🎙️ Keep It 100 Podcast: 

Red Bull Rampage 2025 – Behind the Lines with Paul Basagoitia

Guests: Paul Basagoitia
Host: Michael Ladinig, Seth Kendall

[Michael L.] So, it's great, today we've got a couple of great people to talk to on the podcast with Paul Basagoitia.

[Paul Bas] Here I am. What's up?!

[Michael L.] Paul and I go way, way back to our days together at Red Bull and it's fantastic to see you again. And then Seth Kendall is here with us as well. We're going to be talking all about Rampage and the 2025 event, the venue, all things Rampage.

So welcome, Paul. Welcome, Seth. Let's get into it.

WOMEN’S RAMPAGE RETURNS TO THE 2015 SITE

First off, Paul, this year is, I think, a pretty pivotal year for both the event and specifically for the women's event. And I want to start by talking about the women's event & the women's field to get your thoughts on it. We've got 12 really capable athletes that are selected for it. What do you think the venue is going to offer them that differs from where Foundation was and then where the women's Rampage venue was last year? 

[Paul Bas] Thank you for filling me in with all this because I've been out of the loop. And yeah, I can't believe that the women are competing on the 2015 site. That's obviously a scary site. That's where my injury happened. It's been 10 years since I broke my back, and they've never been back to that venue since 2015. So, to see that being used again, I'm going to have mixed feelings about it, but I'm excited for the women because that venue is awesome. It has so much potential. 

And this morning, I actually got a message from Vaea Verbeeck and she's like, “hey, I just want to let you know, I'm going to dig up your line and I'm going to bring it back. And that canyon gap that you flipped, that's savage.”

And she like gave me some respect. So, I'm so stoked to like see that come to fruition and see someone complete that line. 

[Michael L.] Yeah, that is just an insane and cool nod to hit you up and let you know that she's going to be riding your line.

I think with Vaea, with Robin Goomes, I think those two are the two that I'm looking for big things out of… 

[Paul Bas] And let me tell you, let me tell you, let me tell you, like, because you go back to that 2015 site and you saw what was possible at that top section. That year, that line was the winning line because how unique it was to go basically kind of backwards from the starting line and transfer over to that main ridge, where everyone kind of drops in. So, like the only way to really get over that ridge, as I remember 10 years ago, was that big ass canyon gap, and that thing's scary. So, what I'm saying is if she's able to complete that, I think that top section, she will own it.

[Michael L.] Yes, absolutely. And that's the wild thing to think about… your landing, because you stopped the landing and you went just a little bit offline and got into some softer dirt, right?

[Paul Bas] That's at the very bottom of the course. That was at the finish line. I'm talking up top. That's where everything, if you're going to win that event, you got to do something very spectacular up at the top section. And she has that future to do that. That's all I'm saying.

[Seth K.] That's some good insight because, you know, ML and I were talking about upper portions of runs today and how often cruising along the ridge lines, and I'm using cruising with huge quotes around it, it's really easy to kind of look at that and be like, “man, that doesn't look that risky.”

But then when you're up there looking at those runs or, you know, I was talking about Kong today and just even that, it's so gnarly on these ridge line runs. And to have Vaea taking that to the kind of the next level and, like you said, making that transfer, like that could be huge for her score right there, just on line selection, right? 

[Paul Bas] I would think so for sure, because like I said, 10 years ago, that was the top line. I thought that was by far the coolest line up top. So, I mean, things can change. I don't know what it looks like now, 10 years later, right? But I'm assuming it's still the same in some regards as far as how to get to that main ridge line.

ROOKIES AND THE RAMPAGE LEARNING CURVE

[Michael L.] Yeah, the consequences don't get any less, right? So, what about, you know, it's interesting to me when I look at the roster of women, you know, Seth, there's a couple names that he introduced me to that I was unfamiliar with yet. I think it's exciting to see how that whole roster is going to get all kinds of great visibility and exposure.

It's wild to me to think that Hannah Bergemann is really going to be, this will be a rookie run because she didn't, you know, she was invited and injured herself before Rampage last year. When you look at rookies and you look at the roster, is there any added benefit or any disadvantage for being a rookie in terms of they don't know what they don't know or they can go and send it with a little bit of a more cleaner mind and not be tainted from previous experiences? 

[Paul Bas] I don't know. I think it all comes down to the rider, who you are as a person and how fast you can adapt to terrain, and some people were born in those mountains, right? Like they look great up there. Like they understand the brake checking and they can read that stuff very well and people ride it better than others. I just think, yeah, I think… I'm not saying like a rookie can't come in and win Rampage. I think that's totally doable. And I wouldn't be surprised if that does happen.

And it's kind of, I don't know... I feel like now with like a lot of these riders that have so much access to tools and water and like a build crew that a lot of these lines are like very doable in the sense of like it's way more, it's more… you don't see as many crashes at Rampage now. It's a lot more calculated. It's a lot more groomed. It's a lot more, it's more… I'm not saying it slopestyle, but it's more like you expect them to get from top to bottom now. As of like 10 years ago, you didn't know if that was the case or not. Yeah.

[Michael L.] Yeah, a little bit more of a methodical approach.

Did Vaea tell you, is anybody else on her dig team, are they collaborating with any other riders or any other dig teams to share the line?

[Paul Bas] She did not mention anything else. She just wanted to tell me that she's stoked to bring it back to life and said I was a savage for flipping that canyon.

WOMEN TO WATCH

[Michael L] Yes, once a savage, always a savage.

Right on. Are there any other women on the women's side that you're hyped to see compete this year and see what they've got?

[Paul Bas] Casey Brown. She rips. She's got a good style. I always enjoy watching her ride.

[Seth K.] I think for me, Cami Nogueira brings just crazy versatility. She's really confident on the tech riding stuff but also brings some big amplitude and some good tricks. Obviously, we can't rule out Robin Goomes, similar. She's been putting a ton of work in at the slopestyle courses and stuff.

[Paul Bas] End of the day, they all have a chance to win. It's literally who gets to the top, to the bottom in one piece. If you do that, you win in general. They're all winners.

[Michael L.] Yeah, exactly. No matter what, no doubt about it.

[Paul Bas] I'm just tripped out that they're riding that venue. If you would have told me that girls were going to ride the Rampage 2015 site, I would have been like, I don't know, I don't know if it would have been possible, but the progression of female freeriding has gone off the roof. It's so cool to see that. 

[Michael L.] And to finally have Red Bull and Rampage recognize that. I know when I was with Red Bull and you and I were there together, we talked about it a lot. And that was one of the things that there wasn't enough of event series or opportunities for women to ride big consequential venues to get ready for Rampage. And it's not something that you want to just throw people on that haven’t had an opportunity to go there and then judge them and put that much more pressure on them. So, I'm just stoked to see it. I'm stoked to see Natural Selection, including women. It's a great thing. I love it. And I'm amped to see this year's women's event.

Let's flip it over to the men's unless you guys have got anything else on the women's side.

[Seth K.] Yeah, I just want to like root real quick for Hannah Bergemann because she's a Hood River hometown hero here. So, I'm rooting for her. 

[Michael L.] Right on. Yeah, I'm rooting for all of them to like Paul said, make it down and get top to bottom clean runs. That'll be great.

SLOPESTYLE BIKES VS DOWNHILL BIKES

On the men's side, one of the things that I was looking at and kind of mentioned to Seth before we got on was to talk about there's 20-25% of the men's roster that are going to be rookies and going back to that rookie thing, obviously not rookies in riding, but rookies in this is as in this is their first Rampage. What went through your mind and what kind of planning did you go through in your head, Paul, with the very first time you took on Rampage? Was it really just about competing or was it just like, “hey, I want to make a clean run and make a good impression?”

[Paul Bas] Well, my challenge was my background was slopestyle, right? So, I was on a 4-inch travel bike my whole career. It was for me, I think it was hard to transition into getting used to a downhill bike, right? It rides a lot different than like a slope bike and hardtail. So, I think the number one transition issue for me was getting used to a bigger travel bike and knowing what it's capable of doing.

[Michael L.] Outside of travel, how much longer was the reach and wheelbase?

[Paul Bas] I mean, the weight, the weight was another like 20 pounds and then 200 mil travel. It was not… it's like downhill bikes are not they're not easy bikes to spin and do tech tricks and stuff. So, it's cool now to see… I'm a fan that, I know people might hate on this, but I'm kind of stoked to see the slopestyle athletes kind of bringing in like that bigger travel slopestyle bike into Rampage because you can do that now because like I said, it's a lot more consistent. The jumps are a lot more groomed. They have more equipment to make all these jumps perfect. So, I mean, I never thought I would see a flip whip off a drop at Rampage.

[Michael L.] Yeah, and going to, like we were talking about, 2023 (correction: 2024) when Kyle Strait rode a single crown bike and, you know, Kyle Strait is the king of the suicide air, right? And now he's doing whips and single crown tricks and more slopestyle stuff in his run. I think that it's a testament to the equipment, too, though, right? Not only the prep. In 2015, the equipment couldn't take it.

[Paul Bas] Yeah, for sure. For sure with the bikes. No, you're right. You're absolutely right.

[Michael L.] In 2015, the equipment couldn't take it. And today they can make a single crown that will be able to take it and everything else that goes with it.

[Paul Bas] A lot has changed for sure. For sure with the bikes. You're absolutely right. Everything's changed over there.

[Michael L.] So, you think about somebody like Cam Zink, who's been on now, what is it, three bikes, four bikes in four Rampages?

[Paul Bas] Cam will never be on a single crown bike at Rampage.

[Michael L.] No, I'm just talking about going from YT to Devinci to now Zink bikes. I mean, that that is crazy to think that, you know, you got some somebody like Semenuk who's been with Trek for a long time. Just interesting that you can still be that competitive and that good adapting to new equipment. It's kind amazing.

[Paul Bas] For sure. For sure. Yeah, they've come a long way, especially bikes.

[Seth K.] Yeah, isn't that the truth?

[Paul Bas] That’s all I ride.

MEN TO WATCH

[Michael L.] Well, who are some standouts when you look at that men's roster? Who are some standouts that you expect big things from? Because there's a lot of people who are not going to be there this year and then it's really cool to see some first timers and some people who have been there for a minute. 

[Paul Bas] I think it's hard not to mention Godziek. I mean last year he could have arguably have won that event. So, I would like to see him. I'd like to see him win that event when he says

Tom Van Steenbergen, of course, he's always a highlight. Doing that front flip off that drop last year was insanity. Probably the craziest thing that's ever happened on a mountain bike. So, who knows.

Zink. Zink's in there. That's crazy. He's the old dog in there. You know, the only athlete in our era to still be in that event since Strait’s not competing. He's like the only one to be kind of like from the beginning to now, to where it is.

[Seth K.] And he's got some redemption on his shoulder from last year. Obviously, that didn't go the way he wanted it. But, you know, he’s one of the Formula 100 athletes, so, you know, but we hang out with him a bit and he's feeling pretty good going into it.

[Paul Bas] And I'm stoked to see a little grom Finley Kirschemann. That kid's going to turn a lot of heads here soon.

[Michael L.] Yeah, no doubt. Well, and it's wild to think of the juxtaposition between Finley and somebody like Thomas Genon, who's been in every Rampage, I think, since 2012, like crazy record of being there every single time.

I love that you brought up Van Steenbergen because that's a big point of controversy between how prepped, and some people say over-prepped, the venue was last year. And then Tom's line that was super consequential, very rugged, very, you know, freeride, like in the spirit of, I don't want to say old Rampage, but OG rampage, maybe. And what's your takeaway on that, Paul, in terms of these really wide run-ins and landings and kind of grooming the entire the entire mountain like a slopestyle course? 

[Paul Bas] It doesn't matter. It's all savage. They're all savages up there.

[Michael L.] It doesn't change the geometry, right?

[Paul Bas] If Semenuk is doing flip ups up top on the bike and then he's ripping down a little ridge line like… it's all… they're all savages. I don't care if it looks like a slopestyle track up there. If you're doing your crazy tech tricks up top and you're making it down that hill. Respect to all of them, respect to all of them.

[Michael L.] What about somebody like Carson Storch? Do you think that Carson… is he do it? It feels like he's been close a few years and had had things had things ready to go and the tricks in his bag and all that to be able to do it. It just hasn't come together for him. I don't know... What's your take on Carson? Well, we all really respect his writing.

[Paul Bas] I mean, Rampage is not the easiest event to win. I mean, you can't really expect or assume that one person is going to win out of that every year, right? Every single one of those athletes have a chance to win. And it comes down to venue, it comes down to linking up a clean line from top to bottom like and every single one of those riders can do that. How many riders are on the roster?

[Seth K., Michael L.] There's 18 this year

[Paul Bas] Those are the 18 best mountain bike athletes in the world. They all have a chance to win out of that.

[Michael L.] Yeah, easily, right? Yeah.

SLOPESTYLE INFLUENCE ON RAMPAGE

What about riding style? You know, I look at somebody like Emil Johansson, who I believe in 2023 probably could have won had he not gotten messed up, and again, he went offline just a little bit on a kind of a hip jump and landed in some soft dirt on one of the lower jumps and easily could have won that won that event. No problem. I see him as certainly somebody I would put a little bit of money on if I was betting this year. 

[Paul Bas] It's not a bad bet. Would not be a bad bet.

[Michael L.] I mean, coming off of… he won Joyride this year, right?

[Paul Bas] Emil did, yeah.

[Michael L.] So, I mean, coming off of that and super successful season…

[Paul Bas] But it doesn't matter. You can’t say, “because he won Crankworx, he has a good chance he's going to win Rampage. There’s only been three athletes to do that. Actually, do you know who they are?

[Michael L] Please tell us, Paul.

[Paul Bas] Zink’s one, Semenuk’s one, Rheeder, and Lacondeguy.

[Michael L.] Oh, Andreu! Wow! That was that was a minute ago for Andreu. That's great!

[Paul Bas] The G.O.A.T.S!

[Michael L.] Yeah, the goats, no doubt.

What about somebody… so, you talk about somebody like, you know, Emil, who I think is a little bit more of a finesse rider, and then you look at, I don't know if you've ridden with Aiden Parish, who he won the Zink Invitational this year. He's a much more powerful and aggressive rider, I would say, as opposed to finesse. I don't know if you agree with that? 

[Paul Bas] I don't know. I don't know who he is. Oh, I don't know, so I'm stoked. Tell me more! I want to know.

[Michael L.] You should check this dude out!

[Michael L.] I mean, from what I saw of him at the Zink Invitational, Aiden, he absolutely is pinned. He goes to 10 every time. He's not really half-assing anything. And he's a little bit more of a powerful build as far as his body type. And I just feel like he's kind of built for Rampage. He can send massive jumps and stick landings. And he's pretty resilient kind of guy. I would put him. Yeah, more like a Claw or an Andreu.

[Paul Bas] Yeah, cool. Yeah, I like that. That’s awesome! Well, like I said, everybody has a chance to win out of that event.

[Michael L.] So, what's your take on Bienve? I felt like he maybe left a little bit in the tank a couple of years back and could have won it, and his repertoire, his arsenal, what he's got can he can throw down any time he wants and his gap… Canyon gap front flips are epic. They're legendary, right?

Yeah! And I believe there is a Canyon gap on that side this year as well. I'm not sure. Don't quote me on that. But like I said, anyone can win that event. He does the most massive, the biggest front flips. He's got… everybody has a chance to win. It's like, (covers eyes) just choose.

INSIDE THE JUDGES BOOTH

[Seth K.]  Yeah, it's all about kind of putting together everything on that day, right? Like, each of these riders are bringing such an arsenal of tricks and competency on the hill. But it's all the things; the wind has to line up, your, you know, your build days have to go perfectly, you've got to have everything precise. And so, there's so much that can go awry and so much to put together in order to get that that score that's going to put you at the top of the leaderboard. So, I think, you know, it's a ton of work for the judges.

I will say if we're talking about Bienve and Van Steenbergen, like those two guys along with Brendog have notoriously had the “have been robbed” sentiment from the audience. And, you know, that's something that I think is just going to always be an aspect of Rampage. 

[Michael L.] Yeah, it's a judged event.

[Paul Bas] I've been asked to judge that event a couple of times and I've refused to.

[Michael L.] You don't want that heat, right? None of us do. I think it's props to those guys. And what I don't think everybody understands is that every single one of those judges has competed in the past. They are not just pulled from random audience. They aren't like judging USA Gymnastics kind of stuff. They are all Rampage athletes who have the pedigree to be a judge and there's a lot of a lot of people that don't respect that. 

[Paul Bas] Yeah, they know their shit. They all have been an athlete at one point. Like it's not some Joes off the streets like trying to judge Rampage. Like a lot of these, I mean, they're all past athletes, I believe. I believe you cannot judge Rampage unless you've been an athlete prior, like if you competed at Rampage. You had to compete at Rampage to be a judge at Rampage. Which is great!

CAMARADERIE AND DRAMA 

[Michael L.] Well, let's talk quickly. I had one question then I want to talk about your Rampage journey, Paul.

With Rampage and with the athletes, it feels to me, and again, as a former sports guy for Red Bull and athlete manager and stuff, it feels to me like Rampage generates a lot of camaraderie with all the athletes, and there isn't really any rivalries or any like, “I'm going to beat you.” Is that your perspective or is there some people were like, “man, I don't like that guy. I want to take him down?”

[Paul Bas] I think it was maybe more competitive back then, like when I was competing, but I don't see it now. I don't see much like bumping heads with athletes. Back then at Rampage, you did, you know, as far as like, “That's my line. You're going to poach it.” Like there was a lot of drama in that whole situation with athletes like fighting for lines. But I don't I don't hear too much about it now. Like, I don't know. But I'm also kind of out of the loop, Ladinig. I don't know what drama is going on up there, man. If there is, I’m out of the loop, man.

It's been 10 years since I've competed at Rampage and I went a whole different direction in life with it, right? Like, my last experience at Rampage didn't end well. So, of course, I'm still a big fan of the sport, but I'm also, you know, still healing from what happened 10 years ago. You know, I just got out of the hyperbaric chamber. You know, I’ve spent a lot of time healing, man. But I'm sure all the athletes are in good spirits. I'm sure they're all there for each other. Because at the end of the day, we all know how dangerous that event is. So, t the end of the day, you want your homie to roll down and not scratched up.

[Michael L.] I think I think you're spot on there. And what I see from the community is everybody's pretty supportive of one another. They might have a little personal, “Yeah, I think I can beat them.” But at the end of the day, if they need help, if they need a shovel, if they need water, whatever that they're going to help each other out and getting everybody successfully through the course and hyped on the event day is the most important thing and not necessarily beating this guy or that guy. It's not too much of a jock sport that way.

[Paul Bas] No, no, not at all. I don't see that at all. But I do tell you one thing. I do enjoy being on the sidelines and watching it all happen. Because right now they're out there stressed, digging, like figuring out how to get from the top of this mountain to the bottom of this mountain without killing themselves, right? Like right now is a very stressful part of this whole event as well is the build out.

[Michael L.] It's THE most stressful is putting your game plan right.

[Paul Bas] I don't talk about Rampage often, so like now my brain went to Rampage and now I'm like getting into that athlete mentality of what those guys are feeling right now, and it's warrior. They're all they're all warriors.

[Michael L.] And that's what I think that the audience, the fans, even casual people who see the highlights and the crash reels on CNN or whatever, they still have a ridiculous amount of respect. And it's impossible looking at those venues, looking at what those guys do, it's impossible not to have a ton of respect. If you don't check your pulse. But I think that they're absolutely world class, best athletes going anywhere in any sport. And to your point earlier, I think that the approach that you take, the science behind it, it's not just random. It's all very calculated, very planned, you know, gone over and re-gone over again and again. So, it's going to be super, super exciting to watch this year.

10 YEARS LATER & RETURNING TO SITE OF PAUL'S ACCIDENT

[Michael L.] So, let's talk about your journey, Paul. Let's talk about, you know, this is 10 years since 2015. They're back at the at the venue where you had your accident. And I don't think you would change anything. I just want to know what is it that you're looking to get out of going this year and seeing that venue and continuing on your personal journey?

[Paul Bas] Yeah, 10 years, 10 years since my anniversary, since the accident. It's crazy how life comes like full circle, right? Like, I broke my back 10 years ago, right? And then never went back to that venue until this year, 10 years later. And last time I was there, I got a helicoptered out of that venue with no movement or sensation below my belly button. So going back to that venue, even watching is going to be a little (thumps heart), you know, it's going to be the heart's going to be a little (thumps heart again) regardless. How can you not go back to what happened that day, right?

So, for me, going back to Rampage this year is going to be special. But also, I've had great support through the community of the mountain bike world, doctors, working hard, never giving up. I'm 10 years later, here I am and I'm able to, you know, ride a bike again, I walk with a cane, and I'm blessed enough to be on a bike again. And this year, on my anniversary, every year, I set a goal. You know, year seven, it was I wanted to jump rope seven times. Year eight, I wanted to complete a half marathon. Year nine, I wanted to complete my first hike. And for the 10-year anniversary, this year, I want to go and ride my bike for a ridgeline top to bottom because I haven't done that in 10 years. So that's the that's the goal this year.

I don't even know if I even like answered your question, So that's, that's the, that's the goal this year. I don't even know if I even like answered your question, but my brain just went there because it's going to be a special moment. It's going to be rad. It's a very humbling to be where I'm at today and it all comes full circle. Yeah, yeah.

A LEGACY OF INSPIRATION AND HOPE

[Michael L.] Well, and I think Paul, you talked about the mental side of it and then the physical side of it. It's something that is going to be such an inspiration. I know I speak for a lot of people, but for me personally, you've been such an inspiration to me. You've inspired so many people through your documentary that have never even known you that see “Any One of Us” and it gives them hope. It gives them promise. And I think that's something that is a universal thing that I want to say thank you on behalf of everybody for inspiring us and continuing to inspire and to face your challenges, right? Like it's not easy, you know, going back 10 years to the place where it went down and you're facing it head on. I love that, that you're doing it and just want to express our appreciation for you doing that too.

[Michael L.] Appreciate you Ladinig. Thank you!

[Seth K.] I actually think from that documentary, the line that probably hit me the hardest is where you were talking about how prior to all this, that if you thought about being paralyzed, that you would just end your life. And I remember having that feeling, like I grew up surfing and all this stuff that I love, and you followed it up with like, basically, “that's not where I ended up. I'm so glad to have moved past that.” And that, I think, to me is the thing that stood out is that this, this tells us all that like, we can live our lives and be adventurous and do this, but like we can still come around when injuries happen and when life sets us back and stuff.

[Paul Bas] And your mind is strong! Your mind powers everything which you want.

[Michael L.] Good or bad, right? You know, that's the thing. 

[Paul Bas] Good or bad. And just never give up and always be positive and work hard. Work hard and never give up regardless of the timeline.

[Michael L.] I love it, Paul. That's a great place for us to end. Thanks so much for joining and for doing this. We're hyped. We can't wait to see you out there and looking forward to a successful Rampage for everybody this year. Thanks again!

[Paul Bas] Thank you! You guys have a good one.