OT: Red Bull Crashed Ice

[WayneGreatzky]

They mentioned in the papers today the 15K total was the people just around the track. They mentioned all people together including the square might have been 70-80K

Might see another event in the future with numbers like that

 

[RattsSSV]

For anyone who didn't get to see it live or was there and wants to watch the video:
http://www.redbullcrashedice.com/en_CA/event/edmonton#live

Just follow the link and scroll down a bit.

 

[McGoMcD]

It was a really cool event. The track was unreal, it was hard to even explain to people.

Some improvements could be made for sure, but over all great time.

 

[Muscles Glasses]

Seriously? Theres no comparison to the electric buzz felt around the city in 2006 or anytime we have hosted the Grey Cup.

Crashed Ice is a sport where most of the attendees couldn't name a handful of the competitors going down the track. Seems like the main thing at this event is taking selfies, hashtagging that you were there, and wondering what else to do because you can't see anything.

Its a spectacle of sorts but not something that I felt connected with at any point. Spent 2hrs watching event on Friday and very little watching event on Saturday.

What I experienced more than riveting entertainment was hype. If anything the crowd is more entertaining then whats going on on the track. Trouble with an event like this is its not at all like continuous action (hockey) that draws you in. Its racers going down a shoot that you see for about 3 secs and then wait several minutes for the next skaters. On Friday the waits being 30minutes at times. I left the event both nights before it was complete as I found as a racing spectacle it was kind of tedious.
Basically the sport is this. Be the first one out of the gate and not crash and you win. Plus with the runs only taking around 20secs theres very little racing drama to it.
Would be like going to an indy race track and the races were only one lap. tbh I wouldn't find that very riveting and didn't find this enticing either. Actually even prefer Bobsled to this as Bobsled runs at least last 2 minutes.

lmao at the 70K attendance figure released by Redbull itself. Pure fiction.

Redbull overestimates attendance in the hope that people see this as some kind of big event to perpetuate and fund. I don't think there was 15k people there. Redbull just elevating numbers for a B circuit circus that can't even get network coverage and that fewer cities are caring about. Edmonton got this because in reality theres very few places that would even bother with it.

Really? In 2010 I didn't feel that there was a whole lot of special buzz around the city for the Grey Cup. I thought it was cool that Trooper and Fozzy had a concert downtown, but that was pretty much it for the excitement between me and everybody that I know. You will likely attribute that to my apathy towards the CFL, but I also don't follow or really care about Ice Cross (Ski/Snowboard cross however is awesome and is one of my favorite Olympic Sports), but the buzz and news/social media coverage made it seem like a big deal.

 

[McHilman]

Red Bull Crashed Ice makes its return to Edmonton
By Kirby Bourne

After skipping the city for two seasons, Red Bull Crashed Ice will make a stop in Edmonton in 2018.

The World Championship event will take place March 9 and 10.

The downhill ice race brought over 70,000 people to downtown Edmonton for the World Championship event in 2015. It was the first time a Canadian city hosted the event outside of Quebec.

The event sees athletes race down a track made of ice and filled with drops, turns and gaps. Racers can reach speeds of over 60 km/h.

For the 2015 event in Edmonton the track was built into the River Valley, starting near the Shaw Conference Centre. There is no word yet on where the 2018 track will be built.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3661657/red-bull-crashed-ice-makes-its-return-to-edmonton/

 

[Senor Catface]

Old topics like this show that the vibe of this place is way better the last year or so.

 

[A91]

This was an awesome event loved going. LRT was rough so if Im in the city come March ill definitely be driving there