( DAVOS ) - A unique performance for spectators and participants alike will take place on 9 February 2008 at 7 p.m. on Bolgen in Davos: the 1st Red Bull Crashed Ice Davos. This is the first time an ice cross downhill race is being organised in Switzerland. It will be held at the foot of the Jakobshorn.
The ice cross downhill discipline combines two types of sports - ice hockey and boarder-X - in a spectacular cocktail. A frozen course plunges about 400 metres over bumps and jumps. The racers speed at a clip as fast as 50 kilometres an hour past stairs and edges through the night of Davos. Not even a chalet will stop them. To avoid landing in the boards, particularly broad shoulders are needed in addition to pluck and a sense of balance. The contestants start in groups. Four athletes plunge simultaneously onto the icy course. Crashes are guaranteed in these neck-and-neck races, since only the two fastest racers will advance one round.
This event is nothing for ice princesses or hobby skaters! The contestants had to qualify during qualifier events held in Bern, Davos, Rapperswil, Marly and Silvaplana on an ice field peppered with obstacles. The 80 fastest skaters were given permission to start in the free programme in Davos. On Bolgen, they will skate with 20 national and international invited hockey professionals - including, for example, Jasper Felder from Sweden - and fight for the prize money of US$ 10,000.
Over the past six years, the Red Bull Crashed Ice has generated tons of action in many places: From Stockholm and Moscow to Prague and the US, this spectacular cocktail has thrilled thousands of spectators. Incidentally, spectators behind the boards do not pay anything to share this adrenalin kick!