This young lady definitely has the 'thrill-seeker' gene! I can't swear that this was the actual event that Brittany competed in, but she
did say that it was gonna be this past weekend, and I'm pretty sure she said it was in Minneapolis-St. Paul. As I mentioned upthread, Brittany was a hockey player for Princeton, then moved to short track. She's hoping to be back to ST soon, but in the meantime, here's what she's been doing
:
An Icy Face-Off for Those Who Think Hockey Isn't Rough Enough 'Ice Cross' Appeals to Thrill Seekers Willing to Hurtle Down Slopes at Speeds up to 40 Miles an HourBy Jack Nicas / January 14, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Andrew Bergeson was reading the newspaper last month when he fell in love. "I just knew right away: This is why I was put on this earth," the 24-year-old said about his new favorite sport, ice-cross downhill.
"It incorporates all the things I like: hitting people, skating and fast speeds."
This weekend, Mr. Bergeson is competing here in the ice-cross downhill world championship. Launched by energy-drink maker Red Bull in 2001, ice cross sends four skaters in helmets and pads hurtling down a zigzagging chute of jumps, drops and hairpin turns, fusing elements of downhill skiing and roller derby—but on ice.
Skaters begin atop a three-story ramp and reach speeds of up to 40 miles an hour.
Mr. Bergeson, an operator at a nearby nuclear-power plant, sped onto the sport's highest stage because this time Team U.S.A. tried something new: tryouts.
Qualifying events were held across the Midwest last month, putting racers through an obstacle course on ice. Left was a crew of insurance salesmen, carpenters, bartenders and college-hockey players. They are competing in the third annual championship races, held for the first time in the U.S. As host of the championship series' first leg, which concludes Saturday, the U.S. had to field a team of 64 racers to pit against competitors from 23 countries.
For last year's championship, U.S. coach Charlie Wasley, a former college hockey star, assembled a team from college hockey rosters. "We were horrible," the 37-year-old said of the Americans' 16th out of 20 finish. It made him realize something: "You don't catch air in hockey."
This time, Mr. Wasley cast a broader net, looking for those who excel in various extreme and winter sports. His team draws on experience in motocross, snowboarding, in-line skating, BMX biking and gymnastics, among other sports. "Guys who have raced before are more fearless," he said.
Tigh Isaac, a 23-year-old speedskating Olympic hopeful, is the new prototype. He has years of experience in hockey, ski jumping, mountain biking and racing sport bikes and go-carts. The result is "one super athlete," he said, "for lack of a better word."
David Kron, 34, a snowboarder, water-skier and hockey player, broke his neck and back on a dirt bike in 2007, but is eager to try his mettle. After taking a bad spill on the icy course this week, he felt woozy, but got back into line for another run "because I told so many people I was going to do this."
Mr. Bergeson, the nuclear-plant worker, and his 21-year-old brother, Danny, aced the tryouts together in Duluth, Minn., and placed sixth and seventh in the first day of races here—separated by five-hundredths of a second. They were hockey stars in high school and played football together at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
To train for ice cross, the brothers have been skiboarding—skiing with extra-short skis. "Just bombing down hills as fast as we can and hitting every bump on the way," Mr. Bergeson said. "We had some pretty epic wipeouts."
In 2000, two Austrian athletes invented ice cross when they tried wearing ice skates on a particularly icy downhill rollerblading course. A year later, Red Bull built an ice-cross course through a fish market in Stockholm.
Ice cross has since collected a sizable following across Northern Europe and Canada, where it drew more than 100,000 to its championship in Quebec City last year.
Television stations across Europe and Canada broadcast races. NBC will air the sport's first broadcast in the U.S. next Saturday.
But even where ice cross is popular, success comes with fleeting celebrity, at best. Swedish ice-cross racer Reto Maeder said that when he tells people at the bar he's a top global competitor, "people say it's cool, but you have to buy the drinks yourself."
Organizers call the course here the most challenging in the sport's history—446 yards of ice winding through the shadow of the towering Cathedral of Saint Paul.
Racers begin on the ramp, pushing off onto a 45-degree decline and hitting a jump in seconds. The course leads racers on a track over the cathedral's steps, to a bridge crossing a main thoroughfare. At the height of the bridge, the course abruptly drops four feet. "That's really the leap of faith," Mr. Bergeson said.
There's a 90-degree turn that sends many racers crashing into the wood walls and they barrel down toward a 16-foot-high banked U-turn that puts racers nearly horizontal.
"Then immediately you have to start thinking about the toughest part of the course," Mr. Bergeson said, "the double humps."
Two back-to-back humps plague racers, who must decide whether to absorb both or aim to clear the second by taking off on the first. Mr. Bergeson landed the jump his second time through. "I couldn't believe it," he said. "I didn't know what to do. I almost stopped skating."
The home stretch sends racers up an 11-foot hill and then down into the "Dutch mountains," four moguls just before the finish line. "If it's a close race, anything can happen there," Mr. Bergeson said.
The whole ride takes less than a minute. Rules prohibit bringing competitors down, but contact is common and the sport is known for its crashes.
During time trials this week to narrow the U.S. field of 101 to 64, many racers returned to the athletes' tent wounded and winded. Dozens dropped out, including two women from a local roller-derby team.
Nate Ryan, an insurance broker and one of the competitors with solely a hockey background, sat exhausted on a couch. "I thought I was in better shape," he said.
Guillaume Bouvet-Morrissette, a 24-year-old chiropractor from Quebec, was able to compete with the American newcomers after he drove to Madison, Wis., to qualify.
On his first run, he suffered a concussion. "I trained six months for one run and I hit my head," he said.[/img]
Read More:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204542404577158964045526058.htmlHere's a video from last year's world Championships that shows what it's all about:
Tags: Brittany Salmon / Short Track Speedskating