Ha/f Culture - RedBull Crashed Ice Open Draft

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Ha/f Culuture is a collection of articles and artifacts that celebrate the eccentric and multicolored; what is niether here nor there.

RedBull Crashed Ice Open Draft

As a child growing up playing ice hockey I always fantasized what it would be like if all the city streets became frozen over and the world became a giant ice rink. I dreamed how awesome it would be to take the game to another dimension: gliding through street intersections, zipping through an alleyway, and body checking anyone who got in my way through a storefront window. Thanks to the amped up marketing team at RedBull, all of my dreams have come true.

A combination of hockey, downhill skiing, and boarder cross, the Redbull Crashed Ice competition is an ice race through the slanted streets of Old Quebec. There are 16 heats (four for the women) with 4 racers in each round with the top two advancing. The course itself includes massive drops, highway speeds (it is ice, after all), berms, and gaps which all lend themselves to sick air and X-treme havoc for competitors and Zamboni’s alike. But with a purse prize of $10,000 (and presumably a case of RedBull) going to the winner, lacing up the skates is well worth the risk of broken limbs and frostbite.

The event is scheduled for 24 Jan 2009, but qualifying rounds begin later this month all across Canada. Registration ends 24 Nov, visit the Redbull Crashed Ice website for more info.