The 415-metre-long ice cross downhill track that snakes around the Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton is one of the most challenging and unusual Red Bull Crashed Ice tracks ever built – a screaming drop of 45 metres around nine sharp turns.
The athletes taking part in the world's fastest sport on skates have been hitting speeds of some 55kph in Edmonton, despite the series of impossible 90-degree turns around the giant concrete building and down the Edmonton Valley towards the still-frozen North Saskatchewan River before a tight 180-degree turn near the end is throwing many of the best off balance.
Austria's Marco Dallago mastered the obstacle-filled course in Friday's International Shootout, posting a track-record time of 42.45 seconds ahead of Canada's Scott Croxall (42.72) and American Dan Witty (42.72).
"Every corner on this track has something special lurking right after it," said Dallago, the defending champion who is currently in fourth place overall. "You go full speed into these tight turns and then have to deal with either a drop-down or step-down right away. It feels like this track was made for me. I love it."
More than 80 percent of the track is built on top of scaffolding, a far higher percentage than at any previous race. The course is integrated on the top of and around the Shaw Conference Centre and also manages to link the skyscrapers of Edmonton's bustling downtown with the tranquility of its river bank.
"The first half of the track is in the city in an urban environment built with the start on a rooftop before dropping six levels of the building to several lower level balconies and then the second half is the natural environment through the trees down to the river," said Christian Papillon, the Red Bull Crashed Ice sporting director who spent a year designing the course. "It's a track that connects Edmonton with its environments and gives it all some soul."
Some 50 people from around the world – Canada, Austria, Germany, the United States and New Zealand – spent three weeks building the track, which is kept chilled even as temperatures rise well above the freezing point thanks to five high-performance refrigeration units pumping 36,000 litres of coolant beneath the track that will keep it in top shape even in bright sunshine and warm temperatures.
For the latest Shootout times and heats, visit redbullcrashedice.com/results. For more on the event, including the schedule and how to watch the final race of 2015 live, go to redbullcrashedice.com/edmonton