I know you zoomed around the Goodwood Ice Rink back in the day with the grace of a gazelle, but I’m willing to bet you’d lose a tooth trying this.

It’s tough to know where to begin, because downhill ice cross racing seems to be a few sports rolled into one.

There’s an element of ice-skating, a pinch of roller derby, and we’ll add downhill slalom skiing into the mix. Basically, when mushed together, you get a sport that is excitement from start to finish.

The Atlantic are running a photo essay titled “The Insanity of Downhill Ice Cross Racing”, but before we get to their pics here’s some history:

Beginning back in 2001, Red Bull has been sponsoring races and a world tour under the name “Red Bull Crashed Ice,” building enormous ice tracks in historic city centers [sic] to challenge the racers who train for the sport.

The tracks are made of steel scaffolding, topped by wood shaped to the desired curves, covered with flexible mats and a network of tubes filled with cooled fluid like glycol—then water is sprayed onto the whole track, slowly building up a four-inch layer of slick ice.

As you will see, it’s not for the faint of heart:

You’ll find another 20 or so pictures here, but how about a video of the Saint Paul Men’s Final from last year?

Yoh, that is intense.

Reckon I’ll leave this one to the pros and stick to memories of Goodwood.

[source:atlantic]