Rampage is changing venue for 2016 and the big news is that it will be bigger and left more natural than in 2015.

The new venue will have fewer man made features and an extra 100 foot of vertical for the riders to work with. This should bring Rampage back to its all-mountain roots.

2015’s event saw the highest standard of riding for any Rampage event so far, but the amount of riders on the hill led to arguments and tension during the build days. The high profile crash of Paul Basagoitia also raised safety concerns from the likes of Cam Zink.

In 2016 there will be just 21 riders allowed on the hill – the top 12 from last year and nine wildcards – so everyone will have more space to build in a safer environment. Each rider will have a two man dig team that has four days to work on their line. After digging, there will be a mandatory rest day and then four days set aside for practice to ensure everyone is comfortable on their line.

The prize money has increased from $100,000 to $200,000 and from what we can gather, every rider will be given a $5,000 budget towards their travel and dig team.

Also controversial last year was the judging that saw Semenuk’s silky smooth run only awarded fourth place and Cam Zink’s huge 360 sixth. This year the judging panel will be made up of former Rampage competitors who should have a more expert opinion on the runs – although it has not been revealed who will be on the panel yet.

Finally wind should be less of a factor this year as riders will be given a two day window in which they can pick the perfect time to drop in for their competition run.

Kurt Sorge, Darren Berrecloth and Cam McCaul seem pretty excited about it anyway, here they are talking about it on a Red Bull Facebook video.

Red Bull Rampage 2015 Top 12 Finishers

1 – Kurt Sorge
2 – Andreu Lacondeguy
3 – Graham Agassiz
4 – Brandon Semenuk
5 – Thomas Genon
6 – Cam Zink
7 – Darren Berrecloth
8 – Brendan Fairclough
9 – Sam Reynolds
10 – Remy Metailler
11 – Kyle Strait
12 – Pierre Edouard Ferry

Rampage will be streamed on October 14.