Red Bull Crashed Ice adds full women's division, with Canadians playing big role

The Red Bull Crashed Ice ice cross downhill season kicks off this weekend in Quebec City (the team events were Friday; the individual finals start at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Sportsnet 360 and redbullcrashedice.com), and there's a particularly interesting new addition this year; a full international women's division, with women's races at every stop on the four-stop tour (which will have events in Germany, Finland and the U.S. as well as this one in Canada) and a women's world championship. There's been a Canadian women's division since 2010, but it's new to see it go international. Race director Christian Papillon told Eh Game Canadian athletes played a key role in the decision to have a full women's division.

"Canada was the first stop on the tour to introduce a women’s race into the competition, and because of that, many of the top female competitors have hailed from Canada," Papillon said. "The first athlete to pave the way for Canadian women in ice cross downhill was Kerri-Ann Muir from Calgary, AB, who was also the first-ever female champion in the sport. Since then women like Fannie Desforges of Ottawa, ON and Jacqueline Legere of St. George, ON have shown what Canadians are made of and have performed well in the competition."

Legere said the full women's world championship will mean a lot for female ice cross athletes.

"Having a women’s world championship is a huge step forward for the sport of ice cross downhill, and I know it has been a long-time goal for many of the women to compete on the full tour," she said. "Being able to compete at every stop will raise the level of competition, help women gain more recognition in the sport, allow us to grow a fan base with spectators and will help get more women interested in the sport."

The 24-year-old Legere has been competing in Crashed Ice events for five years, and ice cross downhill's a natural fit for her; she also participates in other extreme sports such as wakeboarding and skydiving, and earns a living as a professional stunt performer for movies and television. She said that background's helped her significantly in ice cross, particularly from a training perspective.

"Although my stunt work and other extreme sports look quite different from ice cross downhill on the outside, I’ve realized that they are actually many similarities between all of them," she said. "There aren’t any ice cross downhill tracks open for athletes to train on throughout the year, so the only time we are on the track during the season is when it’s time to race making training for it kind of tricky. Athletes need to be creative, which is where my stunt work and other extreme sports come in handy. Having a wide variety of training methods to fall back on, such as hockey, rollerblading, skiing, parkour, gymnastics and fitness have helped me immensely."

Here's a video of her training off the ice, from 2014:

Legere said the sport's evolved substantially during the time she's been competing in it.

"Ice cross downhill has come a long way since I started," she said. "The competition level has been increasing every year, the women’s category has been growing, and the sport is becoming more and more well-known worldwide."

Legere said she thinks there's further growth out there for ice cross downhill, and the growth of the women's division is part of that.

"I think this sport has a very bright future and I can potentially see it becoming an Olympic sport one day," she said. "The sport itself is very unique and such a spectacle to see on top of being very fun to participate in. Overall, it's a great spectator sport."

The creation of a full women's division won't just benefit veterans like Legere, but also newer athletes like Steph Fedoruk. Fedoruk started competing in Crashed Ice events last season and finished sixth overall in Edmonton in March. She comes to the sport from hockey, which she said has helped her, but only to a point.

"I currently play in a few men's hockey teams in Edmonton and I find that being on the ice and skating two to three times a week helps a lot to develop the core skills needed for ice cross downhill," she said. "Last year was my first year participating in Red Bull Crashed Ice, and although the skating helps, nothing can fully prepare you for the crazy jumps, speed and intense competition that event brings."

Fedoruk said having a full women's division should help grow the sport.

"Having women's events at every stop is very exciting," she said. "Last year, the women’s division was not nearly as large as the men's, but I’m excited to see the sport evolve and more women getting on the ice to compete. I can hardly wait for this season and I am very excited to compete in Quebec City for the first time."

Fedoruk is also hoping to compete in the other stops, and is raising money to do so through a GoFundMe campaign. She said the excitement of the sport really drives her.

"I play quite a few sports and I absolutely love ice cross downhill," she said. "It's different than anything I have ever done before. I love the speed and overall competitive spirit of the sport."

Papillon said there are specific plans underway to help make the sport even bigger, such as building training centres in both Canada and Europe.

"Red Bull Crashed Ice (World Championship) and ice cross downhill will only get bigger over the upcoming years," he said. "We are already looking to get a training centre in North America (Sherbrooke, Canada) and in Europe (Wagrain, Austria and Finland). That means riders will finally be able to spend the time they need to train, and have the right facility to work on their techniques. More races at both the local and national level will also help to grow the sport and continue to be accessible to the young guns who want to start racing and get experience. Overall, the next generation of riders will be much more experienced and ready to race when they get to their first world championship. At the same time, the tracks will need to follow and continue to challenge the best ice skaters in the world."