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
So you're you. I like how you talk. You tapped
into that relationship that you have with nature. How do
you sort of harness the power of the mountains? Because
I think there's for me whenever I when I find
myself out there, I'm awed by the power. And then
(50:22):
there's this this idea that like, oh I get to
you get to explore and play and create vision in
the mountains. But the mountains just by themselves, there's just
it's this level of power even when you're here, when
you even before you walk up there, you're like there's
this awe and then you're you're like, hey, I'm gonna
can we play?
Speaker 4 (50:43):
It's I think the key well, yeah, of course it's
just an opinion. But I feel like just the key
to it all is presence. Like if you if you
go out into nature of any sort and you think
of yourself as like separate from it, then then I
don't know, it's just it's it's different, like if you
(51:04):
go into the mountains and you just breathe and you're
just like you're just there, You're not thinking about something else,
You're just just being part of it.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Tap all the way in and then hit the battleship.
Speaker 1 (51:17):
It's what I'm like sensing. And it's like such a
powerful thing to say because not many people move in
the world this way. But I feel like you feel
at peace with danger. It makes you feel live.
Speaker 4 (51:31):
Maybe i'd like I guess, I hm feel at peace
with danger. I guess I could. I could. I could
agree with that I feel at peace with danger. But
I feel like danger is ever present no matter what
you do. If there's something bad that can happen, it
(51:51):
probably will happen, whether you're walking down the sidewalk or
jumping onto the battleship. There's a level of risk that
may change, and that also changes with with your like
personal abilities. But there's always danger. I could, Yeah, I
could walk outside in the next thunderstorm and get struck
(52:11):
by lightning.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Very true statement, It's very true.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
And what your danger and the danger that athletes like
yourself find themselves in is calculated danger as opposed to
the random ass danger in the rest of the world.
The amount of preparation and calculation and building of equipment
and the work that you put in to people who
who aren't a part of this culture, it might those
(52:37):
people are crazy, but the level of calculation that and
kind of safety nets that already exist as opposed to
me walking across the street in Los Angeles, where each
time I make it to the other side of it's
there's far more that goes into it.
Speaker 4 (52:56):
Yeah, I guess leading up to this year's rampage and
knowing what line I wanted, I guess I like I
made the decision as soon as the venue was announced,
and just like thought to myself, like being, yeah, just
just like knowing the risks and knowing that I am
(53:18):
choosing to uh to go ahead with what I want
to do even though.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Those risks are there.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
Yeah, And I guess, yeah, it's just part of it
that you have to be at peace with the risk
and the danger.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
I love the way you choose to push the limits,
the boundaries. I like the air is so thin at
the top and you feel very comfortable in that and
most people that's a credit to you as a human
and the work you've done. And I don't want to
minimize that, because not everyone you know is choosing to
jump on a bike and falling off over and over
(53:53):
and over and waking up the next morning and saying
I was meant for this, I'm going to do it again,
and I'm going to do it over and over and
over again. And that is your superpower. And you are
so enjoy your personality. Everything about you is really fun
(54:14):
to be around. And I love the fact that we
got to sit down and talk to you about it,
because now I'm stoked for that jump, whereas before I
think I was a little scared. And I love that
energy about you is that you hold it so gracefully.
What do you want next? Like, what do you think
we're lacking? What do you want more of? What do
(54:36):
you see in the future for women in free riding?
Speaker 4 (54:41):
Well, first, thank you, that's very very kind things, So yeah,
thank you. I appreciate that and let's see the future.
I don't want to talk to just about women. I'd
just rather talk about the future of mountain bikers and
just people in general, because everybody has challenges and if
we minimize somebody else's challenges, like, what does that really
(55:04):
do for the world. Yeah, I personally like try to
help create and want to see more public more like
open public events. To me, that's like the basis of
free ride right now, there's so many events that are
invitation only, and I've always called it the cool kids club,
Like unless you know the right people and are friends
(55:27):
with them, then you're you're not gonna get invited. And
that that is the part of our sport that I
think is really tough and it's not my favorite. I
think it's it's somewhat unavoidable because not everybody can go
to every event. But that's why we need a little
bit of everything. We need more of these, like smaller,
more local events for people to like really become part
(55:47):
of the community and learn and ride and yeah, just
like be a part of it and have fun.
Speaker 3 (55:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Well, we're stoked for you. We can't wait to see
you ride. You're gonna set the tone and set the
bar very high, as you always do, and we can't
wait to witness greatness. So thank you for showing up today.
Thank you for being you, Thank you for being a trailblazer,
and we'll see you Friday.
Speaker 2 (56:13):
Thanks for being unapologetically badass.
Speaker 1 (56:16):
Yes that part. Thanks You're welcome. Thanks everyone for tuning
in this week and hearing these incredible athletes. Thanks for
hearing all about my experience at Red Bull Rampage, and
we'll see you next week on another episode of Wide
Open with Ashland Harris. Wide Open with Ashland Harris is
(56:42):
an iHeart women's sports production. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Our producers are Carmen Borca, Coreo, Emily Maronov, and Lucy Jones.
Production assistants from Malia A. Our executive producers are Jesse Katz,
(57:03):
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder, and I'm your host, Ashlyn Harris.
I was recently out at a Red Bull rampage and
we were located in Utah, and there ended up being
a lot of rain and weather delays. So I just decided,
what a great opportunity if we're all sitting around, let's like,
(00:20):
let's have a little let's have a little chat with
some of these athletes. So I sat down with two
incredible athletes and a legend himself, Selemma, who has been
a part of extreme sports and Red Bull Rampage. I
think of gosh over ten years. But we got the
(00:41):
opportunity to sit down with Chelsea and Hannah, who are
two athletes that are competing in Red Bull Rampage, just
to talk about the levity and the mental and physical
strength it takes to do with these incredible, credible athletes
(01:01):
are about to undertake, which is charging some of the
most extreme cliffs and mountains and some of the most
dangerous peaks in Utah, and I thought it was incredible
just to get a little bit of their mindset on
how they move into these competitions. Welcome to Red Bull
(01:34):
Rampage twenty twenty five. We're here with the legendary Salima.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Thank you very much. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, welcome to the new show we've created due to
a massive rain delay, but we want to dive into
the stories of the athletes off the bike. So we're
here today with Hannah Bergman. Welcome to the show. We
really just want to take a deep dive into who
you are, how you show up, what is your why,
the mental and physical load that comes with free riding.
(02:07):
But before we get into that, for our viewers and
listeners who may have never tuned into Red Bull Rampage, Solima,
would you give us a high level tactical breakdown as
a veteran who's been doing this for over a decade,
Might I add of what Red Bull Rampage actually is
in the history behind it?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, first we have to quantify doing this. By doing this,
you mean I talk at rampage, I don't ride by rampage.
I ride mountain bikes in a pedestrian manner like the
general population that watches. But Rebel Rampage is the ultimate
free ride mountain biking event on the planet. It's probably
(02:49):
also one of the most challenging events in all of
the action sports landscape. I've had the privilege of commonating,
back country snowboarding, skiing, big wave surfing, freestyle motocross, big
air skateboarding. And I remember the first time that I
(03:10):
came to rampage and I just stopped and looked up
and I was like, oh, I've never been to a
this now before. It's backcountry snowboarding or skiing without powder
landings on a bike. So these athletes come here, they
(03:32):
figure they look up at the mountain and they figure
out a line that they would like to take down,
and they have to dig by hand with sandbags, pick axes, shovels,
and water. Seventy five sandbags per team, only two diggers
to go with the rider. And then it's like, oh,
off you go. And after eight days they formulate a
(03:54):
line with jumps and all sorts of shoots and really
critical things that they have to go shape from the
top to the bottom. Within three minutes. You scored from
one to one hundred overall impression, degree of difficulty, flare,
and the crown of winner at the end of the
of the event. How'd I do? Hannah? Pretty did all right?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I think. I mean I my first experience Hannah was yesterday,
and the realness of what I got to actually see
there's no question you are a one percenter, Like not
everyone's doing this, So why free ride? Why did you
choose this? Why was this a part of what you
(04:39):
wanted to do and how you show up in the
sport you love? Like what led you to this moment?
Because you are sending it in a way I have
never in my life witnessed. And there's just so much
that's involved in what you do. I don't think most
(05:02):
people understand, but I before we even dig into the
mental aspect of it and the physical, why did you
choose free riding? Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah? I started actually in skiing when I was like
in high school. I was on like the high school
race team because that was an easy way for me
to get rides up to the mountain. They had a
team and they would like take us up there to ski.
But then when I was up there on the race team,
I was sneaking away to go free riding free skiing,
(05:35):
riding the park, hitting jumps, all that stuff, and kind
of I have a similar story when I transitioned into biking.
So I got my first mountain bike when I was
like eighteen and kind of started doing some races to
just have an outlet for my riding. At the time,
it was fun to go travel to new places. I
was doing like some enduro style racing, but I didn't
(05:57):
really ever like find that love. I just kind of
did it because it was this outlet for meeting new people,
getting into the mountain bike community, exploring new places. But
then in my own time, I was like wanting to
hit jumps and push my riding on gnarly technical terrain
and essentially free riding. I just didn't know it at
(06:17):
the time because at the time there weren't a lot
of women doing that. So this is yeah, back in
about twenty fifteen is when I was starting to get
into it. And then in twenty nineteen, we had an
event here at this exact venue that was called Formation
and it was essentially like that they organized a session
(06:44):
for women to come and ride here and experience like
this style of riding, this terrain which is super unique,
and I got invited to come to that session and
I just fell in love. I was like, this is
what I've been doing and want to do and where
I want to take my riding. I just didn't know
and I didn't have that like outlet for it or
that role model or example for that path forward, and
(07:07):
that gave that to me from men on and I've
just been pursuing free.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Ride And that's what I love about all of you
women here, Like you're really laying the foundation of what
is possible for this next generation. And I don't say
that lightly because you didn't see it. And the visibility
piece is a massive part of believing you're capable of
(07:31):
doing something. What I love about Red Bull Rampage is
this is a massive live event. It's an equal purse.
They are giving you the same landscape to do what
you love as the men, and that doesn't happen often
in sports, especially for women. So how does that feel
when I say that to you, that you are a trailblazer?
(07:53):
You are changing the dynamic of what people are going
to see moving forward in this next generation and say, hey,
you know what I want to be just like him?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yeah, it's pretty powerful, Like you've already seen, like how
being a role model has led to some of these
up and cooming riders now participating in this event. Like Janelle,
for example, is just turn twenty. She's super young and
has been able to like have some of us older riders,
(08:24):
more veteran riders as an example, And she's told me yesterday, yeah,
that she decided to pursue it because she was inspired
by us and saw the path that we had started
to create and was able to take it. And now
she's here competing at this level, which is pretty incredible.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
It's so powerful. And I think what we're noticing and
what I appreciate so much about Red Bull is the investment.
Because we need visibility, we need investment, We need this
to have scale and reach, and they're doing that. And
what's important too, is you're choosing to show up Selimma,
which I said to you earlier. I don't think the
(09:00):
you understand the impact you have of choosing to be
a part of this and be such an advocate and
ally for us women trying to pave the way for
this new landscape we want to create. And that is
you know, this is the super Bowl, a free ride.
So what are your thoughts, you know, being up there
(09:20):
seeing these women charge these courses and they're absolutely fearless
and so extremely talented, talented, Like, how do you digest
this as someone who's been doing this for so long?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, I have had the privilege. In my twenty
five years as a broadcaster in action sports, I've been
there for many of the women's fights. I was there
for to watch it in skateboarding, I was there to
watch it in snowboarding, in surfing, the fight for equal
(10:00):
pay and the fight for an equal playing field, Like,
there's a lot of time is the conversation around equal
pay and yes, but for a long time in all
these sports, the biggest barrier for women's entry wasn't that
women wanted to participate. It was frankly a group of
men saying, but they're gonna get hurt. And this idea
(10:25):
of men gatekeeping low key gatekeeping a sport for themselves
by saying, well, the women are softer, bad things are
going to happen to them. Ie, they don't really have
the ability to be here, so we're going to protect
them from themselves. And when you watch that same story
(10:46):
over and over and then watch women crash the ceiling,
break it, and then now be on par as, the
watch the parody just go like this with women having
less time in the space, but just collectively focused to
be like, all right, we're here, We're going to fast
track this. I've seen it. I've seen what the women
(11:08):
are doing at Pipeline and in big wave surfing, I've
seen it. You see what it is in the backcountry
at natural Selection. I see it in skateboarding. Women are
driving not just women skateboarding, but driving skateboarding culture as
a result. So when this conversation started to happen, you know,
probably about five years ago when it really started to
(11:29):
get loud where it was like the elephant in the
room was like, yeah, another rampage. Also, formation's cool that
the women are having their kumbaya a couple of weeks beforehand,
where they're feeling good in writing, but they're not getting
to compete at the highest level. At what point are
we going to give them the stage, not empower them,
(11:54):
but allow them to empower themselves. And last year when
Red Bull asked me if I wanted to be a
part of the women's event, I said absolutely, I'm like,
throw me in the corral. I want to be there
with the microphone in my hand, interviewing them and getting that,
getting their response to them making history in real time.
(12:18):
And to be able to do that with Baya and
Robin and those those trailbazers last year was incredible, Like
I could you could just feel what was I was
getting to be a little bit of a part of.
And now this year to see in the span of
just one year the growth, like you know, women's mountain
(12:40):
Biking free right, Mounta Biking has been going like this
for the last six years. I think the thought was
that Okay, they come to rampage, this is a big deal,
that the next year just maybe it'll be like this.
Instead you come here and they just they all they
did was go like.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Just keep elevating and elevating.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And I'm sure for Hannah, like you were hurt last
year so you had to watch, like, you know, chopping
at the bit. I can't imagine what it's like now
for you to be able to step into this to
this next chapter with them. You're competing against them, but
you are all doing this together. You are collectively moving
the thing forward.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah. I mean last year, watching the competition, I had
thought prior that I would feel really like I was
missing out because I obviously was super bummed that I
was invited but then didn't get to compete because of
my injury. But being there and watching the girls do
what they did last year, I was only positive feelings.
I was so hyped for everyone and like they're all
my close friends, Like we've been working to this goal
(13:41):
together for the last five six years, like since the
first formations and in before. But so yeah, to like
see that goal come to fruition in front of my
eyes was incredible.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
And now you're you're you're you're ready.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, and now we're now I'm here getting to compete,
which is even better. But yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I imagine though, at least being able to be at
the event last year. That has to calm your nervous
system a little bit. Yeah, And it gives you a
feeling of I've been here, I've witnessed, I know what
to expect. It's not all entirely new, like you know,
some people are showing up and this is just all new,
(14:24):
which adds a level of I would assume nerves. But
what I saw yesterday on the mountain and I really
because you just you just talked, you just touched on it.
You talk about community with these other women who are
building this together. I watched last year and I was like, God,
everyone's so nice, but they're like competing one hundred thousand dollars,
(14:46):
pers like, why are we all being so nice? I
watched yesterday the way you all celebrate each other's wins
and when someone you know, just to give context, yesterday,
everyone's out digging there. You know, you all are kind
of running just segments of your line, just pieces. You know,
(15:08):
you haven't ran the entirety of it yet because we've had,
you know, some delays. But every time someone hit something,
everyone was putting, you know, on their feet, cheering, clapping.
And I understood the magnitude once I went at the top,
because it really is the epitome of extreme. I mean,
(15:30):
this is like life or death. When I washed, I
mean a two foot like window and a massive drop,
I'm like, how are they doing this? Talk to me
about the community, talk to me about having each other's back.
That is so different than any other sport, because you know,
(15:50):
when I played soccer, I didn't have to worry about
making sure I survived that game. That's a whole different
level of competition. What Like I always said this, I
live on the edge. I live on the edge. No,
you are the edge. You are absolutely the edge. I
have no comparison. I can't even put myself in the
(16:12):
same category. Tell me about this sense of community with
the rest of the women and the athletes here.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, like you said, because the risks are so high
and what we're doing is so extreme, you need that
community to be successful. Like we have to work together
to bring our visions to life, and you can't. It's
not a even though you're out there riding solo, it's
not a solo sport in that sense, Like we're all
working together. We're all helping each other, like even giving
(16:41):
each other advice for speed, testing on features and support, encouragement,
hyping each other up. It's all all part of it
for sure. Yeah, I wouldn't wouldn't be here without it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I love that, And I think women supporting women and
standing on each other's shoulders instead of each other's neck
is something we all can can be down with at
this point, because I do think in women's sports it
does get a little caddy. We feel like, you know,
there's only one seat at the table, But here I
do not feel that, Like I feel this overwhelming sense
(17:17):
of joy and love to be able to do what
you all are doing, and that is a that's what
sports are about. That's that's what competition is about, that's
what community is about. It's really bringing everyone together and
it is a real sense of joy on that mountain. Yeah,
definitely talk to me about your nerves right now going
(17:38):
into rampage. How are you feeling, especially with a little
bit of a you know, rain delay and you know
timing has not really been on all of your sides
at this point. Where's your head at right now?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah, it's it's been a bit of a roller coaster
this week and rampage if everything goes perfectly as a
roller coaster every motion, and then that you add all
these other elements of weather and delays and stress and
it just tightens everything. But yeah, I feel I think
a good level of stress. Like I'm definitely not not stressed,
(18:11):
but I'm feeling like appropriately stressed, I guess going into
the competition like it's a big moment and a big event,
but I feel like I'm trying to take it just
one step at a time, each day at a time,
one hour at a time, you know, and just keep
chipping away literally with a big and figuratively at getting
Michael my bringing my vision to life on the mountain.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Does that involve naps at all, I.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Haven't done any naps, but definitely I feel like solid
physio sessions massages.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Because I know there are some athletes. When I'm here
at rampage, you see the amount of stress as people
like yourself are just mind riding a line before you
hit it and then making adjustments, et cetera. And sometimes
the rider's just like all right, I'm out laving in
the hands of my diggers. I'm gonna go down get
some physio, or you just walk into the area and
(19:02):
that person's also just crashed out resetting the central nervous system.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah, there's a lot of strategy there for sure. Like
I can't really take a nap because my brain will
just start thinking about my line and all the things
I have to do, which is part of the process too,
Like you have to do so much visualization prior to
writing and building the lines because you have to like
have the vision in your head to commit to building
and writing it. So I'm doing that all the time,
(19:27):
and that makes it hard for me to like fully relax.
But like sometimes you're just so exhausted you kind of
can shut it off for a bit.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
A little physio is yeah, that'll help sort of your
nap time.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, I have to ask, like what is your relationship
with fear? Like, I like I need to know because
what you're doing out there is so dangerous and you
know watching some of you know, the other athletes have
some pretty gnarly falls the other day or yesterday. How
(20:00):
do you carry that? How do you wake up and
not let that affect you and what you're wanting to do.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, it's pretty heavy for sure. Like a lot of
like self talk and thinking and visualizing success. Like that's
kind of been my key strategy. I think is like
getting to a place in my head where I can
just only see success. I'm still scared, but then I
have like my mental process refined so that I'm much
(20:30):
more confident in myself that I am afraid, and I
can just lean into that confidence and know that I
can can do it. But it's a process I've developed it,
you know, over my career of going through these to
these events and being scared and in these situations where
I'm nervous and have to do something. I've refined that
process for like dealing with the fear and then getting
(20:53):
myself into the right head space. I feel like that's
a huge maybe underrated skill in or like you have
to be really good at that to be able to
do this well.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, the mental load in the physical load is something
that you know that most people don't understand because they
only see you when the event is live. But the
work that goes in to get you to that moment,
everything else just kind of goes into autopilot. Whence you're writing, right,
a lot of work has already been foundation. We're in laid.
(21:28):
So how are you feeling about your line this year?
And Red Bull Rampage like this is a course that
has clearly been used by the men in previous years,
So there's actually bones out there you can be building
off of. Has that made the process easier? Has that
made it more difficult?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
I think it helps a little bit. Like you have yeah,
like you said, the bones of lines that were there
ten years ago, but they're still like some of the
features are. You can see where they used to be,
and then you can watch the old videos and kind
of get an idea for how they were hitting them
in the past, like how they were building them, so
that you can sort of replicate them and know that
(22:08):
they're going to work. Where It's like if you were
building something completely from scratch. You have to fully trust
the vision that you have in your head, not one
that already exists, to make it come to life. So
it definitely helps that the boys have left the bones
of the twenty fifteen rampage here. And I chose a
line off the top that actually one of the riders
(22:30):
in twenty fifteen attempted to ride but was unsuccessful, Like,
it didn't work, he crashed.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Did you hear that? Oh yeah, no, did we hear that? Yeah,
let's hear that one more time. So you're charging this.
That wasn't even a successful line the men. The men
tried previous yea, yeah. And it's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
It's really really brilliant. It speaks to what I was
talking about before. As far as the progression curve of
the women, it's like it's from another planets, like to
rock up there and be like, yeah, I think, yeah,
that take take me to the top. Not surprising for
for Hannah, that's just that's what you see from her
(23:14):
in anything that she does. But to do so here
at rampage, it's what the sport's about in general. I
was talking to one of the judges today about where
the women's riding is at and she said, you know
what's really awesome about this time is that the women
represent the actual purity, the essence of free ride at Rampage.
(23:36):
It's not going to be a bunch of like you know,
flip tricks and spinning and and things that come from
some of the other elements of mountbike mount biking. Like
we're going to watch the purest, most hardcore free riding
and it's going to happen in the women's event. And
that's what Rampage is about. And to your point before,
it's like, I think for people who've never seen this before,
(23:58):
this is an endurance event.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Like the day of competition is just is literally like
the athletes entering the stadium after of the marathon at
the Olympics, but like they just ran twenty four, yes
and a half miles and now you're gonna watch this
last bit. This is all of all of this part
the building the start and stop, and the building relationship
(24:24):
with fear, the best athletes being able to convert that
into power. Like every athlete is terrified. Any athlete who
tells you they're not scared is line that's true.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I couldn't even walk it.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
They're scared. But what the superpower that they have is
being able to take that fear, the belief and the
ability to feel themselves doing it, and once they feel
and see it in their head, convert that fear into power.
And that's just like some other Tony Start type ability
that they have at this elite level.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So, Hannah, what do we get to look forward to? Come?
You know, I guess now we're going to be delayed,
but this on Friday, what do we what do we
have to look forward to? What are you excited about?
I know you can't give us all the secrets, but
what do we get to expect from you?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:15):
From from my line, I'm still have yet to unlock
that very first big feature on the top of my line,
so hopefully that happens before camp tomorrow and then I'll
have my full line complete. But I chose a line
that highlights different aspects of my riding. So I wanted
to have something like really steep and gnarly and technical
to kind of highlight brake control and technical riding skills
(25:37):
at the top. And the top is where it's like
those big cliff bands, like literal massive cliff bands, like
we're using ropes and harnesses to like get a mega exposure.
So I picked a burly line up there for the start,
and then it kind of leads me back onto the ridge,
this big main ridge that I just love because it
stands out beautifully like on the venue, and it has
(26:01):
some really cool jumps and a big hip on top
of the ridge that you're just kind of jumping up
onto the ridge over the ridge, and it's super cool,
like really good flow. I feel like I can have
good amplitude on that section of my line, which is
something the judge is like too. And then as I
have a big drop that takes the off the ridge
down to the bottom, and there's some jumps that I'm
(26:22):
hoping to do some tricks on.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So I fifty three feet tip to tail, probably going
to be a little bit bigger at landing. Right.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Well, that's Chelsea's draw, Chelsea, Cammy and Georgia there is
a bigger Mine's like forty.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Three, so it'll be fifty three where she lands it.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, maybe I'll take a deep.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
What do you feel right now when you see all
of this investment and visibility and what's going on in
the women's landscape in general, Like, what do you feel
if you could close us out? What does this feel
like for you? Because you're taking up space in your
(27:00):
carving this new path for this next generation? Like what
do we need more of? How is this making you feel?
Is it surreal? Is it like? Hello, we've been waiting,
We've been here forever, Like what is this feeling right now?
Sitting in here? You know, seeing the investment being important
to be able to live your truth and your dreams
and have all this access where you didn't have when
(27:23):
you were younger. We're a grom and now these younger
kids are gonna have that being able to watch you.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, how does it make you feel? It feels Yeah,
pretty surreal. I would say. Like when we first got
that announcement last year that women are going to be
in rampage, I had this moment of like not doubt,
but just like pressure kind of like Okay, now we
made it happen, Like the event's happening. They're investing in us,
Like now we don't want to blow it, you know,
like we have to almost prove, not prove, but like
(27:53):
you want to make sure that everyone agrees that you're
supposed to be there, and then after the event last year,
it's like, oh, yeah, they're the women have are meant
to be there and they have been meant to be
there this whole time, and then coming into this year's event,
I just feel like the same, you know, just like
so happy and stoked to be here, and and also
like I'm supposed to be here too, Like the women
(28:16):
are meant to be a part of this event and
have space here in this sport, and yeah, I'm just
happy that we're getting that opportunity to be on this stage,
in this platform, and yeah, I'm just really excited to
show everyone what we're gonna do. Well.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
We appreciate your commitment and your passion to really move
the needle in your sport, and that's not easy to
do while you're competing, you know, is to really build
it on your on your back. And that's a testament
to these women out here who are literally building it
as they're flying it. And I'm really looking forward to
(28:52):
watching you compete. Wow, So thanks for being here, Thank
you for having.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Me, Thank you, thank you both for having me. I
don't even go to the school.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
You're here forever, You're here forever.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
It's an honor and wanting. I've been wanting to be
able to sit with you. So when Ashton said this
is happening, I was like, yes, please, Yeah, excited. I'll
be excited to be calling your first run at Ramby.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yes, so be amazing.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Good Black Hannah, thank you so much. Stay tuned. I'll
be back in just a moment after this brief message
from our sponsors. Up next, we're going to bring in
Chelsea Kimball and Selimma Masekela to talk about her experience
(29:38):
and expectations of this year's Red Bull Rampage. Welcome to
Red Bull Rampage twenty twenty five. I'm here with our
special guest, Chelsea Kimball. Welcome to the show, Salima. Nice
to have you back, sir. Thank you a legend.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm literally just happy to be here sitting next to Chelsea.
Just send it, just just send it.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Tell me about this, tell me about this, this name
that you have been so beautifully and gracefully given.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Yes, okay, I was a rock climber before mountain biking,
and my friend thought of the Instagram handle from rock
climbing because I back in like maybe two thousand and fifteen.
Is when I made an Instagram because I wanted to
like be a mountain biker and I hadn't climbed in
(30:29):
quite a while. And I went to Eldorado Canyon in
Colorado and climbed with my friend. And it was a
route called the Casual Route.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I think, No, nothing at all was casual about it.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
It was it was a five to ten, a sport
climbing route or not sport climbing route. Sorry, my brain's
not working at.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Great, So all right, we're in bike mode. You're switching back.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
Yeah, five ten a trad route. And I was like,
I was leading it, and I placed I was placing
some gear and a number three wild country friend right
before this overhang placed the cam and then I like,
reach up, I get the first hand, then the second
hand is like a beautiful hand jam. But my hand
(31:10):
was all sweaty and I slipped and I my friend
was blaying me. I probably I fell over three ledges.
I had time to scream multiple times and yeah, just
massive whipper. And he thought of that name.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Because of that, you know, And it all makes sense
because for those of you who didn't tune into twenty
twenty four, you had a little bit of a little crash,
and the way you recovered grabbing that rock and stopping
yourself from falling off of a ledge, I was like,
(31:46):
she went full climber mode.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I think.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Never seen anything like it. I'm like, oh, you could
actually probably do anything you wanted. You probably did every
sport as a child, and you were insanely gifted. And
you were like, you know what, I'm going to pick
the most extreme thing. Here we go free riot. It's
for me.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Oh man, I would just come back and say that
anybody could do anything.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
That's fair.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
It's all about your mindset, right.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I'm letting you know, after I hiked that mountain and
I saw all those cliffs, I don't think I could
do this. I don't think I have the you know,
balls to do this, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
But you said that in a certain way. You said
I don't think I could do this. You didn't straight
up say I can't do that. And that just says
something about you, because you are leaving like one little
possibility of like, well maybe I could, but there's these
reasons that I'm not.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Do you want to know the truth? Always? Okay, I
got here yesterday, and what I love about what you
all are doing. You women are doing is you're giving
people permission through visibility and access to say I can
do this, I want to do this. Yesterday at the bottom,
I was like, I can do this, I want to
(33:04):
do this. By the top I said absolutely not. Never.
I will not be on a bike. That drop is insane.
I can't even climb it, let alone jump it. Like
this is You're pushing the boundaries in a way as
an athlete I have never experienced in all my life.
(33:27):
Humbly say that there is no one out here who
could do what you do. Very you are the one percent.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
It's funny, And Chelsea, I think you'll back me up
on this. If Chelsea goes and walks around the rest
of the mountain and looks at the lines of her peers,
she's also probably saying the same thing, like, I'm not
doing that.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I actually just said that my team is up there
helping Hannah's team with her drop right now, and I
was walking around because I brought them all lunch, and
I'm walking around those lines, and I'm like, I would
not want to do this. This is so gnarly, so.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Exactly yeah, exactly. It really is, and you know, I
would love to know because you you know, we were
talking to Hannah earlier. And what I keep coming back
to is the space you all are taking up, the
way you're granting everyone permission to want to do this,
this next generation, because what I assume is you didn't
(34:29):
have the visibility to say, oh I want to do
that from a really early age. It didn't exist.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
There's there's there's one thing I don't like about how
you say that, and it's like granting someone permission. People
are people, They can do what they want. Nobody needs permission.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You just absolutely I feel like the key is.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Really to find what you want to do, whether that's
free Red Mountain biking or writing a book or anything like.
You don't need permission, you just need intention.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
M I love that.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
I don't want to give anybody permission because that's not mine.
That's that's theirs to take, not mine to give.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I love that and what I love and it's so
beautifully said, is I really believe seeing is believing. I
really think. You know, as a young kid, I always
saw men's sports on TV, so I wanted to be
a male athlete. I was not a man, but I
wanted to be Michael Jordan, I wanted to be Tony Hawk,
(35:29):
I wanted to be Kelly Slater. I didn't see women
like me on TV. So what I think is so
important is the visibility piece that people are going to
be able to tune into this at Red Bull Live
and see what is possible through the lens of you.
That to me is so powerful.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
It is it is super powerful. Like just having this
level of competition for us women is so insane, and
it is just so much visibility for the next generations.
Like I was just while it was raining this morning,
I was just like looking through Instagram and there's a
young girl from the Northwest named Mioumi that's out here
(36:12):
like at the old site, riding right now, just sending
such crazy features. And she's how old is she now?
Maybe like fifteen or sixteen, she might even be younger
than that, but she's absolutely crushing it. And I'm so
happy to see young girls coming up and riding like
this because we're here now. But unless there's a next
(36:34):
generation to take our spot and kick us out, like
this can't continue.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, you want to breed competition, Oh yeah, you thrive
for it. That's why you're doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
What did you see after last year's inaugural event, I
mean being here last year, just the amount of women
that and young girls that were here wide eyed being like,
Oh that's that's me. I can do that. But what
have you seen in the last year as far as
the talk and community and the idea the now possibility
(37:08):
that exists at this level that didn't exist before the
event last year.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I gotta say I haven't seen or heard huge differences,
Like it's a year in life, Like one year really
isn't that long. But I can say just like the
evolution over the last like five years is crazy and
it is super cool to see these young girls and
hear them say like, oh, I want to go I
want to be in rampage. That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, and I didn't exist.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
No, no, well, in one way it did. Women were
never specifically excluded from rampage, never like there was only
one category. But nobody ever said that women cannot compete
at rampage. So does that mean that a woman has
ever been at the same level as the men. I
don't know, we don't know, but we were never excluded.
(38:03):
Like maybe there's a few girls that could have shined
through if they decided to take that opportunity, like if
they chose to see it that way.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
How have you prepared? You've had a year, you know,
you know what to expect. You were here last year,
what did What has your preparation looked like now leading
up to Rampage twenty twenty five? Have have you shifted
some things? Have you gotten comfortable with the way the
judges are scoring things?
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Like?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
What has really shifted for you?
Speaker 4 (38:35):
I mean after Rampage last year, after crashing and like
knowing that I could have placed well and not, I
was definitely motivated right away, like, Okay, next year, I'm
coming back and I want to win. Like I'm a
super competitive person. I'm not like competitive in the way
of like screw everybody else. I'm just like I want
(38:58):
to win, of course. But there's so many things in
my life that has changed over this last year, and
part of it centered around Rampage, and part of it
is just centered around like life and progressing through life.
But yeah, I've been I've really tried to develop different
mental strategies to practice different things. I've developed more of
(39:21):
a routine. I feel like I'm still kind of learning
how to be a professional athlete and how to make
my own schedule. I've always been a person I love
manual labor. I love working hard, but I love working
for someone. I like someone to tell me, Okay, be
here this time and do this job. So it's been
a really difficult process of learning how to be my
own boss and how to show up and be respect
(39:46):
myself and show up for myself as I would show
up for someone else. And I think I've done that
a lot better this year, just developing a routine and
going to the gym consistently and just stretching and doing
different things to make sure my body's the best it
can be and mentally I'm the best I can be. Yeah,
So there's a lot of things have changed this year,
(40:08):
and I feel the I feel confident that I have
done everything that I possibly could have this year to
be the best I can be right now.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
And I imagine that gives you a great deal of
confidence moving into yes one hundred percent because you haven't
cut corners. Yeah, you didn't take shortcuts. So that to me,
you know, has to settle the nerves when you're at
the top, knowing you did all the work when no
one was watching.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Yeah, that's power. Yeah, it's like it's uh. I actually
kind of feel a little bit weird about it, Like
I'm I'm scared of there obviously, but uh, but I
do feel more comfortable than I have been in the
past in a situation like this.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
This is wide open and I'm your host, Ashlyn Harris.
Thanks for listening. We'll be right back. So tell us
what we get to look forward to this year? What
is what are you gonna give us in Red Bull Rampage,
Because right off the bat, I need to know you're
(41:15):
gonna send it. I already know, but please, like for
the audience who may not know, let us know what
you're what you're about to do.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
So you want to you know, want to know my line?
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Give us whatever you're comfortable sharing. Okay, I'll just say competition.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
I'll just say my dream run. So my dream run.
I also don't really know where to look right now.
Say you can look at us anyways.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I'm just here bringing up the rear.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
Okay, my dream run drop in, I go riders left
down the scissor drop, I have a super wiggly run
into the battleship.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
It's a yeah, not chill.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
No, Please, before you even to move on from battleship,
please tell the audience what the battleship is here, because
whoa that is like I can't wait to watch you,
but holy shit, I'm scared for you.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
I can't wait to watch myself. Well I have watched
myself in my mind.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
But it made you choose it. It's obviously it's it.
Speaker 4 (42:18):
Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure my first time coming
out to this venue was in like twenty seventeen probably,
and well, I don't know back then if I looked
up there and thought, but I have over the years
looked up there and been like, wow, I wonder if
you could make an on off right there. And then
in twenty twenty three, Brendan Fairklaw and Shimmin Godziak made it.
(42:42):
They built me on off, They did the work up
there to make it actually writeable. And actually, after Rampages
that year, I was like, I was so close to
going up there. I had a crew of friends that
were going to go up and help me rebuild it,
to hit it. For some reason. Honestly, I don't know.
It's kind of stupid, but but yeah, I wanted to
(43:03):
hit it back then I decided not to because it
was super dangerous and I felt like I could practice
more for it. But then they announced that rampage was
at this venue and I'm like, well, I'm doing the Battleship.
That was the first thing that came to my mind.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Wow, can you describe the off?
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Okay, Yeah, you jump onto the battleship twenty one foot
gap like two foot step down to an uphill landing.
Then the actual ride service gets to be like a
foot and a half wide, maybe two feet. And then
Ryan and Eric this morning actually just made the takeoff
like downhill take off to like a twelve foot drop
(43:46):
onto somewhat of a lily pad off to the right
hand side of the ridge. They moved like tons of
mountain to make this landing for me. And yeah, you
jump off down this like ramp kind of thing and
you kind of go off into the bank and then
slashed back into the catch froom. It's super fun. Oh well,
I think it'll be super fun.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
I mean, you are something special.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
I well hearing you describe it like that, so with
a smile, that actually lets me know like, all right,
you got it, because you've already you've already ridden it.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
I have in my well. I actually rolled off the
ridge into the like the landing, so I have actually
ridden half of it. Yeah, yeah, for sure, I was
just practicing last night.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
I have to ask this, is this more about proving
this to yourself, to the community, or for the one
hundred thousand dollars? Why the most complicated joke? Why did
you choose this?
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Oh, it's for you, definitely for me and then me
first for sure, one hundred percent. Like I said, I
wanted to do this on off back then. Now I've
got like recent sources to help me do it, which
is incredible and uh and then yeah, secondly because I
want to win.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yep, I'm I'm wishing the best of luck. I think
you're gonna do it. I think you're gonna nail it.
I don't think I know you are. I know you are.
I think you're in a very good place mentally and physically.
You've done the work and the rest will take over. Yep,
tell me the rest of your line? What do we
what else do we have to look forward to?
Speaker 4 (45:29):
Okay, so yeah, off the battleship blanding. Like Lily Pedri,
we're calling it the plank plank of.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
The battleship like that, it's walking a plank.
Speaker 4 (45:40):
Yep, exactly, my friend Kayley came up with that. But anyways,
uh yeah, bank, and then I dropped down the hill
into like another left hand burm into gap, kind of
long and low jump with a slightly hipped landing. Then
I shut it down before a feature that I actually
have two options on. It's like a setup step down
maybe fifteen feet long or yesterday I made it rollable
(46:03):
because right after that is like, it's just continuous. Ryan
made it continuous downhill to a step down or drop,
depending on your viewpoint on this conversation. But yeah, and
this one I'm actually calling old Greg because I don't
know if you guys have seen it, Old Greg? Do
you love me? Could you learn to love me?
Speaker 2 (46:24):
I have not?
Speaker 1 (46:25):
No, I have not. What is it?
Speaker 4 (46:27):
It's like an old YouTube video with a like a
squid guy and he's like, cause I got a man Jina.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
Oh my god, asert clip here?
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Yeah, who are you? I'm out Greg?
Speaker 4 (46:39):
Yeah you really haven't seen him?
Speaker 1 (46:41):
I will not. Now we're gonna go back. Oh yeah,
go look up Old Greg.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
But but really, I keep saying I hate that feature
and even just calling it old Greg and saying could
you learn to love me? I'm like liking it just
a little more.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
That makes you laugh. How big is the drop step down?
Speaker 4 (46:56):
That is just over forty feet? I think? Yeah, so
that's like actually a pretty big one, leading into my
biggest drop of my line, which is drop originally built
by a timer McCall in like fourteen or fifteen called
a Presidente, and that one, to me, I love it.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
It's like fifty three feet of joy.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Yeah, well somebody yesterday said fifty six. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
I hope it's bigger, but let's we'll say.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
So there we go. There's room for more in the land.
Speaker 4 (47:26):
Oh yeah, the landing, Oh is dreamy.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Depends on what your kind of dreams you're into, but
at least there's plenty of room for you your thing.
That's it's iconic. I mean, you're you're starting up with
an icon and then you you you hit this other
iconic banger. Yep, like you hammer that.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Run, put it, put a bow on it. We're all leaving.
That's it, there's no more game over. Well, you have
an an electric personality. I noticed that two seconds into
meeting you yesterday. I really want to know, and I'm
sure everyone out there, who's Chelsea off the bike?
Speaker 4 (48:10):
Who am I off the bike? It's really hard to
say anything about myself that's not mountain biking these days,
like my life totally revolves around mountain biking. But I
guess at heart I love adventure, Yeah, I have. Yeah,
I love adventure, like crazy adventures that whether it's super
(48:32):
planned or not planned. I actually did a big trip
with two friends in twenty twenty three in Chile, like
a big mission to climb up this mountain in Chile
and then ride down it, and it was Yeah. I
love stuff like that, just like going out in the
mountains and doing something really hard, and like I love
(48:56):
just the pure effort and actual danger of it rather
than something that is I don't know, everything in life
is just so like on a certain line, Like there's
so much different safety nets and all of this, and
I just love going out there and just like being
(49:16):
you and the nature.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Well, you clearly see the world differently. You know I shouldn't.
It's a fact. I mean you can. You want adventure,
you want the thrill. You know, it's very clear that
you live for these moments, they fuel you constantly. But
what about balance? How do you turn that adrenaline off?
How do you come down? How do you sleep?
Speaker 4 (49:42):
I actually sleeping really well.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
But if you actually I'm good.
Speaker 4 (49:45):
But if you have any pointers on balance, I'll take it, because,
uh that I have not figured out yet. It's really
hard for me to like sit down.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
I can see that. Yeah, I'm glad we got the
chance to sit down with you.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Then now stressed.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Yeah, she's she's like, I need to get on the mountains.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
So you're you. I like how you talk. You tapped
into that relationship that you have with nature. How do
you sort of harness the power of the mountains? Because
I think there's for me whenever I when I find
myself out there, I'm awed by the power. And then
(50:22):
there's this this idea that like, oh I get to
you get to explore and play and create vision in
the mountains. But the mountains just by themselves, there's just
it's this level of power even when you're here, when
you even before you walk up there, you're like there's
this awe and then you're you're like, hey, I'm gonna
can we play?
Speaker 4 (50:43):
It's I think the key well, yeah, of course it's
just an opinion. But I feel like just the key
to it all is presence. Like if you if you
go out into nature of any sort and you think
of yourself as like separate from it, then then I
don't know, it's just it's it's different, like if you
(51:04):
go into the mountains and you just breathe and you're
just like you're just there, You're not thinking about something else,
You're just just being part of it.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Tap all the way in and then hit the battleship.
Speaker 1 (51:17):
It's what I'm like sensing. And it's like such a
powerful thing to say because not many people move in
the world this way. But I feel like you feel
at peace with danger. It makes you feel live.
Speaker 4 (51:31):
Maybe i'd like I guess, I hm feel at peace
with danger. I guess I could. I could. I could
agree with that I feel at peace with danger. But
I feel like danger is ever present no matter what
you do. If there's something bad that can happen, it
(51:51):
probably will happen, whether you're walking down the sidewalk or
jumping onto the battleship. There's a level of risk that
may change, and that also changes with with your like
personal abilities. But there's always danger. I could, Yeah, I
could walk outside in the next thunderstorm and get struck
(52:11):
by lightning.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Very true statement, It's very true.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
And what your danger and the danger that athletes like
yourself find themselves in is calculated danger as opposed to
the random ass danger in the rest of the world.
The amount of preparation and calculation and building of equipment
and the work that you put in to people who
who aren't a part of this culture, it might those
(52:37):
people are crazy, but the level of calculation that and
kind of safety nets that already exist as opposed to
me walking across the street in Los Angeles, where each
time I make it to the other side of it's
there's far more that goes into it.
Speaker 4 (52:56):
Yeah, I guess leading up to this year's rampage and
knowing what line I wanted, I guess I like I
made the decision as soon as the venue was announced,
and just like thought to myself, like being, yeah, just
just like knowing the risks and knowing that I am
(53:18):
choosing to uh to go ahead with what I want
to do even though.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Those risks are there.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
Yeah, And I guess, yeah, it's just part of it
that you have to be at peace with the risk
and the danger.
Speaker 1 (53:31):
I love the way you choose to push the limits,
the boundaries. I like the air is so thin at
the top and you feel very comfortable in that and
most people that's a credit to you as a human
and the work you've done. And I don't want to
minimize that, because not everyone you know is choosing to
jump on a bike and falling off over and over
(53:53):
and over and waking up the next morning and saying
I was meant for this, I'm going to do it again,
and I'm going to do it over and over and
over again. And that is your superpower. And you are
so enjoy your personality. Everything about you is really fun
(54:14):
to be around. And I love the fact that we
got to sit down and talk to you about it,
because now I'm stoked for that jump, whereas before I
think I was a little scared. And I love that
energy about you is that you hold it so gracefully.
What do you want next? Like, what do you think
we're lacking? What do you want more of? What do
(54:36):
you see in the future for women in free riding?
Speaker 4 (54:41):
Well, first, thank you, that's very very kind things, So yeah,
thank you. I appreciate that and let's see the future.
I don't want to talk to just about women. I'd
just rather talk about the future of mountain bikers and
just people in general, because everybody has challenges and if
we minimize somebody else's challenges, like, what does that really
(55:04):
do for the world. Yeah, I personally like try to
help create and want to see more public more like
open public events. To me, that's like the basis of
free ride right now, there's so many events that are
invitation only, and I've always called it the cool kids club,
Like unless you know the right people and are friends
(55:27):
with them, then you're you're not gonna get invited. And
that that is the part of our sport that I
think is really tough and it's not my favorite. I
think it's it's somewhat unavoidable because not everybody can go
to every event. But that's why we need a little
bit of everything. We need more of these, like smaller,
more local events for people to like really become part
(55:47):
of the community and learn and ride and yeah, just
like be a part of it and have fun.
Speaker 3 (55:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Well, we're stoked for you. We can't wait to see
you ride. You're gonna set the tone and set the
bar very high, as you always do, and we can't
wait to witness greatness. So thank you for showing up today.
Thank you for being you, Thank you for being a trailblazer,
and we'll see you Friday.
Speaker 2 (56:13):
Thanks for being unapologetically badass.
Speaker 1 (56:16):
Yes that part. Thanks You're welcome. Thanks everyone for tuning
in this week and hearing these incredible athletes. Thanks for
hearing all about my experience at Red Bull Rampage, and
we'll see you next week on another episode of Wide
Open with Ashland Harris. Wide Open with Ashland Harris is
(56:42):
an iHeart women's sports production. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Our producers are Carmen Borca, Coreo, Emily Maronov, and Lucy Jones.
Production assistants from Malia A. Our executive producers are Jesse Katz,
(57:03):
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder, and I'm your host, Ashlyn Harris.
Host
Ashlyn Harris
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