2004 Red Bull Rampage

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Earlier this year Red Bull announced that this year's Red Bull Rampage would be the last. Held over Halloween weekend, the 2004 edition of Rampage went into the sunset with a big bang.

Torrential rainfall a few days before the event limited the qualifying and finals action to only one ridgeline—the same one used for the finals in previous years—and the riders lost a valuable day of practice time. But these circumstances combined to make this the most action packed Rampage ever. The weather made what is usually a dust bowl into a tacky clay course that allowed the riders to shape and mold perfect moves. This helped accelerate the riding to a level never seen before. Unfortunately, when the level of competitiveness goes up, so does the chance of injury. Pre-event favorite Cedric Gracia and notable contenders such as Robbie Bourdon, Shaums March, and Grant Allen were all taken out before the finals due to injury.

In Saturday's qualifying, the legendary Josh Bender's attempt at a 65-foot drop at the bottom of the course was the day's most spectacular crash. While he walked away unhurt, it became obvious that sticking this line would separate the men from the boys in Sunday's final round.

Kyle Strait, the 17-year old prodigy from Redlands, California took home the Rampage gold. With what could be the most spectacular run in Rampage history, Strait's line included two big, stylie drops at the top and a huge no-hander off the 65-foot gap at the bottom."This is the one event that I always thought would be cool to win," said Strait. To win the final Rampage is really great."

Second place finisher Gee Atherton also saved his best for last. The UK rider nailed the 30-foot-plus drop that Tyler "Super T" Klassen stuck to win the event in 2002, combining a gnarly multi-drop line onto the canyon floor riders had dubbed, the "Irish Roller Coaster." After dropping out of last year's Rampage due to injury, Atherton's second-place finish this year was particularly satisfying. "I learned a lot from competing here last year," said the 19-year-old World Cup dowhiller. "I was pretty confident that I would make the final, and my goal all this time was to make it to the podium, so this second-place finish is really special to me."

Rounding out the top three was Steve "Romaniac" Romaniuk. Famous for the huge hucks in his film segments, the Kamloops, BC native delivered another stellar big air performance in the finals, capped by a one-footed table over the Bender step-down. "I wanted to do better than the fifth I got last year. To do that, I knew that I had to trick the biggest gap instead of just hucking it," summed up the Romaniac.

2004 Red Bull Rampage final results
1.Kyle Strait 85.8
2. Gee Atherton 83.8
3. Steve Romaniuk 79.8
4.Thomas Vanderham 79.4
5. Lance Canfield 78
6. Ben Reid 70.4
7.Cameron Zink 69.6
8. Glyn O'Brien 67.6
9. Mike Kinrade 67.4
10.Wade Simmons 64
11. Guido Tschugg 63.8
12. Matt Hunter 56.2

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For EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of the event, CLICK HERE