The 23-year-old mountain biker from Nelson, B.C., is one of the youngest women ever to receive an invite to Red Bull Rampage, the sport’s most iconic and intimidating event. For Van Horne, the invite is still sinking in.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a weird one because for so long I was like, oh, I’m sure that will never happen,” she said. “Then the girls were in Rampage and I was like, OK, now it’s a thing… Definitely a dream.”
Wildcards, work and the long road to Rampage
Van Horne didn’t apply for Rampage last year. Instead, she showed up with a shovel. As a digger for Vaea Verbeeck in 2023. She got her first real taste of the terrain, the pressure and the intensity of the desert venue.
“It was such a good opportunity,” she said. “I was able to see how the event worked and it got me pretty fired up.”
This year, her path to Rampage included a last-minute wildcard entry to New Zealand’s MST freeride event and a surprise invite to Hardline Wales.
“It was insane,” she said of Hardline. “I had just got a new bike and had four days on it before casually rocking up at Hardline Wales. I did everything besides four features, so I was pretty happy with how I approached it.”
Just a few days later, the invite came.
“I got an email from Todd Barber while I was driving back to Nelson. It was what I imagine people feel like when they get accepted into university. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”
One of the youngest riders invited
Van Horne joins a growing but still exclusive list of women invited to Rampage. At 23, she’s one of the youngest, second only to 19-year-old American Janelle Soukop.
“It’s quite cool,” she said. “Janelle was also the other female to get the wild card invite to NST. It kind of feels like we’re moving up together.”
From gorge gaps to gym sessions
Preparing for Rampage is a unique challenge. Van Horne is drawing on everything she has. From her shuttle laps in Nelson and jump sessions at Gorge Road, she’s hitting everything to get prepared.
“Backwoods at Coast Gravity is a big one,” she said. “Last year I rode the first one on my dirt jumper. This year, I want to ride it on my big bike.”
She’s also hoping to work on tricks like Indians airs, but admits that progression takes time.
“That would be the dream,” she said. “Whether that’s feasible to get locked in on dirt in the next month and a bit, I’m not sure. But hopefully next year I’d have longer to really dial it…
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