It may be a sport in which the athletes descend rapidly from above, but for the women of ice cross downhill things are certainly moving up and up. The 2015/16 season marks a significant development in the story of the women's competition, as for the first time ever they will be battling it out in their own world championship.
It's been an almost meteoric rise from the women, and nobody exemplifies the progress better than Finland's Salla Kyhala, winner of the women's events in Saint Paul and Edmonton in 2015. Amazingly, her qualification time for Edmonton would have put her in 25th position among the 79 men who took part in Canada's National Shootout that week. "We've proved that we're good skaters, " said Kyhala following her thrilling win in front of 70,000 excited fans. Many would say that was a slight understatement from the Finnish ace, considering how far the women have propelled themselves in such a short space of time.
Watch Salla Kyhala's thrilling win in Edmonton
As for the fans, it's clear that they've fallen under the spell of the ice queens. Their downhill battles have developed into absorbing affairs and are supported with the same excitement and fervor as the men's races. Austrian skater, Alice Zenz, brings the atmosphere and excitement to life beautifully when she describes her feelings just before a race: "There is nothing as great as the atmosphere at the races, nothing as great as the adrenaline rush when you hear the 5-second warning, the gates open and you race down that track in front of thousands of people cheering and screaming."
The rise of the women in this sport has been a steep one, and in 2015/16 fans can look forward to seeing them climb even higher as they battle it out on the tracks to be become the first female Red Bull Crashed Ice World Champion.
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