CNN picks Red Bull Crashed Ice in Saint Paul as one of world's top events

Along with the 80th birthday celebrations of Elvis Presley in Graceland, Tennessee, the Rugby World Cup in England and the Mexico Grand Prix, the Red Bull Crashed Ice stop in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has been ranked by CNN near the top of its prestigious list of the world's top 19 global events "that are worth hitting the road for" in 2015. The US-based Cable News Network included the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship 2015 season opener in Saint Paul on January 22-24 as the second of 19 events on its widely followed list of fun, exciting events that it deems are worth travelling even halfway around the world for.

The hugely popular Red Bull Crashed Ice stop in frosty Saint Paul has become a huge hit with fans of ice cold fun in the frigid north with more than 100,000 people lining the downhill track and race grounds to watch the world's fastest sport on skates. The Saint Paul event, now coming back for the fourth straight year, has helped make the sport of ice cross downhill popular across the United States and American athletes, led by local hero Cameron Naasz, have surged to the top of the field in just four years.

"The Red Bull Crashed Ice competition in Saint Paul has attracted an enthusiastic following over the three years it's been around – so much so that CNN is including the event on its list of "19 events worth travelling for" in 2015," CNN wrote, on its website. "The extreme winter sport event is on the same list of travel-worthy events as Elvis Presley's 80th birthday celebration, the Lunar New Year observance in Macau, Expo Milano in Italy, and the first World Indigenous Games in Brazil."

CNN called the Saint Paul event an "awe-inspiring spectacle" that boosts the local economy. It described the racing action like this: "Combine speed skating with an obstacle course and you get Red Bull Crashed Ice, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2015. The race sees some of the world's top downhill skaters negotiate a frozen course littered with obstacles, while hitting speeds of up to 60kph."