Ice cross downhill is the fastest sport on skates. Take some of the best and toughest skaters in the world, a sizzling atmosphere, stunning surroundings, and thousands of square metres of frozen water. The result ? Red Bull Crashed Ice !
The format is simple: four athletes – men or women, race down a 400m track at speeds of up to 70kph with the goal of getting to the end before their rivals. A round of 64 on Finals day becomes 32, then there are quarter-finals, semi-finals and, at last, the final four, with the top three making the final podium. Make sure you don’t miss the opening bout in this season of bruising encounters – crashes guaranteed !
Red Bull Crashed Ice is back, returning to its popular setting in Québec City in Canada, as Scottish skiing legend and Britain’s original Olympic ski medal winner Alain Baxter continues his return to winter sports, this time accompanied by pro freestyle street skater Scott Quinn. Scott, who is also from Scotland, is all set to swap the skate park for the ice track when the electrifying clink of metal to ice heralds the Red Bull Crashed Ice season premiere, as it gets underway for the 2015/16 series.
The Ice Cross Downhill World Championship kicks off its 16th season earlier than ever before with its first stop in Québec City, Canada on November 27-28 and concludes for the first time in the U.S. hot spot of Saint Paul, Minnesota on February, 26-27, 2016. In between the increasingly popular downhill racing on ice skates will move to Europe with the Red Bull Crashed Ice races in Germany (January 8-9) and Jyväskylä-Laajis, Finland (January 29-30). Despite the early start in November, the Québec City track will be in top condition even if there is no snow on the ground and temperatures are not as usual far below zero. Adrenaline, anticipation, and the framework to perhaps the most spectacular man-made course in sport will fill the streets of Quebec City on November 27-28, 2015 as it hosts the season opener. Ice Cross Downhill is fast and physical – and the format is easy to follow: four riders at a time race down the track with the fastest two advancing.
Olympic skiing legend Alain Baxter will be hoping to advance to the latter stages of the competition, as he looks set to build on a strong start to his Ice Cross Downhill career, having competed in Belfast and in Edmonton earlier this year where he got through to the knock out heats, achieving ‘fastest rookie’. Speaking of his involvement in the competition for the first time Alain said ‘I’d never felt that sort of adrenaline since retiring from skiing, and with it being my first event, and not really knowing what’s going on I was so close to qualifying’. Without a couple of crashes last season Baxter is confident he would have been ‘well on his way to progressing right on through’ and is more ready than ever to take on the demands of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championships at Red Bull Crashed Ice this season
Both Alain and Scott will have their work cut out if they are to beat defending champion Scott Croxall of Canada, who will be defending his series title on home soil in the first stage of this season’s Red Bull Crashed Ice competition. With more athletes than ever before now training year round for the frosty but fun-filled races, where the competitors hit speeds of more than 50 km/h while hurtling down massive ice tracks filled with drops, hairpin turns, and gaps.
