There isn't a tried-and-true formula for creating the perfect ice cross downhill athlete, but Reed Whiting says someone experienced in freestyle skiing, ski racing and inline skating can conquer the speeds, sharp turns and jumps associated with the high-octane sport.
"If you can mix those three things together with a good hockey player, you've got a very well-rounded athlete," said Whiting, ranked No. 6 in the world Red Bull Crashed Ice ratings.
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Those skills will be on display Saturday during the inaugural Mont du Lac Ice Cross Downhill event at Mont du Lac Recreation in Superior. Nearly 70 men and women will begin practice runs at 8 a.m., followed by qualifying around 10-10:30 a.m. Racing starts at 6 p.m. -- just a week after the Red Bull Crashed Ice tour hit St. Paul -- and there is no admission fee to view the event.
Whiting, 33, of Rochester, Minn., and other ice cross downhill enthusiasts have created a permanent track at Mont du Lac as a way to allow more people access to a sport Red Bull has propelled from YouTube highlights to a Fox Sports 1 TV deal.
"This is the first non-Red Bull race in the United States, ever," said Whiting, who played college hockey for Ohio State. "It's a spectacle. A lot of people want the opportunity but just can't get it. If you don't qualify in the top 100 out of 4,000 people, you don't get to go to St. Paul. And then if you don't qualify in the top 10 out of that 100, you don't even race. Even the guys who are the best out of thousands still don't ever really get to race anybody.
"We're trying to open it up. Eventually we'd like to have a more permanent location here, get kids involved next year and have youth races."
But first, some of the sport's top competitors will get first crack at the new track. Estimated to be 350- to 400-meters long, the track was constructed to reward precision and speed.
"This track is highly technical," Whiting said. "We built it for top-level riders as well as something that everybody can handle. But if you go full-blast, it is a big challenge for even the best.
"Most people will be braking a lot, but of the top guys who will be able to handle it, you could approach 40 (mph) on this track if you let it go. I'm not saying you will make it to the bottom if you do that."
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Four skaters will race at a time, with the two fastest advancing to the next round. And even though the event is not affiliated with Red Bull, the top two athletes will receive wild card berths into the Red Bull Crashed Ice season finale March 20-22 in Quebec City, Quebec.
While Whiting enjoys competing against the world's top ice cross downhill athletes, he's focused this weekend on giving the sport more exposure and grooming the next generation of competitors.
"People ask why isn't this in the Olympics or why isn't that in the X Games," Whiting said. "I have the same question, but I think it will be in the near future. It has world-wide appeal. It is growing fast.
"We have the big stage already ... but now we've got to take it back and we've got to show ski resorts and show people that this is feasible to do. People are into it, people want to come. Make it work on a smaller level, too."
"There's a big Super Bowl, but no Little League," said Doug Hughes, a 26-year-old competitor from St. Paul.
Hughes and Whiting hope a Little League version of ice cross downhill sprouts at Mont du Lac and spreads across the region. Although the track won't be made available to the public this season, they plan to make it accessible to the public next season.
"It starts in the summer with pushing dirt and figuring out different ways to make the course more challenging for us," Hughes said.
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"We want to have it set up next year, and we're working with Mont du Lac on this, and have it open for everybody," Whiting said. "We're going to have a track that is maintained and sprayed regularly for everybody to come to use."
Contact News Tribune sports editor Rick Lubbers at rlubbers@duluthnews.com or (218) 723-5317. Follow him @ricklubbersdnt on Twitter.
