Video: Brandon Semenuk Tailwhips a Huge Drop at Rampage [Updated with Slow Mo Clip]

Oct 14, 2021
by James Smurthwaite  
Brandon Semenuk's Rampage Whip

by jamessmurthwaite
Views: 33,211    Faves: 11    Comments: 5


Brandon Semenuk has just tailwhipped a huge drop on his line at Red Bull Rampage. Ever since his single crown set up was revealed, we have been speculating exactly how he would put it into use. Now we have the answer. Single crown forks have been used at Rampage in the past but Brandon could well be taking them to new heights at the event by digging into his bag of tricks on the gnarliest terrain.

We've also seen Brandon throwing flipwhips on the bottom jumps and bar spins near the top of the course as well this week. His finals run on Friday could go down in history as one of the most inventive ever seen at Rampage.

bigquotesThis just happened. Let the comments begin...—Red Bull Bike



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161 Comments
  • 606 12
 nO fLiPpY WhIPpers at rAmPAge., tHis iSn'T sLoPEsTyLe!! Waaaahhhhh. You're right, its not slopestyle and this is insanely fuckin awesome.
  • 22 6
 Cannot upvote this enough
  • 26 73
flag femto505 (Oct 13, 2021 at 18:22) (Below Threshold)
 It's sad to say that Rampage is more of a Mesa Joyride contest. Cam Zink and Kyle Strait taking the biggest lines at this site several years back did not score very well. Although I am complaining, I'll be watching tomorrow and complain on PB after the event.
  • 13 0
 That is quite ridiculous - I was scared for him from my armchair
  • 4 1
 maybe the term 'Big Mountain SlopeStyle' will keep the PB commenters happy...........¿
(sarcasm BTW)
  • 8 0
 wait til he combos it with a backflip
  • 3 0
 I was expecting big things when Brandon turned up with his single crown forks!
  • 4 0
 upvote ! This is evolution at its best. My money is on Semenuk
  • 4 4
 @McArdle: Oh, how many forks did he bring?
  • 289 23
 FUCK ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT THIS
  • 64 7
 Its just madness, every single time. The level of progression and the people who hate on it.


With all the haters absolutely knowing what the "spirit of Rampage" is, they must be related to Miss Cleo.
  • 16 95
flag f00bar (Oct 13, 2021 at 15:41) (Below Threshold)
 freeride is dead, long live slopestyle?
  • 27 114
flag skimtb1 FL (Oct 13, 2021 at 15:50) (Below Threshold)
 MEH! If this is what wins it all, then it is a sad sad day for freeride MTB
  • 10 30
flag islandjay (Oct 13, 2021 at 16:01) (Below Threshold)
 @scott-townes:
You
sir
have won the comment section
  • 38 1
 @skimtb1: the thing is he does other shit too...he hits massive drops, steep rolls etc. The tricks may make the difference sure, but it definitely isnt the only thing he does at rampage. Now if the only thing he did was jumps with minor level drops/steeps I would be inclined to agree more but that man is a cornucopia of craziness.
  • 33 0
 Kurt Sorge was tail whipping a Giant Glory back in 2009. Now that was impressive.
  • 18 104
flag skimtb1 FL (Oct 13, 2021 at 16:19) (Below Threshold)
 @wilsonians:

@wilsonians:

Both Semenuk's and Sorge's winning runs on this venue are insanely sick

Call me a hater, but I'd personally rather see a straight air than a f*cking barspin or tailwhip.

Barspins and tailwhips are for Mountain Dew drinking teenagers.
  • 9 1
 On a single crown!!! I knew someone would do it once the 38 and Zeb came out.
  • 10 1
 I’m only gonna complain cuz I didn’t pick him to win the fantasy challenge (sigh)
  • 4 4
 @scott-townes: "Let me tell ya, boy! He ain't be landin no whip-flip on da big day! Listen to Miss Cleo!"
  • 9 1
 @willdavidson9595: Coulda done it 10 years ago...on a Totem.
  • 16 16
 @skimtb1: shut up you spunk drinking turno nonce.

The size of the features theses guys are doing the tricks on is is absolutely massive, how can you not see that they are all pushing the sport.
  • 5 2
 @filryan: what a response !
You’re totally right though, keeping it real.
  • 4 14
flag skimtb1 FL (Oct 14, 2021 at 7:17) (Below Threshold)
 @filryan:

I was going to respond facetiously to your little diatribe, but then I saw you were from Bradford and realized that it would go right over your head.

Go pound a flat of mountain Dew with your bros you f*cking punter
  • 2 12
flag skimtb1 FL (Oct 14, 2021 at 7:22) (Below Threshold)
 @crazy9:

Bro there is like sooooo much #progression going down in the #desert Brooooo!
  • 5 0
 @skimtb1: Hahaha that made laugh so much. What can I say, you can't take the bradford out of the lad.
  • 1 0
 @chriskneeland: right? Kona kept making the entourage just so Aggy could keep doing single crown
  • 174 1
 Off to make sure my front door is firmly closed.
  • 13 0
 This one got me nice work
  • 4 3
 Please explain :’)
  • 22 0
 Brad Jay used to be the MC for literally every mtb event years back and his signature line when someone landed something sick was "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR"
  • 4 0
 @joshwoodwardphoto: Brad Ewen actually was the shutter of the front door
  • 8 2
 @cocatellez: he's going to masterbate to this video.
  • 5 1
 @joshwoodwardphoto: No one needs to be reminded of Brad Jay's commentary.
  • 3 0
 The people who don't get this reference are also the ones upset at the event!
  • 1 0
 @theblackflash: oh shit you right got my brads mixed up haha
  • 57 2
 Damn if this guy had a beard and growled at stuff I could be impressed, but he's a clean shaven non-viking. 4/10.
  • 48 1
 When a problem comes along You must whip it Before the cream sits out too long You must whip it When something's going wrong You must whip it.........whip good
  • 11 0
 Is this the "Devolution" of freeride ? If it is I love it !!!
  • 46 2
 I just love this guy. Not only can he throw down, he's also super nice! My 12 year old little shredder and I ran into him at Coast Gravity Park and he had no issues taking a moment to sign an autograph for him. He's still grinning from meeting his hero!

Semenuk #1
  • 6 82
flag mi-bike (Oct 13, 2021 at 17:35) (Below Threshold)
 No issue *taking a moment* to sign an autograph? You'd think that fan satisfaction is important to him and thus part of his job. You can take the worshiping too far.
  • 6 1
 @mi-bike: dude, just "pssst"... I hope you get it
  • 72 25
 Now make the landing all shitty and call it freeride.
  • 6 1
 Funny
  • 4 0
 lol is that what freeride is
  • 24 6
 @anchoricex: free ride means no rules, no time clocks and free to do what you want. It doesn’t have anything to do with loose dirt on your landings.
  • 5 1
 @rabcity: So if there are no rules...and you want it to look like a slope contest...technically you're doing freeride no? :mindblown:
  • 2 1
 @rabcity: unless loose dirt is what you want….
  • 2 7
flag weebleswobbles (Oct 14, 2021 at 9:21) (Below Threshold)
 @Jvisscher: it's better than loose vag
  • 2 1
 @weebleswobbles: classy
  • 1 0
 @dexterfawkes: Truth
  • 39 2
 There’s your rampage champion!
  • 3 0
 Still has to clean it on the big day.
  • 3 0
 @adrennan: think hes just warmin er up for the backflip combo
  • 21 0
 There are so many different types of riders that drive our sport forward in their own way. I don't know if there's anyone else that seems to have the inhuman level of bike handling skills that BS does though, big mountain or slope his bike just seems to be an extension of him. Big props to all the competitors out there, this is one event where they're all winners regardless of the judges scores, even the ones who don't make it to the bottom.
  • 24 1
 I enjoy that people will get bent over this insane trick and can't even hit the medium line at their local spot.
  • 20 3
 And yet Straight keeps recycling his no hander he did 15 years ago. Bunch of Pinkbike commenter Yankees hating on Canadian freeride dominance.
  • 7 1
 Come on, it was 11 years.
  • 1 3
 Im not a yankee, I'm from the south, son
  • 17 0
 I was trying to avoid spoilers while at work but congrats to Friday's winner
  • 14 0
 There is no way he is not winning with all those single crown tricks he can throw down
  • 15 1
 Tricks are only a quarter of the total score... but it isn't like the rest of his line is lacking. He'll be hard to beat for sure
  • 14 0
 If Brandon can keep it together he will become a 4 time champ.
  • 14 0
 I could huck that right now if I didn't have diarrhea...
  • 5 0
 An excellent piece of advice: Nobody questions the shits!
  • 2 0
 @Aarooke this is going to become my new family crest
  • 2 0
 My wife AND my kids have diarrhea too, guess it just runs in the family...
  • 8 0
 So smooth. He makes it look way too easy. How do you score Brandon doing super clean whips and barspins compared to someone with a rough gnarly line with a flip and a sui? The higher score should be the guy doing something no one else can do or wants to do. Embrace the progression.
  • 8 0
 I was 50/50 on this kinda thing at Rampage, but ultimately I like progress & evolution more. Next year more riders will run this set up & hit crazy tricks off of massive features. Thing is Brandon is always ahead of the curve & sooooo good he makes stuff look easy. Looking forward to the event.
  • 11 2
 Weird that he's on a single crown, I thought he was in line for his 4th crown?
Love to see it.
  • 13 4
 Cue “BrAgE WaS RoBbEd” comments
  • 9 1
 Proof that if you whip it enough, it turns into butter.
  • 9 2
 Paul Bass was the first to tail whip at the rampage. Nothing about him at all
  • 8 0
 Paul was on an absolute heater that year! His tailwhip was on a more regular "smaller" jump. This is off a massive flat drop, arguably the biggest tailwhip drop done on a bicycle so far.
  • 25 19
 He's only pulling out tricks like this because he's afraid of Brage taking his spotlight. I'm here for the show.
  • 6 0
 If brage makes top 5 I’ll eat a shoe
  • 3 0
 @rabcity: no disrespect to Vestavik, but he is coming in with no line to a venue that favours people who have a line already built, competing against people who have been in the game (and still on top) after well over 10 years for lots of these guys. That being said, Lacondeguy crashed out, and Zink took a bad one today and is getting checked out for punctured lungs...
  • 7 0
 "YEEEUHHHHHHHH", every dude in the background
  • 6 1
 I love that landing a whip with feet on crank arms isn't wanted, even thought of or accepted by the rider. This guy rules.
  • 8 0
 Fully agree, logan Martin won bmx gold on crankarm and its cool to see that come through to this sport. However If I was semenuk whipping off a drop that big I'd catch anything I could
  • 5 0
 I somehow can't see the video... Is it Geo-restricted? On which platform can I find it? Thanks for the help!
  • 2 0
 It's a Facebook video. I had to refresh to get it to show up
  • 20 1
 your not missing much TBH....just a whip off a 40' drop landed perfectly on the downslope....
  • 2 0
 @RadBartTaylor: lol
  • 3 0
 @RadBartTaylor: Allright. I won't bother searching for it then. Thanks for clarification! If it's not even with a manual landing, I'm not interested!
  • 4 0
 the only thing that sucks about this is, the next time we see it Red Bull will feel the need to add some weird ass bike sound effect to it.
  • 4 0
 He just tail whipped a drop that has more vertical than 95% of my local riding spots
  • 2 1
 I like those ones Taj used to do where it looked like he was gonna die but somehow pulls it off. Semi-yahoo prob picks exactly which tread on his shoes catches the pedal pins. Amazing for sure. Dialed is the word. But if you think he ever misses one of those think again.
  • 5 0
 Brandon Semenuk is always on another level .
  • 3 1
 I get sick of all the corona bikers or bikers riding for 5 years..... "Yeah dude, this is not freeride"

Over n over again....

Shut the loose riderz front door. This isn't cool either...
  • 6 0
 Drop got robbed
  • 1 0
 you made me laugh.... a lot! thanks! actually I m still laughing!
  • 4 0
 Brandon is the real deal and a genuine mountain bike legend. Not bad for someone who has just turned 30years old - amazing!!
  • 4 0
 The testicular fortitude on that guy is insane
  • 5 1
 Brandon Semenuk... the only person who needs a Flight Attendant
  • 4 0
 that was so cool that was so cool that was so cool that was so cool
  • 4 0
 Back flip tail whip for the win!!!!
  • 12 8
 Let's go Brandon!!

(Not the American version, although yeah, that too)
  • 7 5
 This made my fucking day! Especially coming from up north! Lets go Brandon!!!!!
  • 4 0
 I hope he does the double flippy spinny off axis thing!
  • 3 0
 That was surgical, when he locked back in and landed... WHOA
  • 3 0
 That’s a world record sized tailwhip no?
  • 3 0
 Biggest drop whip on an mtb?
  • 1 0
 For the win, most creative out there! Hope he will get 4th time champ; super stoked to see insanely masive whips and barspins
  • 3 0
 Competitors "Yeeeaaahhh!" then inside "Awwwwww".
  • 4 1
 I think we saw this shit coming.
  • 3 0
 Tail whipping that drop on a freeride bike is just next level of freeride
  • 3 0
 Define the term 'Freeride', and try not to be a d*ck about it. ;-)
  • 1 1
 I'll just say this. Let's see the rest of his line before we all judge this. This is one trick. If the whole line is smooth as butter then he shouldn't be scoring high. Audi-Nines this is not! But let's just see first eh.
  • 1 0
 People really comparing about how rampage isn’t enough freeride anymore when the person commenting probably can only hit tables because gap jumps are to scary
  • 1 0
 The drop was so big that he had time to do his tail whip and have a nice long think about what he was having for dinner later on.
  • 2 0
 He's even got time for a whip bar, which is nuts.
  • 2 0
 It is called freeride for a reason, no rules!
  • 2 0
 Just a GOAT in it’s natural habitat
  • 2 0
 "Suck my bag of tricks" said Brandon
  • 1 0
 He's nuts, just out winning rally car races all year then shows up to rampage to blow everyone's mind.
  • 1 0
 Always crazy to see what he can pull off
  • 2 1
 Wish I had seen this before I put my Rampage Fantasy vote in......
  • 1 0
 He made that look so easy.
  • 1 0
 Soooooo fast and huge!! He is the standard.
  • 1 0
 Rampage wasn’t hard enough so he needed to start doing this.
  • 1 0
 Yooooo this is next level. Brandon is too damn good at biking.
  • 1 0
 "Smokie Says" > Dayyymmmmnnn!!!
  • 2 2
 That course looks all polished up. Like the NHL outdoor classic games on new years day.
  • 1 4
 I already knew this was going to happen when they posted his bike build video when it had AXS and a single crown. Thanks so much for ruining the competition run magic for me PB. I was trying to just wait and have my mind blown on the day of the event and block out all the lines before hand.
  • 1 0
 John Cowan tried it first at Rampage. Just sayin'
  • 1 0
 3 tokens don't seem enough in slow-mo
  • 1 0
 I can barely tailwhip a strider bike. Unreal.
  • 1 0
 So smooth, he makes it look easy!
  • 2 1
 Huh how!?!?!?
  • 1 0
 see his bike check, custom 190mm ZEB, AXS drivetrain and enough brake line to spin.
  • 3 0
 @goldmund: I know that I was just saying like wow that’s crazy and the first at rampage!
  • 2 1
 Every one else go home
  • 1 0
 Sick!
  • 1 0
 Unbelievable. The end.
  • 1 0
 DIALED !
  • 1 3
 He will truly be remembered as the man that finally made 'the case' a trick
  • 2 4
 Congrats on landing the world's first tail whip. Can't wait to see where tricks progress too next.
  • 1 3
 And they say he ran awaaaaay... Brandon!
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