Palm trees instead of snow drifts and sneakers rather than snow shoes will be part of the atmosphere when the Red Bull Crashed Ice season opens on January 13-14 on the shores of the Mediterranean in Marseille.
The sport of Ice Cross Downhill will enter into a brave new world when the world's fastest sport on skates defies the conventional wisdom about winter events with a race in the balmy Mediterranean climate. Thanks to a high-tech cooling system and advancements in track building that have made it possible to race on ice despite temperatures well above the freezing point, the first Red Bull Crashed Ice race of the 2016/17 season will take place on a steep and treacherous 340m-long track that winds its way into the old harbour of Marseille.
The skaters zip down the obstacle-filled track four-at-a-time at speeds of up to 80 km/h, cheered on by huge crowds of thousands of spectators. The first two racers to cross the finish line advance to the next round as the field is gradually whittled down through one round at a time from 128 to a final 4.
Defending champion Cameron Naasz of the United States will kick off his campaign to become the first racer to win back-to-back Ice Cross Downhill World Championships on the artificial ice track that connects two of Marseilles most famous monuments – from the start at the Hotel Dieu, a former hospital built in the year 1188, to a pier into the city's famous Le Vieux Port on the Mediterranean that has been in operation for more than 2,600 years. But he will have his work cut out for him at the start of the sport's 17th season with former champions Scott Croxall (Canada), Marco Dallago (Austria), Derek Wedge (Switzerland), Kyle Croxall (Canada) and Martin Niefnecker (Germany) all eager to win the title. France's Tristan Dugerdil and Pacome Schmitt are two of the 13 athletes racing on home ice and are also considered to be among the contenders to win the first Red Bull Crashed Ice race in France. In total, there will be athletes from 22 nations and five continents in the race: North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Cameron Naasz is aiming for back-to-back Ice Cross Downhill World Championships after narrowly beating Scott Croxall last season. Photo: Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool.
"Bringing together warm temperatures with a winter sport and festive people in Marseille will create an electrifying atmosphere for this sport," said Red Bull Crashed Ice Sporting Director Christian Papillon. "The temperatures in Marseille forced us to improve and protect the ice system. It's a great technology advancement and opens up all kinds of possibilities around the globe. We'll continue to push the limits."
Ice Cross Downhill has been an increasingly popular sport in winter locations for years. But the race on the shores of the Mediterranean could change all that, organizers say.
It took 15 days to build the scaffolding and track with six specialists and 24 assistants working round-the-clock for eight days (some 2,300 hours in total) to create the 10-cm thick ice track
Specialists worked around the clock to create the ground-breaking track in Marseille.
"Being able to race in warm-weather climates like this marks the start of a new era for Ice Cross Downhill," said event expert Christian Savoiz, who can envision races held in cities such as Barcelona, Rome or even Istanbul in the future. "It will contribute to a rapid development of the sport in new areas and interest in the sport will spread considerably. It's a great feeling to be part of a development like this."
Red Bull Crashed Ice Marseille will broadcast LIVE on Red Bull TV and TV stations around the world. Red Bull TV is available on connected TVs, gaming consoles, mobile devices and more. For a full list of supported devices visit about.redbull.tv.
January 14th, Marseille, France: 8:30 PM CET (7:30 PM UTC) live on Red Bull TV.