EDMONTON – Fearless Canadian athletes are getting ready to lace up at the 2015 Red Bull Crashed Ice world championship. For the first time ever, the competition will cater to skaters with a need for speed in Alberta.
This season’s showdown will be held on a frozen high-speed track, with massive drops and sharp turns built in Edmonton’s city centre.
Eleven qualifier events were held across Canada, where the top men and women earned a chance to compete at the season finale on March 14.
Among those on edge to compete is Tim Spidel. The 29-year-old was one of 40 men who took part in the last qualifier in the country at Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre in February.
Being unable to make the qualifiers in Calgary and Edmonton didn’t stop him from driving to Saskatchewan to for the sole purpose of making the cut.
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Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Spidel moved to Alberta eight years ago to work for the Calgary Police Service. He’s no rookie to the sport. This will be his third year with Red Bull Crashed Ice, having competed at the 2013 and 2014 championships in Quebec.
In Edmonton, Spidel is looking to improve on past performances.
“The best way to put it, not as good as I hoped or wanted,” Spidel said of his past showings. “I wasn’t happy with the result but, you know, it’s all learning.”
The sport caught his interest when he watched it on TV five or six years ago and it related to his love of hockey. He grew up on skates, playing the game in Cole Harbour, N.S.
But a hockey background doesn’t matter when it comes to crashed ice, according to Spidel.
“You can be the best hockey player in the world, it doesn’t mean you’re good at crashed ice, which I learned very quickly,” said Spidel.
The sport has a lot in common with downhill skiing and boardercross. Skaters descend down the slick course featuring jumps, rollers and banked corners, with the goal of reaching the bottom the fastest in order.
How do you prepare for such a race?
In his first year, Spidel had no clue what to expect. He says you can’t really know unless you try it and racers make it look easier than it really is.
Throughout the past two years, he’s been meeting with people and training in an attempt to shave precious seconds off his time.
“This year, I have gone old school and went on my rollerblades to the skate parks and tried to skate and mimic going up and down the ramps, taking jumps, anything that kind of makes me realize that I’m not on a flat surface anymore,” said Spidel.
At the qualifier events, organizers put skaters through an obstacle course on a traditional hockey rink.
“I know they do their best to absolutely mimic the main event, but it’s super different because you’re on flat ice and me, who’s played hockey my whole life, it’s been on flat ice and it’s just natural,” said Spidel.
Edmonton’s course will be the true test to his training. Starting Thursday, racers will reach speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour on the twisty downhill course.
“In Edmonton this year, the course is 100 per cent different … you just need to have, well, you need to be fearless, you need to have great balance and learn to take jumps on uneven ice,” said Spidel.
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Spidel is looking forward to trial runs so he can get a feel for the course individually before taking part in an experience that will last a lifetime.
“Once you do, for me, you kind a fall in love with it. It’s something that you do and want to get better and just the atmosphere, the whole event is … it’s something I’m going to look back at when I’m much older and be very happy that I did it,” said Spidel.
Racers will be whittled down to four athletes who will compete in the final Saturday.
Since 2001, these races have taken place in more than 10 countries. Stakes are high for local skaters this year because it’s the 10th anniversary of Red Bull Crashed Ice in Canada after nine straight years in Quebec City.
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