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Don’t Try This Anywhere: Robbie Maddison Attacks Utah Olympic Park

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It is not likely that you can ride like Robbie Maddison, but watching this video should get your juices flowing … the power and grace of a big single cylinder supermoto under one of the world’s best riders. Maddison set a jump record where he launches off the Olympic ski jump ramp, traveling a distance of 374 feet together with a vertical drop of 185 feet (18-1/2 stories).

50 Comments

  1. Gary says:

    Real men jump Sportsters.

  2. Tom says:

    Meh. Now if he’d a done that jump on an ole skool CR 500 or KX 500 then we’d beez talkin.

    • FNFAL says:

      Good rider…but true that. The year was 1982 and I was 16 on the CR480R…and you would not be caught dead with a thumper at the track. The luge thingy kinda reminds me of that James Bond movie too. My I’m show’in my age…lol.

    • Ian says:

      I’m sure an ole skool five hundy would have handled this just fine, it’s a pretty smooth looking landing.

  3. clasqm says:

    New item on bucket list: “Do NOT ride motorcycle off ski ramp”

  4. Gutterslob says:

    The Skullcandy logo in the beginning wasn’t nice to look at (I’m a bit of a headphile, and Skullcandy is just as awful sounding as Beats) but the rest of it was good. Is it an outright record, or a record for a motorcycle?

    • clasqm says:

      Well, if you want to try it in a car, be our guest!

      • Gutterslob says:

        I meant did he he jump further than the best ski-jumpers?

        I’m not all that familiar with winter sports, but those ski-jump comps I’ve seen on the tele – the jumpers always seem to land close to the base of the hill, whereas he seemed to land a bit further back.

        • mickey says:

          According to wikipedia the record for a ski jumper is 809 feet by a Norwegian…a bit further than Robbies 374 feet.

          • guu says:

            Its not possible to jump further from that hill than the olympic skiers do. I you did, you would land on the flat and die.

            That’s a “big hill” as far as ski jumping goes. There’s a category of hills that’s much larger: the fly hills. World record is now Johan Remen Evensen’s 246.5 meters or 809 feet as mickey wrote. About 30 athletes have jumped one or more jumps over 230 meters (755 feet).

  5. Jdilpkle says:

    I do that on my Buell every time I ride – and I’m 59 with one leg, blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other. Almost forgot – while facing backwards.

  6. Norm G. says:

    i suppose when I was younger all this would’ve seemed quite reasonable…? I forget that I used to BE the kid who would push the envelope and do crazy sh!t like this (not on this scale obviously) but we would’ve been doing it without helmets…!

    it’s amazing how the passage of time brings into perspective one’s own mortality. LOL

  7. Mike says:

    He was never in any danger. Obviously his balls are bigger than deployed airbags!

  8. Vrooom says:

    They show the ski jump in On Any Sunday TNC, that is just frightening. Wish I could ride like that, but so I imagine do most people. The guy is crazy talented.

  9. GT says:

    This is probably one of the safer jumps he’s done. By design a ski jump hill has the jumper follow the trajectory of the hill so your almost always above your landing ramp. (ie no gap to come up short)

  10. Ian says:

    Pretty cool stuff, shows off some different skills. This Guy is fearless, and very impressive. Looking forward to the new “On Any Sunday” movie, should be great with the latest video equipment!!

  11. takehikes says:

    Big deal, I could do that. I wouldn’t survive it, but I could do it! Amazing!!!!

  12. Tom H says:

    Saw that this is part of “On Any Sunday – The Next Chapter” that was supposed to be released on November 7th. First that I heard about the movie. Going to have to do some google searching.

  13. GKS says:

    Anyone else notice the bike change after the luge run?
    Also, if I remember correctly, the ski jumpers were landing a bit further down the hill. That’s what aerodynamic lift will do for you. Plus, I certainly wouldn’t want to overjump and land on the flat. Not that you would catch me doing this jump ! But I would love to try the luge run.

    • mickey says:

      got some knobbier tires

    • Provologna says:

      No.

      I did notice, upon the jump landing, the rear suspension certainly appeared to bottom, however many inches travel was available prior the landing. The bottoming appeared to almost cause a crash, and I think it would have crashed with a small percentage greater vertical landing force. It appears that from catching air to the landing, his concentration steadily increases, reaching fever pitch as he hits the ground and bike shakes violently.

      Unless the bike includes gyroscope and indicator, which it well might, I have no idea how he maintains azimuth, less idea how he determines ideal fore/after angle while airborne (bike in air vs. ground with unknown and unknowable relative slope), and even less idea how he adjusts fore/aft angle while airborne.

      If nothing else, this proves the potential magnitude and quality of human computing and sensory power. Next time some naive geek boasts about modern robot capabilities, show him this video and ask him how close can a robot get to this guy’s feet.

      • GKS says:

        The fore/aft attitude (pitch) of the motorcycle can be adjusted with the throttle and rear brake while in mid-air. Accelerating the rear wheel will cause the rear wheel to drop, while decelerating (braking) will cause the raise the rear wheel. Motocross and supercross riders use this technique to adjust the bike’s attitude for landing jumps. Just before Robbie Maddison lands you can see him drop the rear wheel, likely he was accelerating to match ground speed as well.

  14. Hot Dog says:

    Wow! I thought I was special when I jumped the curb, guess I’m not worthy. This guy is nuts!

  15. Lenz says:

    Some serious berms on that luge. If Evel K. was still kickin I’m sure he’d shake Mr Maddison’s hand – that jump was awesome !

    Apparently Robbie Maddison and Laird Hamilton(huge wave surfer) have both had a third testicle added after their birth ……..

  16. Starmag says:

    No fear. Quite mad. I’m sure even Evel would be jealous.

    On another note, what’s up with the guy dressed as one of the girls? Who exactly is Skullcandy appealing to with this guy? Are hippie cross dressers an untapped headphone segment?

    • MGNorge says:

      Don’t know who he is but I guessed he was just messin’ with the ladies.

    • dino says:

      Maybe he is a Stunt Double for tricks that the ladies just wouldn’t do??

      Funny, and disturbing, all at the same time!

    • Ed says:

      Evel would think he’s a sissy. You try it on an old Harley with 3″ of suspension travel (on a good day it had that much).

      • Starmag says:

        You may be right, Evel was known to be an egotist and cranky, I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. By that measure then Evel was a sissy for not doing jumps using a hardtail.

  17. Norm G. says:

    a friend of mine showed me this last week. think it was making the rounds on the FaceTube or something. I was fortunate enough (or maybe it was unfortunate) to watch it with no warning of what he was building up to. when he got to bobsled track, I thought oh isn’t he clever (eat your heart out Pastrana) and figured the video would end soon after. not so much.

    when he got to the top of the ski jump I thought I was going to puke. by definition they’re already designed to use gravity to launch a human body a million friggin’ miles into the air. you want to add the weight of an MX bike, the power of engine, and the spring force from 12 inches of travel into the equation…?

    how do you even practice for something like that, other than doing EXACTLY that…?

    • mickey says:

      if you stop it at 2:07 and look at the ramp, it appears he had 4 practice jumps before the one they filmed

      • dino says:

        I noticed the same marks… I think that is something I would do ONCE (Maybe…).

        Once.

        The Luge track looked like fun, but one wrong move would be very painful I’m sure… I could almost do this now (plenty of snow and berms in Minnesota lately!!!). Too bad I don’t have the Skullcandy ladies to cheer me on! Have to settle for the Blowmaster Parka company (not as good lookingin their puffy garb)

  18. Tommy See says:

    He jumped off a hotel roof in Vegas couple years ago New Years eve. Holy Shitski ! 100 feet down before hitting the ramp! My heart was pounding. No Fear Robbie Maddison ….

  19. Brinskee says:

    Outstanding in ever way. I want a supermoto so bad I can taste it! Might take a while to get those skills though…

  20. Karlsbad says:

    SWEET11111

  21. Krisd says:

    Crazy Aussie!

  22. Provologna says:

    I live not far from this jump. I would not believe this without seeing the video. I felt woozy watching it, like the blood drained from my head. This is one of the most shocking videos I’ve seen. Thanks!

    Useless business trivia Re. Skullkandy: One of my trade journals posted that Beats By Dr. Dre (headphones brand) grossed more than the entire remaining high end audio industry combined last year. Can’t remember the number, maybe over $2B.

    • Tom K. says:

      You live in some beautiful country for sure. My mom (now in her 90’s) grew up in Park City, but that was when no one that lived there had two sticks to rub together, her dad worked for the mines as a timberman. I attempted to hike up to Francis Peak (the radar towers) this past May, starting from Fernwood Recreation Area near Layton. Turned back well before I hit the top, and I’m still waiting for my big toenail to fall off (inappropriate shoes, all my weight was on my toes on the way down). I’d do it again in a minute, though, I sure do love that place. I rode the “mountain coaster” many years ago, before the Olympic Village, couldn’t imagine doing it on a bike. The thought of being able to control fear the way this guy does, is unimaginable.

      • Provologna says:

        During the summer the winter lifts carry “downhill” bicyclists up, then they fly down with 6″ suspension (a lot for a 40 lb bike).

        A local car salesman told me this story (he rides street bikes, I prefer mountain bikes). Some bicyclists visited him from the NE at sea level. It’s 4900 feet elevation where I live, higher in Park City.

        He knocks on a big wood desk and says his visitors are “like this,” competitive racers. While visiting they all went for a ride. In a short time his guests were gasping for air. He blew them away.

        Same thing happened when my friend visited from California. He could hardly pedal.

        It’s gorgeous here, but you gotta learn to love snow!

        • mickey says:

          I hate snow. I’ve been forced off my bike the last 2 days because of that crap. I may get out today but there are still some icy stretches on my road. I think I may be able to ride over them if I take it slow and easy. I could not live where there was a lot of snow on the ground for a long time.

          If I were this guy I’d just jump over them, non are more than 300 feet long lol

  23. Martin says:

    Awesome jump, but I liked the luge part better.

  24. mickey says:

    The riding was just awesome..the jump was just nuts. People who have not seen a 90 meter ski jump in person just don’t realize how incredibly high they are. first time I saw one I was shocked that anybody would strap slick boards to their feet and push off at the top. Riding down amd off that on a motorcycle is beyond my comprehension.

  25. jimmihaffa says:

    Style points deduction for no telemark landing. Oh wait it’s a motorcycle, never mind.

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