Take enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, freeze it onto a steep and narrow jump-filled downhill track laden with obstacles, and then bring the world’s fastest, fearless skaters together to race down the specially built slope in front of ecstatic crowds in four at-a-time heats — in all-out fights to the finish where only the two fastest advance to the next round.
That is the essence of Ice Cross Downhill, which in the 17 years since it was created has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing winter sports. Athletes from more than 25 countries and six continents take part in races ranging from the center of major cities such as Marseille, France to Alpine or Finnish ski resorts on man-made ice tracks of up to 630 meters in length with frightening vertical drops.
Around 400 male and female athletes take part in the #redbullcrashedice races and the Riders Cup races that make up the #icecrossdownhillworldchampionship – a nine-race world tour that is being staged in six different countries this season: Austria, France, Finland, Russia, the United States and Canada. On top of that, there is a new Junior World Championship for racers from 16-20 this season. A women’s world championship was introduced in 2015. “Having a world tour now has really pushed the development of the women’s #competition,” said Amanda Trunzo, an American from Minnesota who is leading the women’s championship at the midway point. “It’s really helped the sport grow because so many of us are training in the off-season to become so much better.”
The rough and tumble sport, filled with bone-jarring action, has attracted an enthusiastic global following tracking the athletes from places as different and far apart as Japan, Australia and Finland, Austria, Germany and France along with the United States and Canada – and even Chile and Morocco.
“Ice Cross Downhill is special because it’s so unique and it’s not like anything most #people have ever seen before,” said American Cameron Naasz, the reigning world champion who hails from Minnesota. “I just love the adrenaline rush of racing and competing on wild downhill tracks in front of 100,000 #people.”
In Ice Cross Downhill, athletes race down the obstacle-filled ice track four-at-a-time at speeds of up to 82 km/h. The first two advance to the next round as the field is whittled down from 128 to a final 4 in the #extreme test of stamina, conditioning and exposure to the elements.
A former hockey player and all-round athlete, Naasz joined the sport as a walk-on at the first Saint Paul race in 2012 and has become one of the most successful racers of all time with six career Red Bull Crashed race wins. “It’s a blend of all the sports I’ve ever competed in rolled into one,” he added, referring to hockey, skiing, snowboarding, and riding skate parks. Another American, Maxwell Dunne, is leading the championship this year at the midway point after coming to the sport as an All-American decathlete.
The sport has become incredibly competitive over the years with the top 10 to 15 athletes training full-time. Reflecting the intensely fought battles, no one has managed to win back-to-back championships. Naasz is hoping to become the first. Over the last six years there have been ferocious title fights going down to the final heat of the final race of the season. The past world champions were Scott Croxall (CAN) in 2015, Marco Dallago (AUT) in 2014, Derek Wedge (SUI) in 2013, Kyle Croxall (CAN) in 2012, Arttu Pihlainen (FIN) in 2011 and Martin Niefnecker (GER) in 2010.
The four #redbullcrashedice races on the calendar each year represent the “major events” on the world tour with enormous crowds and elaborately built tracks on scaffolding or natural ice. The winner of the #redbullcrashedice races get 1,000 points and less amounts of points are awarded all the way down to 125th place . Besides those races, there are also five Riders Cup races in the championship, in which the winner gets 250 points and the rest of the field gets ¼ as many points as at the major #redbullcrashedice stops. The Riders Cup races are staged on natural ice track courses often created by active and former athletes.
“The sport has really developed over the last few years and we’ve got more and more world-class athletes pushing the sport forward,” said Christian Papillon, the #redbullcrashedice sporting director. He said the top 10 athletes now earn enough to devote their lives full time to the sport while the top 60 are able to earn enough to take part in the #icecrossdownhillworldchampionship tour.
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