Ridemonkey gives you the exclusive scoop, from the man himself, on the past and future of Rampage, H5, and innovative events such as the Red Bull Hell Barge.
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Interview by David Peacock
Photos by Todd Barber
The organizer, the advocate, and the man. No, not a new John Grisham novel, simply words that describe Todd Barber. Here he is to talk about the past and future of Rampage, H5, and other innovative events such as the Red Bull Hell Barge.
RM: Hey Todd! First off big thanks from everyone behind and in front of the website for this.
TB: No problem it is my pleasure.
RM: Your company is H5 events, correct? What does H5 contribute to mountain biking?
TB: Yes, I am the owner of H5 events. I have been in the business of sports marketing and event production for the past 14 years. Three years ago, I started H5 (High Five) with the goal of producing the highest quality mountain bike events and film projects. I want to show the world how incredible the sport of Freeride mountain biking is and hopefully help the athletes gain exposure for their sports.
Chris Van Dine dinner rolls his way through the 2008 Rampage course.
RM: Red Bull is one of your biggest clients, what are some of the other companies that you have worked through to bring mountain biking to the main stage?
TB: I have been very lucky to have a strong partnership with Red Bull. Their incredible commitment to supporting mountain biking and action sports has allowed me the opportunity to create some pretty incredible projects over the years.
Classic CG style at Rampage.
TB: I also have a strong partnership with Freeride Entertainment and Derek Westerlund. We have had the opportunity to create some pretty amazing projects together over the past 10 years including projects to Nepal, China and Mexico.
I have also worked with Oakley, Clif Bar, Anheuser Busch, Nestle Waters, Paul Mitchell, Activision and several other companies. All told, I have produced over 80 events and film projects in 6 different countries.
RM: Rampage is obviously the big one, how has the success of that event helped H5?
TB: Rampage has been a huge event for H5. We came up with concept back in 2000 and it seemed like it had the potential to be a game changing type of event. However, you never know how an event will be perceived and maybe it would just be a flash in the pan. Would the industry support the event and would the athletes be able to excel in the unique terrain? Would the world acknowledge such an obscure sport? Well?I guess we answered that question pretty quickly. It has been truly amazing to watch the effect this event has had on the sport and the scene. I feel very proud of this event and hopefully we will be able to host the event for many years to come.
RM: While we?re on the subject, what is the plan for Rampage, will we be seeing it this coming year back at one of the Utah locations, or will it move somewhere else, or is it happening at all? Fill us in!
TB: Everything is looking very good for the return of the Red Bull Rampage: The Evolution in October 2010. We had meetings last month and we should have exciting news by the beginning of the new year. The event will be held at the same location in Virgin, UT that it was held in 2008. There is still a ton of untapped potential at the site. We have a few surprises in store and definitely plan to use a good mix of man made features and also letting the athletes create their own lines. With the popularity of the event we are really hope to have more spectators onsite and get more of the industry involved as well. Check the website www.redbullrampage.com soon for more updates.
Kamloops local and Kona Clump rider Graham Aggasiz brings tricks to the backcountry.
RM: Before you settled on the new location near Zion National Park, you organized some pretty crazy trips to seek out a potentially suitable site, can you tell us about some of those?
TB: Yeah, when the Rampage ended in 2004 we knew we had to find a new location to keep the sport progressing. A crew of us pretty much spent the next four years scouring the planet to try and find a new location.
In 2005, we ended up going to Baja Mexico and filming the Red Bull Recon with Bearclaw, Bourdo, Chase, Gracia, Strait and Zink. It was incredible trip that involved 10 days on an 80? boat cruising up the Sea of Cortez in search of new terrain. We had a heli for scouting/filming and it ended up being one of the most memorable trips I have ever been on.
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TB: Also in 2008, I found another possible location while scouring Google Earth. The location was in the Gobi Desert of Northern China, which is considered one of the most remote locations in the world. I dropped the idea on Bearclaw and he was instantly interested and was a huge help in getting the project off the ground. We recruited Cam McCaul along with Jeremy Grant the editor from Freeride and Blake Jorgenson the photographer. We spent 18 days traveling through the area and it ended up being a Freeride Shangri La. The terrain was incredible and the experience was unreal. The footage ultimately ended up in NWD 9 and it was also won awards at the Banff Film Festival as a short film.
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TB: However, both of these locations were just too remote and it made it impractical to host a major event like the Rampage. Then in the spring of 2008 we decided to do one last trip through Utah to try and find a new site. We stumbled into a hidden canyon 10 miles from the old site that ultimately would become the site for the new ?Evolution? event
Darren Berrecloth doing some recon work in China's Gobi Desert.
RM: What is it about the Utah location that keeps the riders going back, and hollering for more?
TB: Utah is truly a freeride mountain biker?s heaven. The terrain is absolutely ideal because of the open space, the mountains, the topography and the type of soil. Not to mention the insane backdrops and weather. It just all comes together in the desserts of Utah.
RM: Rampage has proved to be a stepping-stone for many professional riders, one prime example being Darren Berrecloth. Now he?s going mainstream with an ad for Nissan, can you tell us a bit about that?
TB: It is very exciting to see our sport finally gain the recognition of other mainstream action sports. In October, Nissan approached Freeride Entertainment and H5 Events to help produce the next chapter in their ?No Limits? series of commercials. It is for their Japanese only vehicle called the ?X-trail.? Darren was an easy choice to star in the commercial because of his amazing skills, strong personality and dedication to pushing the limits of the sport. We spent 9 days in the desert with a crew of 25, a helicopter and some of the best film production people in the business. The commercial should be online after the new year and check out the behind the scenes film that Freeride produced to accompany the commercial. Great stuff!
Stumps, Clumps, and Jumps with Paul Basagoitia.
RM: This year you guys went with the Kona Clump on a Stump, Clumps and Jumps tour, what exactly went down?
TB: The Red Bull Stumps, Clump, and Jumps tour was a joint venture between Red Bull and Kona Bikes. We had most of the Kona Clump team including Andreau Lacondeguy, Paul Basagoitia, Wayne Goss, Lluis Lacondeguy and Robbie Bourdon. We traveled in a custom branded 40? RV and embarked on a tour down the west coast from Whistler, B.C. to San Francisco to shred the local trails. Stops included Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and a few other towns before landing in San Francisco. The athletes performed demos, hosted screenings of the Red Bull Rampage movie, and filmed for the latest New World Disorder mountain bike movie DUST & BONES. We also took a detour in to Hood River, OR to film for an upcoming piece on mountain biking for ABC television?s ?Good Morning America.? The road trip ended in SF with the Red Bull SF Hell Barge Project.
Red Bull athlete Brandon Semenuk 360ing on a barge, no big deal for H5 and the reigning Rampage champ.
RM: Yeah, I think everyone who watched Disorder 10 took note of Hell Barge. How did the idea for that come about and what was H5s involvement?
TB: I guess the idea has been thrown around for a few years now. Derek Westerlund and John Cowan have tried several times to pull it off however it never materialized for different reasons. H5 was hired to run all the event production for the ?Stumps? RV trip and when we needed a climax to the end of the RV trip I brought up the barge dirt jump idea again. I had some connections in the area from producing some other events on the Bay. I made a few calls to some barge companies and then collaborated the design with Cowan and we were off running. H5 ran all the operations and Red Bull stepped huge as usual to provide the funding and the whole project came together in less than 3 weeks. Pretty insane but when you have the world?s best athletes, killer jumps and ridiculously beautiful backdrops it?s pretty hard to go wrong. It didn?t hurt either that ended up getting the best two weather days of the entire summer.
RM: Any other plans for the upcoming season, other than the new Rampage?
TB: The Rampage will be taking up most of my energy this year. However, I am always working on new projects and hopefully we might be going back to China this spring to film the Gobi with a proper film crew.
The crew after a successful roadtrip.
RM: Thanks for doing this Todd, and thanks for your commitment to mountain biking through H5!
TB: No worries. Thanks for hosting a great site, see you at the Rampage!
