Clemens Kaudela & his first Rampage: $17,500 travelling expenses - "I'll be back!"

Freeride pro Clemens Kaudela from near Vienna is the first Austrian to take part in the Red Bull Rampage. His video edit "The Minister", in which Clemens jumped the longest step-down drop in Utah, earned him the honour of taking part. We spoke to Clemens about long bills, jet lag, time pressure, racing pulse and why it didn't work out the way he had imagined in the end.

FREERIDE: Have you done any work on the Rampage?
Clemens Kaudela: Yes. Immediately afterwards, I went on holiday to California. I often thought about what went well and what went wrong. However, I never got round to watching the replay. Not just my runs, but all of them. Because you don't get to see anything during the competition. But I learnt a lot and now I know what I want to do better next year.

You said it was a dream come true to be invited in the first place. What is it actually like when you pack your bags and get on the plane?
It was pure joy from start to finish. Of course, there was also stress about whether everything would work out and whether the bikes would all arrive. But my team was great with the Ruso brothers as diggers and Syo Van Vliet as personal photographer. The group atmosphere was great and I had the feeling that I had done all my homework.

You flew there together as a team?
We met in Las Vegas, rented a truck and drove to Uath together to the rental flat.

Do you have to organise and pay for all this yourself?
Yes, you have to do everything yourself. And pay out of your own pocket. You only get a cheque for 9,000 dollars when you turn up healthy at the riders' meeting.

Is that enough?
No, never. I can tell you exactly what my Rampage participation cost: 17,500 dollars.

The Rampage is actually a clever concept. You let the riders organise and pay for everything and you have your own awesome show.
From that point of view, I agree with you. On the other hand, there are also events like the Erzberg Rodeo where you don't get anything from the organiser. But that's also what makes the Rampage so appealing, competing in this tough man challenge. That's where the challenge lies: You stand in the desert for eight days and have to organise everything yourself, organise your training, which is far too short, and then there's the final.

Brendan Fairclough's YouTube clips were a good example of this. Have you also done a YouTube report like this?
No, I haven't done any YouTubing myself as I haven't had the time. But the Ruso have a vlog on their website, which gives you a good impression of what it was like when I took part in the Rampage. You can see everyday Rampage life there.

Jet lag, track construction, assessing the terrain - what did you find particularly difficult in Utah?
I had a good impression through my Minister projectthat I had filmed in Utah. So I knew pretty well what to expect. The jet lag was easy to cope with, we were awake early, so getting up early was easy. You have to be on site at 7.30 a.m., when it's pleasantly cool for working, because the sun blazes down at 30 degrees around midday. The difficulty lies in knowing exactly what you can build in the time available and that it will work in the end. This is where my strength lies, because I have a lot of experience as a track builder.

There were huge differences. Fairclough's line seemed to be connected to a massive work, it was pure mining. Emil Johansson, on the other hand, seemed to have taken a line that had already been built.
Emil took Brett Rheeder's line and didn't change much. Bienve (Best Trick Winner Bienvenido Aquada AlbaThe idea came to me too. I had the same thought. But I can't do the slopestyle tricks that Brett and Emil can do like a flip can can over a flat drop. So I would have looked bad on the line. I wanted to build something myself that would showcase my strengths. And in the end, I ended up with a pretty sick line.

You were there last year as a digger for Szymon Godziek. Now as a driver. What was the difference?
If you're only there as a digger, you don't have to save up any energy. You can shovel at full throttle. As a driver, on the other hand, you have to conserve your energy. Not only do you need to have enough energy for the earthworks the next day, but also enough energy to practise the stunts. You need 100 per cent power for the test jumps. That builds up a lot of pressure.

How did you deal with the pressure? Can you even get a wink of sleep at night?
I've been building for ages with a lot of time pressure. Nevertheless, the stress was high. For example, I rebuilt a stunt at the top of my line that Dylan Stark had used the previous year. I realised straight away that it was going to be a lot of work. And the jump didn't actually work until the evening before the final.

And: being able to sleep at night?
I had thought about taking sleeping pills. But I've never done that before, so I decided not to. My recipe: the night before the Rampage, I do exactly what I did all the nights before.

What was that?
We drank 4 to 5 beers every evening as a team, the American beers aren't that strong anyway. We ate well, had a good time as a team and that's why I slept very well the night before the final. That surprised me myself. But I was really well rested.

At the Rampage, the rookies compete like you, the veterans like Cam Zink or Kyle Strait. How can I imagine that? Do camps form?
That's right. Zink and Strait hang out with each other and do their thing. Yes, teams are formed. But you can't strictly say: Team Europe or Team USA. The riders who are friends with each other get together. I'm friends with Fairclough, so we usually sit together at lunch. Everyone concentrates on their own line. I'm also friends with Thomas Genon, for example, but he was shovelling somewhere else, so I didn't see him at all. Except at lunch.

And at lunch, Cam Zink pats you on the back and wishes you luck as a newcomer?
Exactly. But I wasn't really a newcomer, appearing there for the first time at the age of 21. I know everyone from many events. The other riders know that I have experience in construction. Ultimately, I was also respected because of my Minister project. Because no one else has ever jumped it before. So the vibe was: you can do it and it's cool that you're there.

Can you compare Rampage with Darkfest?
At Darkfest you have an insane amount of time to train. At Darkfest, the landing hills are huge - you can't miss them. And at Darkfest, you do the move when you're ready. That could be on the first day, it could be on day 7. But at the Rampage, you make your best move when the clock tells you to. At the Rampage, you have zero training. Especially in the first year. The teams that are on their lines in the second year can train better and just have to fine-tune. I, on the other hand, only jumped some of my line stunts in the final, e.g. a drop high up in my line. Or the section from the start house to the drop at the battleship - I didn't do that once. That kind of thing is extremely stressful and saps your nerves.

And your super drop that knocked you out in the final?
That was the one I practised the most. I went over there six times in the morning before the Fianle and then over the Canyon Gap - and it went really well. Irony of fate.

How do you explain your crash then?
Somehow I saw it coming. Because I had far too much momentum. I knew that I'd have to go all out on the first stepdown and then again after a double jump. Originally I wanted to put a roller there, but there wasn't enough time. So it was all about taking all the momentum out before the 13.5 metre drop. But in the final, the spectators cheer, you're tense, the helis fly through the air and then you inevitably give it 5 per cent more power. In the end, that was three metres too far. In total, it turned into a 17-18 metre drop and I couldn't manage it.

Bitter.
On top of that, I realised right before my run that I had a technical defect on my bike. That threw me off my game. Because you have an 8-minute window. If you don't start there, that's it for you. That's the way it is at a livestream event. So we had to get the second bike. It was further down the slope. The Rusos quickly carried the bike up to me, but I didn't know if they would make it in time. It just about worked out.

An enormous amount of stress.
I started my first Rampage run with a dry mouth, out of breath and a racing pulse. The spare bike wasn't set up perfectly, the tyres were a little under-inflated and the fork a little too soft. But I had to come to terms with that. Maybe that was the reason for the first mishap. So I only had one more chance: the second run. But now I had to rebuild the bike, make one optimal bike out of two. I had just finished that when it was time for the second run! Not even a 5-minute break.

And then there are the drones, the helicopters, the wind.
I didn't even hear the drones and helicopters, you have too much tunnel vision, you're in the "zone". But instead of jumping 13 metres, jumping 18 is simply "too much".

It knocked you out in a nasty way, but you got up again after the horror crash and organiser Todd Barber was right there with you. What did he say?
He said it had been mega and: "You will be back!" Yes, I'll be back!

Can you count on being invited back?
I am confident. Because the judges came up to me later and said: "We were most excited about your line because it was so blatant. And you skied so well in training - we really wanted to see that in the final. You have to be back next year."

Even though you said that: Your dream is already fulfilled when you take part.
But I want to cross the finish line! That's the important thing. Laughs.

You won't be able to ride your line anymore, I heard the Rampage 2024 will take place in a new venue.
I don't know that. The organisers will decide that first.

Can we see your jump when it worked in training?
On my Insta profile. But now I want to cut together a YouTube clip where I comment on the whole thing and give background information.

There was a lot of controversy this year. Especially about the judging. There were calls for an international jury, more transparency, etc. Can you criticise or do you have to fear that you won't be invited back? How openly can you talk?
I believe that I can criticise as long as it is not a personal attack. I have the feeling that the judges judge to the best of their knowledge and belief. They have walked all the lines and know where the difficulties lie. So big hits count more than tricks and technical difficulties are a must. If there aren't any in your run, you get fewer points. Bienve, for example, didn't have any technical challenges in the upper section, it was too tame. That's why he couldn't achieve maximum points.

What is the argument against an international jury to dispel the accusation that the current US judges tend to favour their compatriots?
Nothing speaks against it. But ultimately that is the organiser's decision.

When I think of Brendan Fairclough's run, I wonder why he didn't finish in the top three.
I agree with you. His line was brutal, the risk was extremely high and his run looked even more impressive live. He should have finished further ahead. But that's the way it is, that's the system, so you can get upset or not.

What do you think about the fact that some riders competed with single crown bikes this time? Emil Johansson almost turned the Rampage into a slopestyle competition with his run.
Everyone can take the bike they want and ride the way they want. That's also what makes the Rampage so appealing in my eyes. Everyone knows the judging criteria, so there's nothing to stop everyone bringing their own style to the competition.

If you listen to Josh Bender talk, there are no limits. The only limits are in your head. Do you see it that way too?
Well, it's not quite like that. Of course there are limits. Physics and geometry set limits. For video stunts, you can take your time and push yourself to the limit much more than in the Rampage with time pressure and performance at the push of a button. But yes, you can probably also drop 25 metres. But then only with a perfect XXL landing. Gee Atherton's drop, for example, would certainly have been doable, but then his diggers would have had to put another three days into the landing.

If it had been up to me, Gee Atherton would have got the Tough Man Award. Did you ever watch his monster drop?
Yes, of course. I even measured it with my electronic measuring device. I don't want to talk clever, but I told the guys: please put more work into the landing - you can't leave it like that. The drop was 16 metres high before the first landing. And there were dizzy sandbags lying there, a kink in the landing and no real run-out. I couldn't do the drop like that. Only with a better landing.

Then Gee must have dropped 18 metres.
Yes, it must have been 18 metres. I saw his crash coming.

Did you give Gee your impression?
I pointed it out to him very gently. But I met Gee for the first time at the Rampage and didn't want to make a big fuss. The guy is 38 years old and has loads of experience - he has to know that for himself.

Gee is 38, winner Cam Zink 36 - age doesn't seem to play a role at the Rampage.
This is an event that requires a lot of experience. And that only comes with time. I like to compare it to big wave surfing. The athletes are usually older there too. You don't need youthful recklessness, you need experience.

After his run, Bienvenido Alba threw his helmet high into the air into the rubbish with joy. Did he ride his second run with the same helmet?
Laughs. I have no idea. I know that I was happy about my helmet. It did what a good helmet should do when I fell. The polystyrene broke and cushioned the impact. And I fell completely on my head, but I didn't lose consciousness, nor did I have any signs of concussion, not even a headache. The helmet is really good. Take a look at the fall!