For Canadian fans, Kirsten Van Horne was the story of Red Bull Rampage. On Thursday, the B.C. racer finessed the burly Utah cliffs to float onto her first Rampage podium, finishing third behind three-time winner Robin Goomes.

It wasn’t just Van Horne’s riding that stood out. Flashes of sparkling marble on her frame caught the bright desert sunlight and her sky-blue helmet stood out on camera. Those are both the work of another Canadian very quickly building an international reputation behind the scenes: Dylan Forbes. Forbes also painted Goome’s winning helmet as well as a series of bikes for this year’s Rampage for 2025 winner Hayden Zablotny.

To find out the story behind Van Horne’s Rampage podium kit, we talked to Forbes about what went into the designs.

The Helmet: Stained glass built for sending huge hits

“Kirsten wanted to keep the mountains as a main theme this year, but keep it within the blue tones,” Forbes says.  ‘I’ll be honest, I struggled with this one at first. She was sending me reference photos of the colours she had in mind, and then something clicked… stained glass!”

The result is a stunning look, with the mountains and skies of Van Horne’s B.C. interior home laced together by streaks of gold.

“This has to be one of my favourite paint jobs I did for Rampage this year. I’m so stoked with how it turned out, and even happier that Kirsten loves it too,” Forbes says.

If there’s one silver lining to not being a Red Bull sponsored athlete, it’s got to be the complete freedom to get custom paint work like this. Better than another boring bull any day.

The Bike: Marble simplicity

As if the stunning helmet wasn’t enough Van Horne rolled into Rampage on an unmarked, marbled white frame. Instead of hiding the lack of a sponsor, the Canadian’s decided to highlight it.

“The bike was a different story. Kirsten didn’t have a bike sponsor leading into Rampage this year, so she wanted to keep it simple with a plain white bike, no logos,” explains Forbes, adding with a laugh “I had to do a little convincing to get the white marble in there. I think it was worth it!”

Hopefully after her success in Utah, Van Horne will need to get Forbes to paint up a new frame. Someone sign Van Horne, now.

Van Horne, right, with another of Forbes’ stunning creations for Goome’s in the foreground. Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Forbes was happy when Van Horne liked his work. But even happier watching his fellow Canadian’s incredible performance in the desert.

“She went out and absolutely crushed it! Her riding was so smooth, linking together different tricks all the way down the mountain. Unreal to watch, and I couldn’t be happier to see all her hard work pay off,” says Forbes. “After the event, Kirsten messaged me saying, “The helmet and bike didn’t get scratched!!! Great success!”I told her I wasn’t too worried about the bike or helmet. It’s such a gnarly event and, more than anything, I’m just happy she made it through the week safely.”

“So proud of you, Kirsten,” Forbes added. “I’m stoked to be a small part of the journey and see you up on that podium! 3RD PLACE AT RAMPAGE. LET’S GO, CANADA!”