Crashed Ice (full official name: ''

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

Crashed Ice'') is a world tour in the

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

extreme sporting event, ''

ice cross downhill Ice cross downhill, (formerly known as Red Bull Crashed Ice, is a winter extreme sporting event which involves direct competitive downhill skating on a walled track featuring sharp turns and high vertical drops. Ice cross downhill is similar ...

'' (or downhill ice cross), which involves downhill

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice Skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

in an urban environment, on a track which includes steep turns and high vertical drops. Racers speed down the course's turns, berms, and jumps. Competitors, having advanced from one of the tryouts in the prior months, race in heats of four skaters, with the top two advancing from each heat. The event was renamed, "

Ice cross downhill Ice cross downhill, (formerly known as Red Bull Crashed Ice, is a winter extreme sporting event which involves direct competitive downhill skating on a walled track featuring sharp turns and high vertical drops. Ice cross downhill is similar ...

" after the 2019 season. The series was created and is managed by energy drinks company

. It is similar to

ski cross Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often cons ...

and

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

, except with

ice skates Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...

on an ice track, instead of skis or snowboards on a snow track. Racers are typically athletes with a background in

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, however competitors from the sports of

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

and

ringette Ringette is a contact sport, non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using Ice skates#Ice hockey skates, ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a #Equipment, blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice ...

have also competed with great success, such as from Finland's national ringette team, who also played in Canada's

National Ringette League The National Ringette League (NRL), ''(french: Ligue Nationale de Ringuette, LNR)'', is the premier sports league for the sport of ringette in North America and Canada's national league for elite ringette players aged 18+. All of the NRL's eli ...

, and

Jasper Felder Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, a bandy player who became an ice cross downhill seven-time single event winner. As a

player, Felder represented the

United States national bandy team United States national bandy team has been taking part in the Bandy World Championships since 1985, being the first nation to join apart from the four teams which had so far participated in almost all the world championships; the Soviet Union, Sw ...

, while in ice cross downhill, represented

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

while equipped with ice hockey gear. Felder was first in the single-event in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, and twice in 2004.

Single event winners

World championship era

From 2010 onwards a points system was introduced. After the season, the skater with the most points is crowned the world champion. Points are awarded to the top 100 racers. Points are awarded starting with 1000 for the winner, after that 800, 600, 500 and decreasing to 0.5 for place 100. For the 2015 season, the Riders Cup events were instituted. The events were designed to make the sport more accessible to more skaters. For these events, skaters can earn up to 25% of the points that the main events are awarded, with percentages decreasing with each placing. Meaning that the winner receives 250 points, which is 25% of the main event 1000 points and it decreases to 1% of the main event points for the 64th finisher, who receives 2.5 points. Any placings 65th and beyond do not score any points. As well, a new wrinkle was added to the overall championship called the "throw out" rule. If a competitor competes in all of the stops, up to a maximum of 12 events in future years, the lowest main event score and the lowest Riders Cup score will be thrown out. This will give the skater an adjusted score for the overall championship. Thus, meaning that it is in the skater's best interest to compete in all events.

Individual Competition

2016 World Championship

2017 World Championship

2018 World Championship

2019 World Championship

Men's competition

2010 World Championship

2011 World Championship

2012 World Championship

2013 World Championship

2014 World Championship

2015 World Championship

Team Competition

2013 Team Challenge World Championship

2014 Team Challenge World Championship

2015 Team Challenge World Championship

Women's competition

2015 Women's World Championship

Gallery

Image:RBCI 01.jpg, Start of a race in 2008 Image:P quebecCity2007 4.jpg, A turn in the track in Quebec, 2007 Image:P quebecCity2008 5.jpg, 4 racers in Quebec, 2008 Image:P quebecCity2008 4.jpg, Close racing, Quebec, 2008 File:Crashed Ice Québec 2011.jpg, 4 racers in Quebec, 2011

References

Red Bull’s Headlong Frozen Dash Is a Crash Course in Marketing, By Matt Higgins, New York Times, March 3, 2007

Red Bull Crashed Ice returns to Quebec City, by Melissa Halarides, The Concordian, March 7, 2007

A Downhill Ice Course, Full Hockey Gear and the Need for Speed, Market Wire, August 2006

Crashed Ice: Le parcours de l'an dernier gonflé aux stéroïdes, by Ian Bussières, Le Soleil, January 25th 2008, P. 8 & 9

External links

Official site
{{Red Bull Red Bull sports events Ice skating Recurring sporting events established in 2001