When it was announced that Red Bull Formation wasn’t happening in 2023, there was a lot of hopeful speculation that, in its place, there would be women competing at Rampage for the first time. But that didn’t happen either, so we sat down with three of the top freeriders in the world — Casey Brown, Vaea Verbeeck, and Hannah Bergemann — to get their thoughts on how we got here, why they want a women’s category at Rampage (and what they’re doing to make it happen), why representation at the top tiers of the sport is important, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Vaea Verbeeck: (1:31)
How we got here (1:55)
Postponing Formation (4:32)
Formation as a stepping stone to Rampage (7:30)
How to get to a women’s category at Rampage (12:05)
Hannah Bergemann: (19:49)
Working behind the scenes to organize the riders (20:10)
Advancing the state of women’s freeride (21:57)
Structuring a women’s category at Rampage (23:43)
The growth of women’s freeride (26:14)
How to move forward (28:31)
Formation alongside Rampage (30:07)
The response to women at Rampage (34:26)
Casey Brown: (36:12)
Casey’s interest in Rampage (36:24)
Why hasn’t a women’s category happened yet? (38:33)
Organizing a women’s category at Rampage (41:00)
Why is a women’s category important? (42:59)
Growing women’s freeride (45:23)
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