Built on the Back of Adversity

Chelsea Kimball's "Desert Days" Proves The Will To Ride Is Strong Among Women Freeriders

Words by Alex Butler / Photos by Re Wikstrom

Southwestern Utah's towering, castle-like mesas have been the arbiter of freeride mountain biking immortality for over 20 years. The sandy spines and sheer cliffs have been the proving grounds that either chew up riders and spit them back down to Earth or elevate them to being the stuff of legend. For as long as riders have been making the pilgrimage to the desert, be it for Red Bull Rampage or for the need to prove their mettle, it has largely had the reputation of being a boys club.

One of the co-founders of Rampage even infamously said in a 2018 interview, "While women aren't prohibited from competing, there simply hasn't been a woman who can ride Rampage terrain the way the men can." That quote alone says plenty about what women have had to face just to get a foot in the door of this unforgiving playground.

So, when Red Bull announced they would be hosting a women's progression event in 2019 spearheaded by Katie Holden called Formation, it felt like things were finally swinging in their favor. But, this year after three increasingly successful years of that event, Red Bull pulled the plug, leaving riders wondering what this meant for the future of women's freeride.

Chelsea Kimball was one of those athletes left in the lurch. The prominent up-and-coming freerider had ridden the previous two Formation events and was one of many riders anticipating the next iteration. When she heard the news of Formation's cancellation, she immediately began preparing to launch something - anything - in its place. Six months later, her vision came to fruition - Desert Days.

Desert Days was a gathering, a grassroots amalgamation of women freeriders with an open invitation to any women wanting to come down and build upon the foundation Formation left behind. Initially, there was set to be a fairly solid showing but riders were understandably demoralized by the disbanding of Formation.

Then, the news around Rampage erupted.

There was never an explicit green light that women would be invited to the event in 2023, but the writing was on the wall that it was about time. And with the cancellation of Formation, many thought that would be the case.

Well, it was not. The Rampage announcement came out and it was, again, all men. It was at that point that the rallying cry went out. Women from all over North and South America began to see Desert Days as an imperative and a show of strength for the female mountain bike community.

The cast of riders answering the call came from far and wide: Kat Sweet - the mind behind the PNW's Sweetlines and Sugar Showdown - and Cami Noguiera, an Argentinian up and comer living in Colorado, Micayla Gatto, Kaia Jensen, and Blake Hansen all made it a priority to be there, and a whole crew of Chilean freeriders even came up north just for this.

What was arguably more impressive, though, was the willingness to take considerable measures to travel by women who had not necessarily had a stake in Formation or a goal of honing their craft for Rampage. For instance, Tania Lillak traveled last minute from Boston to Utah for the gathering. Tania is 52 years old and Desert Days, for her, was about growing the community and inspiring women of all ages to keep riding and keep pushing for progression.

On the other end of the spectrum was Kaia Jensen. Her trip to the desert was as much fueled by supporting the community as it was to push her freeriding on the harsh terrain. She is a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham and made an exception from her usual rule about sticking around home during the school year because she felt so compelled to show out for the event.

It was fortuitous that she made that exception. Not only was Desert Days a riding progression session, it was also full of women who knew how to deal with the business end of the action sports world. In addition to Jensen ticking off a number of tricks and features that were on par with the Rampage riders and their teams leading up to the event, she also was able to parlay that progress into a paid sponsorship.

Making it in the world of freeride alone is a daunting task. Sponsors are much less interested in supporting athletes who aren't racing and the pool of riders who get the level of exposure necessary to warrant well-paying contracts is basically limited to Rampage-caliber riders. Women freeriders are left fighting for the scraps with considerably fewer opportunities for exposure and much less bargaining power.

Jensen getting this deal marks a major step forward in the fight to prove women are equally worthy of sponsorship dollars and serves as a beacon of hope for the younger generation hoping to make freeride mountain biking their livelihood.

As the dust settles on the annual end-of-season Utah festivities and all the riders return home from their pilgrimage, a few takeaways still stand out. One: Women want to ride. If this year's Rampage, the backlash around its exclusivity, and the subsequent tour de force that was Desert Days is any indication, it's that women have waited long enough for a seat at the table and are no longer asking nicely for one to open up.

Two: All it takes to see exponential growth in women's freeride is a community and a platform to progress on. Desert Days was a catalyst for so much growth in women's freeride that even despite an uncertain future, it has broken down the barrier of the gatekept southern Utah freeride scene and shown women that there is a place for them there.

As for the future of Desert Days specifically, Chelsea Kimball wore a lot of hats to pull this off and she certainly went above and beyond for the cause. So much so that she does not think she can put it on again next season. This year's gathering was spur of the moment, all things considered, and came at the cost of Kimball sacrificing time otherwise spent on her own career as a professional freerider.

Whether the Desert Days torch will be carried, Rampage will step up and allow women a place at the event, or something else arises from the ashes of Formation remains to be seen. But, the momentum generated this year from the movement will not quell easily and women's freeride has shown that its only trajectory is upward.