Casey Brown is living her dream of a women’s Red Bull Rampage

Whenever Red Bull Rampage rolled around, Casey Brown would gather friends in Revelstoke, B.C., to watch on TV like it was the Super Bowl. In 2008, she traveled to Virgin, Utah, and saw it in person for the first time. She has been back many times since, often to dig the terse terrain in searing heat. Now 16 years after her first pilgrimage, and 23 years since Rampage began — long into Brown’s decorated career as a freeride trailblazer — the premiere event in her sport will finally have a women’s edition. 

Brown will be one of the first eight women to ever compete at Rampage. She’s more than ready for the moment. The 33-year-old always felt it was a matter of when, not if, women would get to shine on this stage.  

“But we definitely had to pull some teeth,” Brown says.

Brown is often called the “godmother” of the sport for good reason. In 2021, she started Dark Horse, an all-women progression event that focused on unearthing young talent. Dark Horse was designed in Casey’s image — casual, fun, supportive — and has identified many riders like her: Women who started their careers in racing but didn’t feel at home in its sometimes caustic environments. They want to participate in a sport that encourages creative freedom and camaraderie at its core.

“During any film trip, or if I have some money to shoot something, I’m always trying to invite my girl homies who wouldn’t have that opportunity with the support that they have,” Brown says. “I just try to spread the love that way. And with Dark Horse, and having a bunch of girls figure out if they want to do freeride because they may not fit into the racing mold, it’s cool to give that option to the generation coming up.”

Rampage turns the dials of creativity and daring up to the max. Though Brown has wanted a women’s Rampage for a long time, she says the sport had to grow, first. Through events like Dark Horse, Proving Grounds, and Red Bull Formation, the women’s freeride field has grown deeper and better by the year. Now, Brown looks at the eight names in Thursday’s women’s lineup and thinks of dozens more who also would have been up to the task. 

“I think having a really strong field is an important thing. If we went at it prematurely maybe we wouldn’t have had the skill and talent level and depth that we have right now,” Brown says. “And I’m sure that it will grow even more after this year.”

Rampage is about much more than one event-day run. Riders spend the week before with a team of diggers doing the backbreaking work of plotting their runs within the cliffside, building it with shovels and pickaxes, then testing and tweaking the line until every inch works exactly like it should. Their goal is to put on a show in a venue where simply getting to the bottom safely is an impressive feat on its own.

All eight women’s riders knew what they were getting into. They all participated in the last Red Bull Formation in 2022, where they built their own lines in Virgin as part of a one-of-a-kind progression event that paved the way for Thursday. According to Brown, that familiarity with the hard, rocky terrain has been pivotal, especially as temperatures crept above 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the prime dig days.

“Some of the competitors on the men’s side will be coming in and putting a shovel in this crazy terrain for the very first time. And all us women have luckily had Formation for a few years to get accustomed to what it’s like out here,” Brown says. “It’s a lot less figuring it out once you’ve done it once or twice.”

Getting through Rampage takes a village. Brown’s dig crew consists of three of her best friends from Revelstoke. The established familiarity with one another makes communication easy. It also makes the work itself much more fun. 

“We just listen to good music, and we joke around a lot. We’re just always laughing and making fun,” Browns says. “We’ve definitely had some good chuckles in the last four days [laughs]. So it’s just a good crew of chipper personalities.

“It’s nice that we can experience Rampage together because, for me, whatever happens, we get to make fun memories.”

While the men will be competing at the same site used in 2018 and 2019, the women will be using a never-before-used zone adjacent to the men’s event. That means the women are carving lines into a blank canvas, with no holdover features to guide them. The task is both enticing and daunting. But while the men’s riders try to guard their competition plans from one another, the women are embracing collaboration. 

For example, Brown will share the first part of her line with Cami Nogueira before entering a flowy jump line that’s “just for me.” Then she’ll enter an intersection that she estimates six of the eight riders will use. Near the bottom, she’ll merge with the same lines as Robin Goomes and Georgia Astle.

“It has to happen because the workload is huge,” Brown says. “We’re all figuring out how to connect the lines together without impeding others, and it’s really sick.”

Brown’s goal is to create a line that 1) pushes her boundaries, and 2) is really fun to ride. When fans watch her run, she wants them to feel that it’s distinctively hers.

She’d certainly like to win, but Brown’s Rampage plans center on expressing herself, foremost. The historic nature of the event is not lost on her. Brown says that fans have been reaching out to her during the run-up just to let her know that they’re excited to watch her compete. She hopes that Thursday can have a ripple effect: A handful of the most gifted riders on Earth inspiring thousands.

“There’s going to be so many little girls watching this,” Brown says. “And even just people who ride bikes for fun, they might have new goals, and maybe they want to push it more. Maybe it just inspires people to go ride a bike, I don’t know [laughs].”

The first ever women’s Rampage may be a competition, but Brown is progression-minded by nature. Not only is she one of the biggest names in freeride, but she is also one of the sport’s biggest fans. And this past week, she has had a front row seat as her peers, some of the world’s best freeride mountain bikers, tamed a mountainside in preparation for the biggest women’s freeride event ever.

“Hopefully everyone makes it to the bottom and has their dream line, because watching them out here create exactly what they want, and seeing all the hard work go into building a line, it’s phenomenal,” Brown says. “It’s super cool to see all these girls working together and creating such a beautiful place to ride a bike.

“We want to blow some minds, for sure.”

Casey Brown and Brandon Semenuk — participating for the 11th time, and going for his record-extending fifth win — will be representing Trek at Red Bull Rampage, the biggest event in freeride mountain biking. 

The women’s edition of Rampage will be simulcasted on delay on ESPN+, Red Bull TV, and Red Bull Bike’s YouTube channel, while the men’s edition will be shown live on ESPN+ in the United States and on Red Bull TV in all other countries.

Women’s Rampage

When: Thursday, Oct. 10, 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. local (time delay broadcast)
Where to watch: ESPN+, Red Bull TV and Red Bull Bike’s YouTube channel

Men’s Rampage

When: Saturday, Oct. 12, 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. local
Where to watch: ESPN+ in the US and Red Bull TV everywhere else

Will there be replays?

You bet. Two one-hour highlight shows will air back-to-back Sunday, Oct. 27, on ESPN2, beginning with the women at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the men at 6 p.m. ET.