North of Nightfall

Hi, you've reached Laura Thomson.

Please leave a message, and I'll get back to you

as soon as I can.

Hi, Laura. My name is Darren Berrecloth.

I saw your research up by the North Pole.

It was super fascinating, and I'm curious

if we'd be able to meet up.

I'd love to learn more about the region.

I can't think of a better guy

to kick off this competition.

Darren Berrecloth probably has the most experience

of anybody out here.

Look at this. Darren Berrecloth,

absolutely scorching through the desert.

He's a guy who's pioneered all these new zones.

Cam Zink. This guy is one

of the biggest madmen in the sport.

A rider historically known

to take gigantic steps forward in progression.

Cameron Zink!

The biggest 360 drop in the history of mountain biking.

- Oh! - Yes. He pulled it off!

Back to the top of the course.

This is Carson Storch, the 23-year-old.

This kid, he is here to stay

when it comes to Rampage competition.

Carson Storch, it's time to start looking at him

as a free rider, not just a slopestyle athlete.

Our youngest competitor, Tom van Steenbergen.

- There it is! Oh! - No way!

Such a creative run.

This one could go down in the history books.

- There it is. - Oh, man.

He's going frontways.

Oh, no!

Tom is actually getting to his feet.

As you guys know,

Zink and I have been scouring the planet,

looking for the ultimate zone.

Two years ago, we stumbled across some photos

that a scientist took of a desert island

where you'd least expect it.

After a lot of research, we're pretty darn certain

that we found the zone.

It's a heck of a long way to go.

This is where the North Pole is,

and we're going to be hanging out

- on this island right here. - That's crazy.

There's actually terrain up there to ride

that's worthwhile,

and not only worthwhile,

but, like, might be some of the best riding

I've ever done, ever.

It's just crazy how far it is.

Last summer, me and Zink went up there and scouted it.

How long did it take you to get up here?

- It took seven flights. - Yeah, right?

You know, it's like, that amount of travel,

you could pretty much fly around the whole world.

Every day, we'd get in the plane,

and then we would see something, land,

unsuccessfully get back in the plane,

and then just over, and over, and over,

and we're just getting skunked.

- This place kind of sucks, hey? - Yeah.

It looked a little rocky from up in the plane,

but this is ridiculous.

Break out the shovels!

42 years, and the first time.

Come on, Bill.

- Yeah! - Yeah!

So, it's not like the entire Arctic

is just this wonderland, you know?

That's just one little zone.

Somewhere around here, look for a landing site,

because I think this could definitely be a location

where we come back to.

Me and Zink came around this corner

with the plane, kind of came around Buchanan Lake,

and our eyes were initially drawn

to these big, humongous faces,

and then we ended up landing just below this picture.

These lines here, these will definitely be,

you know, on our biggest hit list.

This is everything I ever dreamed of, in a line

and finding a zone to where it's actually that big.

See, if this was the bottom of the hill here,

at Rampage, Rampage line would probably be around somewhere,

like, around here.

I firmly believe that the sickest lines

on the planet are here.

That all sounds amazing,

but obviously, we're gonna wanna push ourselves

and what if something does happen, like we get hurt?

Ten hours till you get to a decent hospital,

- you know, and... - That's if you, like,

get lucky and you get, like, a scheduled flight out.

Could be taking two, three days.

You just gotta find that balance.

It's, like, how far do you really wanna push it,

like, how far is worth it?

It's gonna be heavy emotionally,

even for you guys, I think,

and I'm sure you can imagine for us

being away from wives and kids.

It's a whole 'nother level.

The scientist who took the photos

of Axel Heiberg Island is Dr. Laura Thomson,

and she's been kind enough to join us and teach us

a little bit about the region.

My work is based on glaciers

in the Canadian High Arctic.

The glacier below that I'm showing

is called White Glacier,

and that's where my work is based.

And that's just one small glacier

on an island with close to 2,000 glaciers.

The geology of Axel is really diverse

across the whole island.

The region that you'll be in

is going to be a lot of sandstones and shales.

Do you know if there's gypsum up there?

Because I remember that's a... that's a random thing

we look for in Utah for, like, zones.

If there's a gypsum mine

- that makes drywall... - Yeah.

...it means there's usually good dirt.

I totally didn't expect that question,

but it's perfect because Axel Heiberg

- is known for its gypsum domes. - Crazy.

Yeah, you can almost predict

where the good terrain will be...

- Yeah. - ...relative to

where the glaciers are

and what the geology is.

So, our work is based in this area here.

This is Expedition Fjord.

And you guys will be cycling

in some canyon lands over here.

So what's your take on us taking bikes

up to the North Pole?

I think it's a great idea.

I think that if you wanted to set up

a long-term bike highway,

I might take some issue with that,

because the tundra is quite sensitive,

but also, I think, especially if you're going down

towards... or just in little chutes,

erosion is happening there anyways.

So, how can we bring back a bigger goal

in terms of, like, bringing awareness?

I think it's really great to be able to share

the Arctic with more people,

because it is really remote, and it is really isolated,

and it is the location of the greatest changes we're seeing

as a response to climate change,

and so just to open everyone's eyes to this,

I think, is really important.

Axel Heiberg Island.

Beautiful, hostile,

and devoid of human life.

How does a landscape like this come to be?

What chain of events have led to a desert

this close to the North Pole?

To answer these questions,

there's a story I have to tell you.

And like most origin stories,

this one starts with an ending.

4.5 billion years ago,

Earth collided with a smaller planet called Theia.

Theia was destroyed, and our moon was formed

from the rubble of the collision.

But more importantly to our story,

it knocked Earth 23.5 degrees off its axis.

Way back then, our planet was just water,

but as time passed, continents emerged,

including our island.

Over billions of years, she transformed,

moving through five Ice Ages and 11 supercontinents,

including the most recent, Pangaea.

As Pangaea broke apart,

our island began her journey north.

Today, she finds herself near the North Pole.

With the Earth's tilted axis,

the land falls into complete darkness

four months per year.

The frigid temperatures cause the ocean around her to freeze,

limiting the amount of precipitation.

The result: A desert island on top of the world,

4.5 billion years in the making,

just waiting to be explored.

So, we're about a month away from the Arctic,

and we decided to meet up here on the island

to just see how the crew jives together and whatnot.

You got it, same speed, same pop.

You're not gonna over-rotate.

No.

- Hey, Zink. - Got it.

Yeah. Oh.

Yeah.