Shooting the Red Bull Crashed Ice event is a special kind of challenge for me, and this year’s event was the fastest and the most exciting one yet! Taking photographs of the athletes as they skate down a massive ice track filled with drops, hairpin turns, and gaps at speeds of up to 80 kph is no easy feat, and brings my admiration for the sport and people who partake in it to a whole new level each time I partake in the event!
Marseille is the second-largest city of France. The main city of the historical province of Provence, today it is the capital of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. It is located on France’s south coast near the mouth of the Rhône river. Marseille has a hot Mediterranean climate, with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, mostly dry summers. December, January, and February are the coldest months, with temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night.
The Mediterranean and ice cross downhill might not initially seem like a logical pairing, but that’s exactly what the Marseille round offers – Crashed Ice on the coast. Following a successful debut in 2017, Marseille will once again welcome skaters for the most southerly stop on the calendar, where the action will take place in Bargemon square, just opposite the famous ‘Bonne Mère’ basilica. The spectacular track will present the skaters with a tough, obstacle-filled challenge as they power towards the finish line by the ocean.
Red Bull Crashed Ice is not only the fastest sport on skates, but it’s difficult to find a more exciting and tougher one on the ice too. Skaters exceed speeds of 85kph (that’s faster than a running tiger) as they send it down mountains of ice through city centres, while simultaneously pinging and ponging off the boards and each other. Gnarly doesn’t even begin to describe this sport.
But there’s much more to it than meets the eye; we’ve spoken to the experts and found out all there is to know about Red Bull Crashed Ice.
You need much more than a pair of sharp skates and some shoulder pads. You need the full gamut of physical skills including, but of course not limited to: stamina, cardio, strength, power, speed, coordination, and balance.
If you happen to have all of that though, be fair warned that you also need the mental aspects to a successful career in Crashed Ice: motivation, will and visualisation.
However, as any Crashed Ice champion will tell you, all of your training and skills can be thrown out the window if you’re not standing at the top of the track with one thing: confidence. Take some of the best and toughest skaters in the world, a sizzling atmosphere, stunning surroundings, and thousands of square metres of frozen water. The result? Red Bull Crashed Ice!