Steep turns, high vertical drops and all whilst on ice; Red Bull Crashed Ice arrived for the first time in the Netherlands on Saturday, February 5th 2011.
Crashed Ice is an extreme sporting event sponsored by the energy drink Red Bull and is made up of a mixture of hockey, downhill skating and boardercross. The racers, kitted out in mainly hockey gear, compete against each other in heats to complete an ice track that includes turns, jumps and drops. This year the first leg of the Red Bull Crashed Ice Tournament took place in Munich, Germany on January 15th. The Netherlands was the second leg of the tournament before skaters head over to Moscow, Russia on February 26th. Finally, the whole competition ends in Quebec, Canada on March 19th.
The Crashed Ice round in the Netherlands was held in the Southern city of Valkenburg. In Valkenburg is the Cauberg, a hill with a climb of around 1450 metres, at a 12% incline that overlooks the ruins of Valkenburg Castle. The top of the Cauberg was the starting line for the 390 metre long ice track. Flashing lights, loud music, mega video screens, food, beer and of course Red Bull were on hand to keep the fans entertained and the atmosphere exciting.
The event lasted for two hours, with skaters competing in sets of four and the fastest two skaters from each heat went through to the next round. The winner of the night was the Finnish skater, Arttu Pihlainen, overtaking rival Kyle Croxall in the overall standings. The award given to the rookie with the highest finish went to Croatian, Starjacki Hrvoje.
The event proved to be a popular one with an estimated 25,000 people attending. In fact, there were so many people trying to attend the event that the terrain was closed early, leaving many individuals no choice but to watch the event on TV at home or in one of Valkenburg’s busy bars.
For more information on Red Bull Crashed Ice, you can take a look at the official website here. For some of the highlights of the event in Valkenburg, have a look at the following video:
Some Facts:
In the Netherlands there were four National qualification rounds. 500 skaters participated in these rounds.
Eighty Dutch participants went through to the National qualifications.
In Valkenburg, there were 160 participants from 23 different countries.
