As I picked myself up and dusted the ice from my jersey, I knew this would be no easy task.
For the last hour, I watched some of the world’s best at ice-cross-downhill glide down the track, whipping around the turns and soaring through the frigid Minnesota air during time trials. Now it was my turn.
Armed with a hodgepodge of hockey gear, I found myself in the middle of this year’s Red Bull Crashed Ice course in St. Paul – and reevaluating my skill level on a pair of ice skates.
The event, one of the cornerstones of the Red Bull Signature Series – a year-long string of 10 TV events that brings the most exhilarating sports to audiences across the United States – is just one of many ice cross downhill stops in North America and Europe, though with nearly 100,000 spectators, it’s unequivocally the largest. Luckily for me, spectators were scarce during our afternoon practices, otherwise cheers would’ve been replaced by an orchestra of laughter, the likes of which probably could’ve been heard in Minneapolis.
Explaining the sport can be a challenge for those unfamiliar, something athletes like Cameron Naasz (pictured above) are often asked to describe. But at the point in his career, the standout USA athlete has it nailed.
“Everybody has seen snowboard cross, or BMX racing, or something like that, so I mean you just kind of pick whatever sport they’ve seen – if they’ve seen BMX racing, imagine taking that and putting it on a slope,” the 28-year-old Minnesota native explained. “I mean, you’re going down a big ice luge track with jumps, bumps and hairpin turns and it’s a wild ride with four guys at a time.”
Like anything, learning a new sport or skill takes an abundance of time. But I didn’t have time – I had an hour, which was stretched over Crashed Ice’s two-day stint.
Rather than start at the top, a move that would’ve certainly been suicide, I started at the center, a more flat area of the course. Given my lack of knowledge surrounding the sport and the hopes of not taking home a devastating injury, the folks at Red Bull offered up a tutor, former ice cross downhill standout Charlie Wasley.
Wasley, 42, was a big deal in the area, not only because he grew up in the Twin City suburbs but because he played college hockey at the University of Minnesota and was the first big name for the USA in ice cross downhill. While drafted No. 100 overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, Wasley’s other big claim to fame is that he was featured in the 1986 hockey film Youngblood, playing a young version of the title character Dean Youngblood, who was portrayed by Rob Lowe. With such an extensive background, it was clear Wasley was the man to offer the finer points in conquering the course.
But I didn’t conquer the course – far from it. With intermediate skating skills in my repertoire, I spent as much time laying on the ice as I did on my skates. But it was all in good fun. It became clear that this sport required a unique set of skills – and just a little bit of craziness. In the end, I didn’t even attempt a full run due to intimidation. However I improved greatly during my practice time and I learned a ton about the sport over the course of the weekend, thanks to Wasley and current-day athletes.
Me in full gear at the ATSX Ice Cross Downhill World Championship at the Red Bull Crashed Ice in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States on February 4, 2017.
THE BEAUTY OF ST. PAUL
Nestled on the Mississippi River, St. Paul combines the quaintness of a small town with the beauty of vintage architecture, among many other attributes. Perhaps the city’s most recognizable architectural feature is the Cathedral of Saint Paul, which overlooks downtown and the surrounding area. While it’s an important fixture for the Roman Catholic Church, it’s a sight that’s become synonymous with ice cross downhill. In 2012, Crashed Ice made its debut in St. Paul, using the cathedral’s brilliant and iconic look as a backdrop for the track’s starting line – the event has returned to that spot every year since.
The church even serves as a locker room for some of the athletes — though I must say, it was kind of odd getting prepared for the course in what felt like a small waiting room. But don’t worry, it’s not sacrilegious, as the church fully condones the event – as long as course construction doesn’t take place until after the Christmas holiday.
The partying doesn’t get too close to the church either, since the pre-race and post-race events happen blocks away, as Red Bull shuts down a main stretch of town and adds music, televisions and more to the curb to make sure fans get the ultimate experience both near the ice and away from the ice.
AS COLD AS ICE
When driving through the city in early winter, it’s difficult to miss the cathedral and the mountainous course in front of it, but putting together such an elaborate setup is certainly no easy task. To build the 1,200-foot, 12-story course takes approximately a month leading up to the event and the amount of equipment necessary for the entire structure is mind-boggling – 250,000 feet of pipes, eight truckloads of steel, 650 sheets of plywood and 30,000 liters of water, among other equipment.
From beginning to end, there’s about 12,000 hours of work necessary to construct the ice slope, along with a slew of people on hand during the event to assure there’s no issues with the structure or the surface. At a moment’s notice, they’re ready to hop over the boards to pick up debris, repair damage to the wall, or ensure the ice surface has no problems. The ice is maintained routinely, though not as often as a National Hockey League game, considering it gets just as much use. There is no zamboni, since it couldn’t fit on the track, but instead the crew uses water and squeegees to smooth out the surface.
According to the folks at Red Bull, the course could still be used in up to 55 degree weather, though it would make for much slower, more interesting, heats during the event – the fans might like it but the riders would certainly not, since it would create an even more daredevil-like approach.
THE BOND OF A BROTHERHOOD
For the athletes, the season is two months long and requires some traveling. It’s broken down into four Red Bull Crashed Ice races and five Riders Cups, which were created to make the sport more accessible worldwide, giving young athletes an introduction and the opportunity to compete. But these athletes didn’t get into ice cross downhill with the hopes of striking it rich, no they got into it for the love of the sport – the love of speed, the hunger for adrenaline and the thrill of victory.
However, those don’t exactly pay the bills, so almost all of the athletes have second jobs which they work part-time for much of the year. Take up-and-coming USA athlete Maxwell Dunne, for instance. Dunne is a substitute teacher at a local Minnesota school district, balancing his time on the ice with his time in the classroom – which often leads to nights without sleep while making the necessary sacrifices. Sacrifices came on the heels of struggling to find a sponsor until right before the season began. But now, Dunne seems to balance his teaching alter-ego with being a successful athlete, though that doesn’t mean the students and faculty at his school aren’t aware of what he does every winter.
Markus Juola of Finland, Tyler Witty of the United States, Maxwell Dunne of the United States and Shayne Renaud of Canada compete during the finals at the third stage of the ATSX Ice Cross Downhill World Championship at the Red Bull Crashed Ice in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States on February 4, 2017.
“A lot of times other teachers know and stuff, so I’ll tell them and I’ll show them a video and then I’ll talk about it – and they think it’s really cool,” Dunne admitted. “I was subbing for like 16 days or more at the same school when I left and all the kids were really pumped about it and they’re following it and everything. I don’t always like to brag about things, like I feel weird being like ‘Hey, I’m Mr. Dunne and I do Crashed Ice. Do you think I’m cool now’ because that’s just weird to me (laughs).”
For the USA athletes, it’s a tight-knit group that remains close and travels together when possible. It was clear through their jovial nature that they like to have fun with what they do, enjoying their time in other parts of the world, but also, back home in Minnesota, where the majority of the athletes reside. That doesn’t get in the way with what they’re looking to accomplish, however.
“I’m on the board of the Ice Cross Association and my job is to be in charge of the athletes, so I’ve made it clear I’m going to choose these people based on dedication to the sport,” Naasz said. “So, if you’re traveling to Finland and you’re traveling to somewhere else in Europe and putting in the time and effort and I see that you’re training – you got to show me that you’re working for it and you want it, I’m not just taking people that are coming out to have fun one weekend. We’re looking for people to advance the sport – that’s part of the lifestyle change that you kind of have to commit to.”
Scott Croxall of Canada, Derek Wedge of Switzerland, Kyle Croxall of Canada and Mirko Lahti of Finland compete during the finals at the third stage of the ATSX Ice Cross Downhill World Championship at the Red Bull Crashed Ice in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States on February 4, 2017.
TRAINING TO BE THE BEST
During its earliest stages, the sport wasn’t taken quite as seriously as it is today. Athletes wanted to have a good time, but didn’t look ahead to advancing ice cross downhill. It’s evolved a great deal since then, with athletes changing much of their lifestyle in order to compete at a high level.
“It used to be more of a party, you know,” Naasz claimed. “It was an event, not a sport, so guys were coming from all over the world and they were competing, but they weren’t taking it as seriously. It was guys going out drinking on Thursday nights before they have to skate time trials on Friday morning and then they were going out again on Friday and partying all night and then they’d have to be up early in the morning for practice and then you’re racing the next day. It wasn’t quite as serious.”
No longer is that the case, other than a few instances. Athletes like Dunne and Naasz train for almost the entire year, especially in the summer, when they’ll head to the local skate park on rollerblades, working on maintaining speed transitioning only, not skating but just pumping. They practice using other downhill sports too, which continues to allow them the ability to adapt quickly to races.
“Guys are taking their time, they’re investing, they’re changing their lifestyles and working part-time jobs rather than full-time jobs so they have time to train,” said Naasz, the reigning winner of the St. Paul leg of Red Bull Crashed Ice. “There’s no more partying on Thursdays and Fridays. You go out Saturday night after the event, you go out on Sunday maybe, have a little ‘Sunday Funday’ and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday it’s just relax, rehab your body and prepare yourself for the next weekend’s event.”
While changing their lifestyle and finding success in the sport is important, many of these athletes are looking ahead at the bigger picture and what could potentially be winter sports’ biggest stage.
“It’s becoming more legitimate and we have our eyes, our hopes, set on the Olympics one day,” Naasz added. “There are definitely bigger and better things to come for the sport.”
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports, a movie quote extraordinaire and a proud Sun Devil. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photos and video courtesy of Red Bull and Red Bull Content Pool.
“Red Bull Crashed Ice aired live on Red Bull TV and you can watch the event anytime by downloading the Red Bull TV app where available.
