Hayden Zablotny’s winning run at Red Bull Rampage 2025 lasted just a few minutes. But the work behind it took years.
That’s the premise of No Turning Back, a new film documenting the Kamloops, B.C. rider’s path to the top step of freeride’s biggest stage. The film premiered online over the weekend. It’s not about crossing the line. It’s about everything that came before it. The digging, the doubt and the decision to keep showing up.
“You want something good, you got to work hard,” Zablotny says early in the film. “It’s going to come with time and it’s going to come with persistence and patience and consistency and just the will and the drive to get there.”
Built, not found
Rampage lines don’t exist until riders create them. That reality sits at the centre of the film.
“Yeah, I think digging is more than 50 per cent of the riding,” Zablotny says. “The reps on digging definitely helped.”
The film work in the Utah desert, shaping a line that would eventually win the event. Features are cut, rebuilt and refined.
“I really wanted to build my own line and have as much of my own line as I could,” he says. “When it actually came down to riding this stuff, the confidence boost that you get from building what you’re going to ride… you know what to expect.”
Kamloops roots, Rampage dreams
Zablotny’s approach isn’t accidental. It’s shaped by where he rides.
“The Loops is known for the terrain… it’s truly one of a kind,” he says. “The energy of being here in Kamloops, where freeride originated… gives me a feeling of courage and happiness.”
That lineage matters. His father, Pete Zablotny, is a Canadian BMX Hall of Famer. But Rampage doesn’t care about pedigree.
As Zablotny proved, it rewards preparation.
“I just worked my ass off and made sure I was as prepared as possible and it paid off,” he said in an interview after the win. “I had fun, too.”
Pressure, crashes and adjustments
The film doesn’t ignore the reality of Rampage. Zablotny’s first run ended in a crash. His second required a reset.
“That top section, I just tried not to think about it,” he said. “I made the decision on which trick to do… just before that jump. It was more of a consistent trick for me… I did it knowing it would work.”
That ability to adapt ultimately defined the run.
“It was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to commit to,” he said of his opening drop, with a 100-foot cliff looming beside it.
A line years in the making
Rampage, for Zablotny, wasn’t a one-week project. It was years of watching, studying and preparing.
“I started to spend all my spare time watching Rampage over and over again,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure I was as prepared as possible.”
More than risk
Rampage often gets framed as a contest of risk. Zablotny sees it differently.
“Winning Rampage takes a lot more than risk,” he said. “It’s a personal choice… how gnarly they want to make it.”
His winning run scored 96.00 balancing difficulty, execution and vision. It wasn’t the wildest line. It was the most complete.
“All the years of wanting to be here and wanting to put a run down just put me into the zone to just get it done,” he says in the film. “The best feeling I think I’ve ever had.”