gotsnowgotslush
skates like Eck
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2007
- Posts
- 25,720
Do you think bobsledding looks dangerous? Or maybe the luge? Or really any of the "extreme" games?
Well, those sports can go ahead and move over because ice cross downhill has just taken over as
the most insane, ridiculous, extreme sport there is.
The sport has existed for only about a dozen years. It was born when an adventurous—and probably somewhat inebriated—
Austrian hockey player snuck onto a bobsled run to see if he could skate down it. As if that weren't enough of a challenge, the sport's
founders decided to throw in jumps, bumps and steep banked turns.
The generic name for this mayhem is ice cross downhill, a label that reflects its blending of elements from skating, skiing and
boardercross (snowboard racing). Crashed Ice, the title of this series of races, offers an additional nod to what happens
to many of the racers. Falls are such a part of the race that competitors are required to wear full hockey or
motocross protective gear.
2012 Red Bull Crashed Ice Races: St. Paul to Play Host to Most Insane Sport Ever
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...t-paul-to-play-host-to-most-insane-sport-ever
Ice Cross in Saint Paul, MN - Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfat-yDdV2M
At 40, Joe Schaffer is twice the age of some of the competitors he'll be facing in the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championships this week in St. Paul. But that doesn't worry him. "I'm time-tested," the Monticello, Minn., resident said.
Nor does it concern him that he's going to be skating downhill in a chute of ice that has been twisted into hairpin turns and outfitted with jumps. The quarter-mile track drops so precipitously that the skaters are expected to reach 40 miles per hour -- if they can remain on their feet.
"I am generally crazy and think of things that most people would consider insane as being perfectly normal," he wrote in his race bio. "When I was younger, I used to ride my bike off the ski jump at Hyland Hills in Bloomington."
The races, which start Thursday and continue through Saturday, will begin from a two-story-tall starting gate erected next to the St. Paul Cathedral, zip across the cathedral's front steps, over a bridge that crosses John Ireland Boulevard and down a steep hill to the finish line near Interstate 35E.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/136967798.html
(gsgs comment- and I thought the new gymnastics on the ice and against the boards, was crazy....)
Well, those sports can go ahead and move over because ice cross downhill has just taken over as
the most insane, ridiculous, extreme sport there is.
The sport has existed for only about a dozen years. It was born when an adventurous—and probably somewhat inebriated—
Austrian hockey player snuck onto a bobsled run to see if he could skate down it. As if that weren't enough of a challenge, the sport's
founders decided to throw in jumps, bumps and steep banked turns.
The generic name for this mayhem is ice cross downhill, a label that reflects its blending of elements from skating, skiing and
boardercross (snowboard racing). Crashed Ice, the title of this series of races, offers an additional nod to what happens
to many of the racers. Falls are such a part of the race that competitors are required to wear full hockey or
motocross protective gear.
2012 Red Bull Crashed Ice Races: St. Paul to Play Host to Most Insane Sport Ever
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...t-paul-to-play-host-to-most-insane-sport-ever
Ice Cross in Saint Paul, MN - Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfat-yDdV2M
At 40, Joe Schaffer is twice the age of some of the competitors he'll be facing in the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championships this week in St. Paul. But that doesn't worry him. "I'm time-tested," the Monticello, Minn., resident said.
Nor does it concern him that he's going to be skating downhill in a chute of ice that has been twisted into hairpin turns and outfitted with jumps. The quarter-mile track drops so precipitously that the skaters are expected to reach 40 miles per hour -- if they can remain on their feet.
"I am generally crazy and think of things that most people would consider insane as being perfectly normal," he wrote in his race bio. "When I was younger, I used to ride my bike off the ski jump at Hyland Hills in Bloomington."
The races, which start Thursday and continue through Saturday, will begin from a two-story-tall starting gate erected next to the St. Paul Cathedral, zip across the cathedral's front steps, over a bridge that crosses John Ireland Boulevard and down a steep hill to the finish line near Interstate 35E.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/136967798.html
(gsgs comment- and I thought the new gymnastics on the ice and against the boards, was crazy....)
