WINTER2017
MLBLUE
61
CRASHED ICEON
THERIDEAU
The picturesqueRideauCanal, theworld’s longest
skating rink,will seemore than just families
having fun andparliamentarians commuting
towork this year.The ice is going toget a little
heated and farmore challenging.
Canada’s 150thbirthday has prompted the
nation’s capital to celebrate all year round,
andonMarch 3 and4,Ottawawill host the
world championships of downhill ice cross: the
infamous RedBull Crashed Ice.
The hybrid sport (also known as skate cross)
that originated in Stockholm in 2001has since
travelled around theworld. Its inaugural Ottawa
championshipwill wind 400metres of downhill
ice into theUNESCOWorldHeritage site of the
Rideau locks like a bobsled track that twists and
dips.Unlike bobsled, a downhill ice cross course
also feature kickers anddouble bends,which
2015world champion Scott Croxall relishes.
The 26-year-old fromPort Credit,Ontario,
snaggedmostly first- and second-place finishes
on last year’s circuit.He first competed in 2009
at Crashed IceQuebec City,where the track
barrelleddownover cobblestone streets and
aroundheritage buildings.
Once Scott sawhis older brother Kyle first
compete in2008, he knewhewanted in. Kyle, a
firefighter in the off-season, has alsowon several
titles—seven first-places—inhis near-decade
ondownhill ice.The brothers have been training
together inToronto, preparing for 2017’s four
championship tracks.
Every track is unique, not just a factory set of
scaffolding, says ChristianPapillon.As RedBull
Sport Director of theworld championship, Papillon
designs Crashed Ice courses to include a location’s
buildings, structures andnatural landscapes.
“I want the riders to ride the location,” says
Papillon.“I’mnot looking tobuild a 100-percent
scaffolding track; I’mmaking sure touse
everything that the locationbrings in the track.”
Ottawa’s flight of lockswas completed in the
1830s under the supervisionof Lieutenant
Colonel JohnBy,whose house sat inMajor’s
Hill Park overlooking the final eight steps of the
canal.Aprecipice disconnects By’s oldbackyard
from the descending steps and its elevation could
possibly lend toPapillon’s design.
“Thewhole sport is not as dangerous as people
think,”he says, always first to test out his
own courses. Plus, “the first location visits are
usually done around 18months to two years
before the event.”
Safety always factors inheavily in all designs, and
every landowner, from local to federal, approves
the track before the local emergency authorities
alsookay it.
Papillon’s first contactwith the sportwas in2006
when a fewof his friends participated in the first
Crashed Ice inQuebec City, his hometown.The
next year, he competed andplaced fifth at his
first race.Hemade the switch from rider to Sport
Director in 2010.
In 2015, anAll Terrain SkateCross Federation
was founded inAustria topromote and enforce
the sport and its rules.The Federation is growing
the sportwith thehelpof national teams and
proponents likePapillon,whoareall pushing for
moreevents andevenOlympic recognitiononeday.
The best riders need a solid skatingbase,with
strengths inbalance and control.They suit up
like hockeywarriors but the sport is strictly
against interfering contact.Action sports like
snowboarding,water skiing, ormountainbiking
canhelp todevelop the speed, power, and
stamina that come intoplay. But air control?
Sometimes, it’s just amatter of hitting a booter
off a downhill ice track to train for that.
Every course, says Croxall, is difficult.“Add
three other guys to themix and itmakes it even
harder!”
–JosephMathieu
“The sport is not as dangerous
as people think…”
