Athlete Profile

Colby Raha: Preps For Takeoff At X Games Ventura

By Nicole Dreon

Built From Scratch

Few people outside the world of freestyle motocross knew who Colby Raha was in the spring of 2017. He was working two jobs but still broke as a joke, pouring dollars earned swinging hammers into his love of freeriding.

“I was literally sleeping in my truck,” Raha remembers. That’s when X Games came calling, inviting Colby to be part of a brand-new discipline -- Moto X QuarterPipe High Air -- at XG Minneapolis. Raha had no sponsors (the Metal Mulisha picked him up right before X Games) and zero cash.

“It’s not like there’s money to be made until you win,” Colby says. Raha solved that problem, taking a surprise gold medal at his first X Games. He’s gone on to become the most successful athlete in the discipline’s history, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy. Raha wouldn’t have it any other way.

X Games California 2023

Fast-forward to X Games California 2023. Eleven days before the contest, Colby dislocated his right shoulder for “probably the 50th time.” The shoulder had become so unstable in recent years that just reaching under his seat or yawning could dislocate it. “It was a crazy, stressful idea to think my shoulder could pop out at any time,” says Colby.

Knowing surgery would prevent him from competing, Raha postponed the procedure until after X Games. To get through the event, his doctor showed Colby and his then fiancé (now wife), Kate, how to tape his shoulder -- and it was tight. “I called it my T-Rex arm,” he laughs.

He couldn’t lift his arm, but he could still twist a throttle. Because of his walk-off gold at X Games 2022, Raha ran last in the start order. When it came time for his final run, the very last run of the contest, he was almost three feet shy of Corey Creed’s 55 feet, 7 inches, which was a new height record in QuarterPipe High Air. It seemed out of reach. How could he possibly come up with another 3 feet? Raha says he knew he had more in the tank.

“I kind of just sat there to see where I was at,” says Colby. “And then, of course, on the last run, I knew what I needed to do and I sent it. I just did what I had to do to win. I’m willing to risk crashing to win, and I think that’s what separates me.”

Raha somehow found three and a half more feet, notching a 56-foot, 3-inch mark that edged Creed by 8 inches. Including the 18-foot-tall takeoff ramp, Raha was more than 74 feet above the ground. That’s about 7 stories high! It was Raha’s third walk-off gold in the discipline and 4th QuarterPipe High Air gold overall.

Deeply Dedicated

Colby has emerged as a dominator in a discipline which requires fortitude and fearlessness. But factory rides and private compounds aren’t where Colby gets his grit. Now 29, Colby says his childhood was idyllic early on, but the family fell apart.

He moved out of the house at age 14 and was on his own for most of his teenage years, living with friends. While several of his peers -- rival Axell Hodges included -- gained lucrative sponsorships, Colby literally pounded nails, filming in the hills during his limited free time. He was often on the outside looking in.

He’d hit the road after saving enough money from construction, traveling across the country to cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City and St. Louis. He’d ride wherever, trying to get his name out there. “It was always, ‘Who has a couch, who has a shower,’” Colby says. “I think a lot of kids in action sports do that. If you don’t do that, then you’re not really hustling.”

Raha is always hustling. Since winning that XG Minneapolis 2017 debut, Colby has gone on to collect 11 XG medals, including 6 gold. He’s also picked up more than a dozen sponsors, but that hasn’t changed his attitude or hunger. “I’m still grinding and working as hard or harder than I’ve ever worked to try and win X Games gold,” he says.

He knows it’ll take work to add another title at X Games Ventura 2024, and he feels behind after recovering from injuries. Raha had surgery on his right shoulder immediately following XG California 2023 and was off the bike for nearly 8 months. When he returned, he suffered partial tears to the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his left knee, missing another month. “I’m getting a late start this year,” Colby acknowledges. “I don’t think [Corey] Creed has really stopped hitting quarterpipe since last year. He’s just been posting motivational music and songs and crushing quarterpipe for like the last 9 months straight.”

Congrats To The New Father!

Colby’s world changed on January 10th, 2024, when Kate gave birth to a son, Cannon Jacob Raha. “I’ve always wanted kids,” Coby says. “As soon as I found out that we were having a baby it immediately changed me. Now there’s something more important than myself. I’m thinking way ahead to when our son is older.”

Colby says he and Kate are opposites. She’s a behavioral therapist who excelled at school, he prefers the trades and would rather work with his hands. Together they make a great pair.

Soon, Colby will begin construction on a second home, his “dream” home, in Helendale, California. He’ll build it from the ground up with the help of friends. “I’ve got my crew and it’s weird because everyone’s like, ‘Who are your friends? You seem to stick to yourself.’ My friends don’t care about having huge Instagrams or being pros. They’re fathers with careers in construction, like framing and union electricians. They all ride, and they kill it. They’re better than most of the dudes that ride for money.”

Colby Raha Bio Blast