Last year top Canadian components manufacturer Race Face ran a freeride competition, inviting riders to send in videos of themselves in action. The winner got a sponsorship deal, and Tyler Klassen was the lucky man.

And by way of proving that he deserved it, Tyler’s just won the Red Bull Rampage freeride comp in Virgin Utah. The Rampage is an invitation-only contest, featuring 28 of the best riders in the world. There were certainly some notable names in there – it’s the off-season in the downhill world, so Steve Peat and Cedric Gracia were both there, along with freeride luminaries like Dave Watson, Thomas Vanderham and Robbie Bourdon.

The format was simple. A cliff-laden chunk of Utah was marked off as the riding area and riders had two days to find and groom lines before qualifying on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. Klassen didn’t even get on his bike on the first day, just ambling around peering over cliffs and scoping ridable lines including an audacious 20 foot drop into a steep landing and a sharp turn inconveniently situated at the edge of a canyon. He groomed the line ready for qualifying, but on the day the line fell to two other riders. Klassen upped the ante, forgoing his carefully-groomed take off in favour of another one 15 feet above to give him the top qualifying score.

The finals were held in a new area, giving riders just the morning to recce and groom as necessary. Once again Klassen put time in to groom a line and then at the last minute decided he wasn’t going to use it. He’d spotted something better, a massive 30 foot drop on the other side of the valley, and with just 45 minutes to go he sorted out a new landing site.

Come his run, Klassen headed out of the start gate, made his way down the south ridge of the mountain, boosted his Santa Cruz V10 off the lip and cleaned his new line. He hadn’t finished, though. Last year Wade Simmons (out due to injury this year) had won with a line through a double step-down. This year Klassen hit the same line hard and fast, clearing the whole lot in one hit.

No-one else could match that, leaving Cedric Gracia in second place and Klassen’s Race Face team mate Darren Berrecloth in third.

You can find pictures and a video clip at http://www.redbullrampage.com/, and a report and picture of Klassen’s winning run at the ever-splendid http://www.pinkbike.com.