Quebec City. Helsinki, Finland. Belfast, Ireland. Davos, Switzerland. Moscow, Russia.
And now: Edmonton, Alberta.
Maybe you missed it if you haven’t been paying attention – Edmonton has landed an event this March that puts us among some pretty impressive International company.
For most of us born and or raised and or living in Edmonton who don’t know what Crashed Ice is you might be like, “Damn right there is ice in Edmonton — snow, too. I’ve crashed on it plenty of times. How and why is this news exactly?”
Red Bull Crashed Ice is part of a world tour of Ice Cross Downhill, which means ripping along a track in the middle of the city, over high vertical drops and steep turns.
Competitors race in heats of four with the top two advancing to the next round until a winner is declared or F16s are scrambled because of unidentified bogeys breaking the sound barrier in Canadian airspace. Whichever comes first.
Qualifying events have been going on all around the world in recent months in Saint Paul, Helsinki and Belfast leading up to the finals. And after having been hosted in Quebec City for the past 9 years, the Finals are coming to Edmonton for the first time.
Not too shabby at all.
So the crazy folk from Red Bull are going to be setting up a giant race course in the River Valley like in the videos above and below. Competitors from all over the world will be coming to Edmonton, ready to strap on the blades, suppress the part of the brain that creates fear chemicals and go barreling down the track at top speed.
The track, by the way, is in the River Valley – arguably our nicest part of the city and usually reserved for slower events such as walking at a safe pace, running at half speed or daredevil bench sitting. This will be the biggest event the River Valley has ever seen and easily the most extreme.
Get a load of the camera strapped to this dude if you don’t know what Crashed Ice is all about. It’s pretty awesome.
Think luge except you aren’t lying on your back waiting for the angel of death to carry you away. Think bobsled except you don’t get those cool sleds to gingerly climb into and then presumably sip on bourbon while texting friends in the crowd as you careen down the track.
This is much more extreme than all of that. These cats smash into each other all the way down the ice and go over jumps with all sorts of mayhem.
This is a legitimately big deal, and if you think those fancy pants in Davos aren’t fretting over their 100 Euro lattes about the Canadian city way up North eating their lunch and hosting the finals, you are wrong. Dead wrong.
Now it is hoped that Edmontonians will turn out in full force to cheer on the global field of competitors. They say Saint Paul Minnesota had 140,000 people at their race in 2015 and the extreme sports community will be looking to Edmonton to see how we measure up.
So the event is going to go down on March 14th. Admission is free, you just wander down to the starting point just below the Shaw Convention Centre. Then you are treated to crazy daredevils breaking the sound barrier on their way down a course made of solid ice until a World Champion is declared.
The NationHQ gang will be in attendance and we will be having a hell of a shaker afterwards at one of the many events planned throughout the City.
Believe that.
Follow Red Bull Crashed Ice on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube here. And hopefully we will see you out at the race on March 14th!
FUN!!!
An Article by Wanye? Dreams DO come true!!
Wanye, you’ve clearly never bobsledded…..my whole body was sore for a month afterwards, it is rough.
HOW DARE YOU SIR! I WAS *THIS CLOSE* TO MEDALLING IN LILLEHAMMER
Craig Custance of ESPN:
Surveying 10 agents on the three most commonly listed teams on players no-trade lists:
1. Edmonton (5 first place votes)
2. Winnipeg (4 first place votes)
3. Buffalo (1 first place vote)
4. Ottawa and Toronto (tied).
Other mentions: New Jersey, Florida and Arizona.
Craig Custance loves Crashed Ice.
You forgot to mention something about firing Kevin Lowe!
….. And now for something completely different ……
And now, introducing:
MR. ROBERT GOULET
you forgot river valley parkour! *breaks ankles thinking about parkour*
LOOGIT THEM GUYS FLYIN DOWN THAT ICE HILL!!!!!!
The river valley is designed perfectly for this event. I am so looking forward to this event. Taking my son and wife. It looks like a party. Set up the food vendors and toilets and close the downtown to traffic. bring in some music and things to do for the kids prevent. Get some celebritys.Photo ops. Beer gardens and some other stuff and this crashed Ice will be big. Edmontonians like an Event. This is an Event.I’ll be shilling out my cash.
You mean to tell me there’s an Edmonton sporting event where our city won’t LOSE in embarrassing fashion? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Seriously though, showcasing the river valley is a great idea. Glad to see we can show off our assets.
Oh don’t worry, we’ll find a way!
…what’s the death rate in this “sport”
seen it on TV but always had to turn away…
I’ve seen some pretty extreme Segway tours through the river valley too!!
You got me at the “free” part.
I have several former teammates who are competing in the qualifier event in Belfast this weekend.
We’ve had a few conversations. They usually go like this:
“Calm down. Deep breath. Yes, you’ve gotten in way over your head. Yes, you’ll probably get injured. No, you can’t back out now because that would make you a big chicken. Yes, you might die, but that’ll be awesome, because you’ll die ON TV!”
I like to party
You SOB. Now I have an urge for 6 flags and the venga boys.
*Checks “jam-packed” social calendar. Clouds of dust waft up.*
Yeah, I might be able to shake loose some time that evening.
Will they take a walk up contestant? Just for a test run even. I’ve never broken a bone and want to know what it is like to break multiple.
Just watch a Chinook race through town and wreck everything.
but cool if that doesn’t happen.
You can watch the Crashed Ice track construction unfold by visiting the Shaw Conference Centre’s webpage.
http://shawconferencecentre.com/upcoming-events/red-bull-crashed-ice/
There are 2 cameras that host the feed on specific days based on what is going on. The current stream shows the later half of the track construction as the first 1/3 is pretty much done (Minus the ice).
consider this my RSVP to the post “athletics” SHAKER!!!
Congratulations to Vytas and Aaron on qualifying! And condolences to Nial and Mark for your herniated discs and broken ankle!
Super excited whomever from Edmonton pulled it off to bring this event here. Suck it Calgary!
I’ll be there cheering for sure. Jäger is flask!
Now which one of the Oilers would win crashed ice? There you go baggedmilk for your Monday mailbagged question
There needs to be a Nation Crashed ice race before the main event, lets get Struds, Gregor and Lowetide going down the hill!