When it comes to pure fun in sports few offer up bigger portions than ice cross downhill.
The mere idea of four competitors on hockey skates headed down a steep ice hill with a few corners and jumps to navigate along the way just conjures up visions of pumps, crashes and speed.
So, it’s no wonder the sport, which started out under the umbrella of extreme sports is inching its way to the mainstream based on increased participation and huge crowds.
The huge crowds are thanks to being part of the great job Red Bull does in highlighting some of the most dramatic sports on the planet. (As an aside if you doubt the dramatic sport comment check out Red Bull Rampageone of mountain biking's truest test of skill and mental toughness. The event has become the premier freeride competition in the world).
As for ice cross, as noted, it’s about skating and ice, so of course Canadians have taken to the sport, several being in the top echelon of the sport including Kyle Croxall.
Croxall is a former ice hockey player who played one season with the Mississauga Chargers of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
“I started out playing hockey since I was four,” he told me recently when he consented to an interview. He said he still plays the game recreationally, but his sport focus these days is ice cross.
Croxall said he was immediately interested in ice cross after watching an event on TV. He said he was watching Hockey Night In Canada and after the game Crashed Ice was aired.
“It was ‘how had I not known about this?’ and ‘how do I get into it?’” he said.
For Croxall it was pretty much right from the hockey arena to the slopes.
“The first time I just went out and did it,” he said, adding that would not be as feasible today. “It’s more competitive now.”
Croxall did add that the move from hockey player to ice cross racer was a rather natural one.
“Most guys start out with a hockey background,” he said, adding a few come from skiing or even skateboarding, but even those generally have hockey somewhere on their sport resume.
Since the competition level has ramped up, Croxall said the training has had to increase the stay in the hunt for wins. He said he plays hockey now as a training tool for ice cross, as well as spending time on a skating treadmill, and doing jumps at a roller blade park.
Croxall said he tries to develop all-around skills, adding he wants quick starts in races too.
“You want to be the first one to the first corner,” he said, adding cutting that corner in the lead tends to be a big advantage.
And while shoving competitors or body checking them is not allowed, you are allowed to protect your line, so there is an element of physicality, which leads back to hockey too.
But back to his first race in 2008 in Quebec, what was it like staring down the incline of ice?
“It was super exciting, but super intimidating. We were all new guys starting out wondering ‘why are we doing this?’” said Croxall.
But Croxall kept at it. He has individually been ranked second (2010, 2011, 2013) and first (2012) in the Red Bull Crashed Ice Men's Individual World Championship rankings.
And he was tied at the top of the rankings in 2019 when the tour stopped due to CIVID-19, and he was ultimately placed second based on finishes at key races on the tour.
As part of the "Living The Dream" team, he has been ranked third (2013) and second (2014) in the Red Bull Crashed Ice Team World Championship rankings.
Apart from the world championship rankings, he has six first-place finishes, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in Men's Individual Races.
It has helped that Kyle’s brother Scott is also an elite level ice cross racer.
“We can talk to each other about training, or before races. It’s nice to have a brother out there,” said Kyle.
Among the races that have taken Croxall around the world he still likes when they get to race in Quebec where it all started.
“I get tons of family and friends coming out to watch the races,” he said.
As for the future, Croxall said he sees only growth for ice cross.
“It’s something that should be, and could be, in the Olympics,” he said, adding when you have a sport that has attracted up to 100,000 fans to past events “it has a pretty big fan base” that can be built on.
