Robin Goomes, Georgia Astle and Casey Brown wrote themselves into the history books on Oct. 10 by reaching the podium at the first women's edition of Red Bull Rampage in St. George, Utah.
Whistler's Astle was a last-minute entry, but made the cut as an alternate. She was poised and expedient on her way down course, landing a 12.5-metre drop in between her smooth technical sections. Judges rewarded her with a score of 79.66 points, which translated ultimately into a silver medal.
"It still hasn't felt fully set-in," remarked Astle. "It wasn't just like one run and then all of a sudden [the silver] happened. There was the whole build process, practicing my lines and guinea-pigging stuff. The game plan was just to have fun, and the guys that I chose as my diggers [Evan Wall, Jacob Tooke and Jarrod Anderson] had a blast. The entire time we had music playing, we were laughing and not getting too stressed out."
Only Goomes (85.00) managed to better Astle's mark, and she can now call herself the event's inaugural female champion. The New Zealander was also recognized with the Best Trick Award.
“It’s been such a process, so I’m trying to take it all in and enjoy it," said Goomes in a press release. "I’m so stoked for my crew, they’ve gone so hard. If anything I’ve done it for them, the sport, and all the other riders.”
Revelstoke-based veteran Brown wouldn't be denied either, going home with bronze (77.33) after becoming the first lady to complete a top-to-bottom run in practice. Moreover, she was given the McGazza Spirit Award in honour of late Kiwi mountain biker Kelly McGarry.
"I'm actually over the moon," Brown said in a televised interview with Red Bull. "It's been such a long journey to get here, and to come through this finish corral and be safe and sound? I'm over the moon. Kelly was a dear friend of mine...so honestly, I'm so overwhelmed with having [my fellow riders] vote for me [to get the McGazza Award]."
Astle had lots of praise for her fellow medallists.
"Robin has had the most insane year ever with the first year of slopestyle for women, and then into Rampage's first year for women. She is absolutely on fire," said the 27-year-old. "And Casey is someone that I absolutely hoped would be on the podium. She's a pioneer for ladies' freeride. She had some very unique features, so I'm just stoked that I could share the podium next to her as a friend and she's definitely an idol of mine."
'A very insane progression curve'
Sea to Sky fans may know Astle as a downhill and enduro racer. She's been frequently sighted across the Crankworx and Enduro World Series tours over her decade in the sport, and returned to glory in July with her third straight Garbanzo DH triumph. She's a late bloomer in terms of freeride competition, and that's been conducive to her development.
"The best thing that's happened is that my career has been really low-key," Astle said. "[People viewed me like] a racer who just likes freeriding. For me, the freeride space has always been where I wanted to be, but maybe I had to work a little harder to get there. I've been able to grow into at my own pace."
Astle experienced her first close brush with competitive women's freeride at Red Bull Formation in 2021, digging that venue on behalf of Brown. She competed at Formation the following year.
"Now, all of the girls are building our own lines from scratch, so that's a very insane progression curve," said Astle. "Although you can ride the features, there is this whole part that goes unseen when you're just watching Rampage: it's eight hard, hard days of being in the sun, building and playing with your mental game. That part was all new to us, and for me, was actually a benefit. I really enjoyed the process of looking at the feature and knowing it front to back before hitting it.
"All of us [women] are ready now...it's the right timing for us to be in Rampage. I want that to continue to snowball [until] it's so normal for a girl to be dreaming to ride Rampage."
The ladies all but had to start dreaming midway through the contest, as a two-plus hour wind delay had them napping in the start area and trying to keep fresh. Astle responded the same way she faced practice earlier in the week: remain calm and realize that sometimes, you need to change your riding to fit the situation at hand. She certainly proved capable of doing so.
Others who received special recognition include Cami Nogueira with the Toughness Award, Vaea Verbeeck who earned the Trailblazer Award and Goomes for Best Trick. Vinny Armstrong's crew were given the Digger Award.
Full results from the female side of Red Bull Rampage can be found here.
