Two of the most deserving riders won’t get a chance to drop in for the women’s competition at Red Bull Rampage this week. Canada’s Casey Brown and Vaea Verbeeck both sustained injuries in crashes during a windy practice Tuesday. Neither will be able to continue their week in Utah.
UPDATE [10/28/26]: Casey Brown returns home for multiple surgeries
After being airlifted off the Red Bull Rampage course, Casey Brown made her way back to Canada to start her recovery. That meant a 20 hour drive with a broken leg from Utah to Banff, Alberta. Once in Canada, Brown had three surgeries to repair damage from her huge crash during practice at the free ride event.
Brown shared in her update that “My tibial plateau had been crushed by my femur and needed to be rebuild and plated.” That’s in addition to a torn meniscus and PCL from the leg hyper extending during the crash. Brown and doctors also took the opportunity to remove a what she describes as “A chunk of bone” in her ankle and removed a clavicle plate from a prior injury.
“My love goes out to this sport and everyone who’s on a healing journey from Rampage,” the Canadian free ride pioneer shared in closing.
Brown is one of the driving forces behind getting women into Rampage at all. The 34-year-old B.C. rider has led the progression of women’s free ride for years, gaining entry to events like Proving Ground, hosting her own event – Dark Horse – in Revelstoke, and helping create Red Bull Formation, the pre-cursor to the women’s competition at Red Bull Rampage.
Brown was airlifted off the Rampage course on Tuesday after a crash during practice. The Canadian posted a brief update to fans, saying “Luckily I only have a broken tibial plateau, no drama.”
Verbeeck, also a leading force in progressing the women’s free ride movement, crashed Tuesday as well. The Canadian had checked off the feature that took her out of Formation in 2022.
Verbeeck got slightly off line, sending her slamming hard into the red Utah dirt (er, rocks). The result is a broken collarbone, two broken ribs and a pneumothorax.
Vaea Verbeeck is heading back to Rampage—and bringing the next generation with her
“This line was going to be really fun and I am bummed to miss out on the fun,” Verbeeck updated after her crash. “I’ll be up watching my gals though cuz there are lots of cool lines up there. Just another bump on this crazy road.”
Verbeeck finished fourth at Red Bull Rampage in…
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