OT: Red Bull Crashed Ice

[Real_Estate-Agent]

EDMONTON - It’s not the warm weather that bothers Claudio Caluori, the man who bravely tests the winding, speedy Red Bull Crashed Ice courses.

It’s all the sunshine that’s melting his precious work.

“The temperature is not actually the problem, the sunlight is,†Caluori said. “This morning, we had absolutely no problems, the ice was perfect. But the direct sunlight is actually melting the ice.â€

Canadian competitors vying for a spot in Saturday’s World Championship hit the ice track for the first time Thursday afternoon. For many of the athletes, the goal for the day was simple: stay on your skates.

As the day went on, the sun continued to shine and the track surface deteriorated. The ice became soft, evident by the deep grooves on sharp turns. The many puddles scattered along the track caused some skaters to trip and fall.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news...ouble+staying+melts+track/10885033/story.html

 

[Da McBomb]

How many competitors are competing in this event? Will it be on TV? What channel?

 

[Replacement*]

EDMONTON - It’s not the warm weather that bothers Claudio Caluori, the man who bravely tests the winding, speedy Red Bull Crashed Ice courses.

It’s all the sunshine that’s melting his precious work.

“The temperature is not actually the problem, the sunlight is,” Caluori said. “This morning, we had absolutely no problems, the ice was perfect. But the direct sunlight is actually melting the ice.”

Canadian competitors vying for a spot in Saturday’s World Championship hit the ice track for the first time Thursday afternoon. For many of the athletes, the goal for the day was simple: stay on your skates.

As the day went on, the sun continued to shine and the track surface deteriorated. The ice became soft, evident by the deep grooves on sharp turns. The many puddles scattered along the track caused some skaters to trip and fall.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news...ouble+staying+melts+track/10885033/story.html

lol, are these people from Canada? Imagine being surprised that sun melts ice. what a concept..



What I said last week on another board;

Also, as per the article the entire ice surface is "south facing" kind of what you get at this latitude on a south facing bank of the river in March. Note that snow and ice melt first on that side of the river always. They might have a little more to deal with than the temperatures as on a sunny day its going to be shining on that track all day. May have to delay the start due to daily savings time. Its not getting dark now till about 7:45. Event looks better in the dark, just saying. It won't be pitch dark till 8pm

Anybody remotely familiar with hiking/biking in the river valley knows the south facing bank heats up pretty good under direct sun and that the whole area is under continuous sun, no shade, on a sunny day. Why they picked that location and not say Gallagher hill or ski hill for the track is anybodies guess. This is the first area to heat up in Edmonton in the spring which virtually any river valley user knows. Anytime I want a warm walk in early spring this is a prime area to stroll around. The sun just heats that whole valley. Anybody note how dry it always is there or that virtually nothing grows on that Louise McKinney bank?

They said the same thing last week about "South facing" track being the only issue. lol, its all south facing..

The events run all day today so good luck. Plus the sun was intense yesterday on a beautiful clear day and out walking with a t shirt in 9 degree weather. Because on a still day with that clear sky the sun heats you up pretty good.

Looks like the experts with Crashed Ice just crashed and burned without sunscreen...

I predict a gongshow this afternoon around the 3pm heats.

 

[fysloc]

I bet what happened was that nobody predicted it would heat up to above freezing in March...

Except for locals who knows March is the hot/cold wave.

 

[Replacement*]

I bet what happened was that nobody predicted it would heat up to above freezing in March...

Except for locals who knows March is the hot/cold wave.

Yeah, people have this notion that Edmonton is like ice locked winter city of all time. I can't count the number of times I've been out on the deck enjoying the sun at this time of year. Usually get some days that are early false springs before winter kicks back a little.
Especially in last couple decades we always seem to get the early melts before more snow.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

It is a gorgeous day.

T-shirt weather!

 

[madmutter]

Anybody go check this out yesterday? Is it worth the effort?

 

[Replacement*]

Red Bull yawn

Pretty much Red Bull boredom yesterday at the event. Poorly organized, crowd has showed up at 3pm when event was supposed to start but event delayed till 6pm. Not much to do around there. REally poor corollary entertainment (meaning none) virtually nothing going on at Jasper Avenue, in SCC, Churchill Square or around site. Long delays between runs at the track were boring with nothing to do. People milled about for awhile and then typically left after taking in some minutes of the action. I braved out a few hours but overall it was boring.
Didn't help that they never explain the event very well or provide any background or info on screens, no tail parties for the event, no atmosphere whatsoever to speak of.

Peak crowd was around 1K last night. What you get for a Highschool football game.

no party vibe whatsoever. No this is where its at feeling whatsoever.

Site looks nice, track looks nice and beautiful to see lit up. But you gotta be a diehard fan of this to really get into it. People were not pumped by the action at all. Probably because it was so fleeting. Its like watching a hockey game that has 3 secs of action, a whistle, 3 secs of action, a whistle, continuously.. it takes racers about 20secs to get down the whole track but you only see around 6secs of it from any particular view point. Then wait several minutes for the next few seconds of action..
Actually its more like watching 100meter sprints except with that you see the whole track and its electrifying. But with the same dull interludes making up the vast majority of time spent at the event.

I think you have to bring your own party to this event..

Today expected to be better attendance but not much to do out there. No food trucks, no liquor sales and no beer gardens yesterday despite information saying this would be on hand.

lol merchandise truck with 1 person staffing it and a small lineup.

Man, the hype of this event vs its unfolding is such overkill.

its a made for TV event.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Pretty much Red Bull boredom yesterday at the event. Poorly organized, crowd has showed up at 3pm when event was supposed to start but event delayed till 6pm. Not much to do around there. REally poor corollary entertainment (meaning none) virtually nothing going on at Jasper Avenue, in SCC, Churchill Square or around site. Long delays between runs at the track were boring with nothing to do. People milled about for awhile and then typically left after taking in some minutes of the action. I braved out a few hours but overall it was boring.
Didn't help that they never explain the event very well or provide any background or info on screens, no tail parties for the event, no atmosphere whatsoever to speak of.

Peak crowd was around 1K last night. What you get for a Highschool football game.

no party vibe whatsoever. No this is where its at feeling whatsoever.

Site looks nice, track looks nice and beautiful to see lit up. But you gotta be a diehard fan of this to really get into it. People were not pumped by the action at all. Probably because it was so fleeting. Its like watching a hockey game that has 3 secs of action, a whistle, 3 secs of action, a whistle, continuously.. it takes racers about 20secs to get down the whole track but you only see around 6secs of it from any particular view point. Then wait several minutes for the next few seconds of action..

Today expected to be better attendance but not much to do out there. No food trucks, no liquor sales and no beer gardens yesterday despite information saying this would be on hand.

lol merchandise truck with 1 person staffing it and a small lineup.

Man, the hype of this event vs its unfolding is such overkill.

its a made for TV event.

Red Bull cheaped out for the event, found a company to give the cheapest labor and doesn't really seem like it wants to spend much money on the event, and it shows.

 

[Real_Estate-Agent]

Man, the hype of this event vs its unfolding is such overkill.

its a made for TV event.

Today's newspaper said they received $1 million from two levels of government & tourism...

It is such a beautiful day (+14, sunny & no wind) that my wife & I will take a 20 minute stroll to check things out.

 

[Replacement*]

Red Bull cheaped out for the event, found a company to give the cheapest labor and doesn't really seem like it wants to spend much money on the event, and it shows.

Its what I suspected. They did the token Western Canada visit to say that they put that on the tour, then back to their regular mainstay Quebec City site which they put a lot more into.

Watching the Quebec event and this one any viewer would have no idea the two productions are even related. The Quebec event gets so much more production.

So they bring the toned down version here, get lukewarm support and justify years more in Quebec.

This is a one off.

Something I still encourage people to check out given we might not be seeing it again. its an experience. But kind of like attending bobsled for those that haven't been. Very little action or entertainment as mentioned.

ps the Company contacted to put this event on also did the Minnesota setup and reportedly put on a better event there. Got the feeling talking to some of them that they were less than enthused the event came here. Quebec City is more of a winter party town.

 

[Replacement*]

Today's newspaper said they received $1 million from two levels of government & tourism...

It is such a beautiful day (+14, sunny & no wind) that my wife & I will take a 20 minute stroll to check things out.

Tourism thing is overstated as well. The organizers would like us to think this event attracts a large travelling audience. The whole time (hours) I was there yesterday I met 2 people that were tourists from outside the City. Checked out the local hotels to see if there was any indication of tourism and out of town visitors related to this event. None detected.

1M isn't much to spend and puts us on TV for around 5 times less than the City was bleeding on Indy.

But this being 1M spent on something that seems amateur in every respect.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Its what I suspected. They did the token Western Canada visit to say that they put that on the tour, then back to their regular mainstay Quebec City site which they put a lot more into.

Watching the Quebec event and this one any viewer would have no idea the two productions are even related. The Quebec event gets so much more production.

So they bring the toned down version here, get lukewarm support and justify years more in Quebec.

This is a one off.

Something I still encourage people to check out given we might not be seeing it again. its an experience. But kind of like attending bobsled for those that haven't been. Very little action or entertainment as mentioned.

They went with whatever production company gave them a cheaper price. Which...really shouldn't be the way to do things.

 

[Real_Estate-Agent]

1M isn't much to spend and puts us on TV for around 5 times less than the City was bleeding on Indy.

But this being 1M spent on something that seems amateur in every respect.

I am curious - which TV channel. I just checked them all & can find nothing.

Churchill Square was deader than a doornail. Two fenced in areas where teams were playing ball hockey. An oversized chess board plus one oversized checker board. I did not see a beer garden; but there was large (fairly large) screen set up to view the races.

Below the Shaw Conference Centre was worse. Although the temperature is presently dropping under clouding skies, we are not going back tonight.

 

[azashi]

After spending over an hour slogging it from Whyte Ave through downtown to 118 Ave and being late for my date, I no longer care for this event >=[

 

[Nunymare]

Lucky the sun really didn't make too prominent of an appearance today...

 

[rboomercat90]

I am curious - which TV channel. I just checked them all & can find nothing.

Churchill Square was deader than a doornail. Two fenced in areas where teams were playing ball hockey. An oversized chess board plus one oversized checker board. I did not see a beer garden; but there was large (fairly large) screen set up to view the races.

Below the Shaw Conference Centre was worse. Although the temperature is presently dropping under clouding skies, we are not going back tonight.

If you have TVA you can check it out at 8:30 pm tonight and 10:00pm tomorrow. If you don't then Sportsnet West is showing an hour of coverage at 3:00 pm on Monday afternoon. I noticed this earlier this week and was kind of surprised given the hype this event has received.

 

[Morpheus]

What is TVA? I have shaw dig. Cable

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

If you have Apple TV, it's on the Red Bull Channel. Also on Red Bull website apparently. That's what I've heard.

 

[Replacement*]

If you have TVA you can check it out at 8:30 pm tonight and 10:00pm tomorrow. If you don't then Sportsnet West is showing an hour of coverage at 3:00 pm on Monday afternoon. I noticed this earlier this week and was kind of surprised given the hype this event has received.

What is TVA? I heard Outdoor Life Network which I don't get either on Shaw. Whats with all these marginal channels showing he event? This stuff used to be on regular sports channels live.

Seems like this isn't a primetime network kind of event anymore. Can't even make the sports channels lol.

has Red bull crashed?

Went for a long walk around today. Definitely better crowd today but I wouldn't even put it at 10K. About 1/14th what reports were for the Minnesota event. I bet the official tabulation says 25K though. That would be overshooting by a lot.

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

Just checked and yes, I see that it's airing live on RedBull TV at 8:30. So if you have Apple TV, it's on there. I'm not interested in the event at all, but I will flip it on to see how it looks on TV and what the crowds are like.

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

What is TVA? I heard Outdoor Life Network which I don't get either on Shaw. Whats with all these marginal channels showing he event? This stuff used to be on regular sports channels live.

Seems like this isn't a primetime network kind of event anymore. Can't even make the sports channels lol.

has Red bull crashed?

Went for a long walk around today. Definitely better crowd today but I wouldn't even put it at 10K. About 1/14th what reports were for the Minnesota event. I bet the official tabulation says 25K though. That would be overshooting by a lot.

In your shorts and t-shirt, right?

 

[rboomercat90]

What is TVA? I have shaw dig. Cable

I'm guessing it's a French sports channel. I have no idea because it's not on my package. If anybody has Telus it's channel 2085. I did a menu search to find the event and it was listed on there.

 

[rboomercat90]

Just checked and yes, I see that it's airing live on RedBull TV at 8:30. So if you have Apple TV, it's on there. I'm not interested in the event at all, but I will flip it on to see how it looks on TV and what the crowds are like.

Now it's my turn, what's Apple TV?

 

[Real_Estate-Agent]

I'm guessing it's a French sports channel. I have no idea because it's not on my package. If anybody has Telus it's channel 2085. I did a menu search to find the event and it was listed on there.

Thank you for the info - the following is directed at your information...

We spent a million dollars of taxpayers money for marketing such as this? ...