I Joined a GANG
The year is 2022. I’ve been in Utah for less than a month now. But i somehow already found myself with a snapped frame, leaving Red Bull Rampage heading to my first Green River Classic. Boy was my life about to change. I heard about this “event” as a fun weekend of camping and riding, and it just so happens to be the weekend after rampage. Meaning A LOT of the best free riders are in the area. So i showed up. More importantly, i showed up without a bike. I had no way to participate in the sessions. Holy shit did that light a fire in me.
For the entire weekend i watched “The Hills Gang” throw the most BANGER party i’ve every been to. And I sat on the side lines with wide eyes and a blown mind. I’ve never seen so many amateurs that looked like pros. These guys were the underground pros. Literally… The guy that won it was Hayden “Zablo” Zablotny. The 2022 GRC King Of The Castle, and now the 2025 Red Bull Rampage Winner…. Woah.
But it wasn’t Hayden’s mindblowing style that caught my eye. It was Aidan Howe. AKA Dan. The fuckin man. This guy is The Hills Gang. He is underground free ride. He is my inspiration. Now i say this because Aidan leads by example. He’s the nicest fella you’d ever met. Funny as hell. With more style than a lot of pros (his torquoise TUES era will go down in history). But he does’t stop there.
Aidan and his brother Asa sacrifice their time and energy for the betterment of the sport. Thats what makes them legends. These brothers and the rest of the gang go all out on putting together the Green River Classic. An event they have built thats not only what everyone calls “the best weekend of the year”, but also a platform for undergroud riders. The riders nobody has heard about, but are worth watchin. The hills hang pulls this off by creating a mutually beneficial platform where riders, photograpghers, videograpghers, editors, and brands can make a name for themselves.
They do this by first building insanly sick features. The format of this event goes like this.
Friday: Blue Castle Hill Bomb. Fastest dude down then face wins.
Saturday: Quarter sesh on one of the biggest free ride quarters out there. Followed by the right and left hip sesh. A little something for everyone. (gotta love waking up hungover Saturday morning and having a 16 foot tall lip for breakfast)
Sunday: Trick Jump Sesh. This ones my favorite. Those who make it to the last day get to sesh a boosty booter of a trick jump, and show off their whole bag of tricks. Only slightly hungover, fatigued, dehydrated, dusty, and sleep deprived from the long desert weekend.
This is where the men are separated from the boys.
Well after making it to the final sesh (still spectating). Hungover and dusty from staying up late, watching people jump the massive fire on their motos, shotgunning beers like their life depended on it, dodging bottle rockets and mortars in the fire, listening to guns firing in the distance, and the most insane ammeter riding i’d ever witnesses.
I realized i was home.
I had found my people. I left my first classic with inspiration and ideas branded into my brain. Setting the tone for the next 4 years of my bike progression.
The hills gang has style.
The first night they premiered their season edit on some sheets draped across a 10 foot tall pallet structure, that they doused in gasoline and set on fire after the movie finished. What a presentation that was. Round of applause. These guys gave me and so many others a community, using their talents to bring as many like minded people together as they could. And in doing so, they not only gave my life direction, but gave me a family.
A Gang.
Thank you Hills Gang.
