Alex Volokhov practiced with stoke and style leading up to his eighth year involved in Rampage, and his first-ever riding year. But an injury at a critical moment kept him off the starting platform.
Among all the stories at Rampage 2022, Alex Volokhov’s is one of the best. The British Columbian started as a digger for Kurt Sorge and quickly became his lead builder.
After spending years supporting Sorge’s success, Volokhov got a bid this year — only to see it slip through his fingers at the last moment.
Volokhov hucked one last rehearsal of a big part of his line midway up the mountain with just minutes to go before drop-in. I saw him disappear over a ridge below with a backflip.
He did not make it back up the mountain. He was slated to drop in fifth in the competition, just after Dylan Stark. But race officials announced Volokhov’s withdrawal, and I later confirmed that he suffered an injury at some point during the morning.
Cameron Storch threw big, repeating 360s on drops to score a 77 and hold the lead through the first third of competition. Andreu Lacondeguey played crowd-pleaser with a huge Superman just above the camera well and held second place with a 73.
But Brett Rheeder set a high benchmark halfway through the field with a tight, clean run filled with techy (and attention-grabbing) tail whips for a 90.6.
