SUPERIOR — While many residents enjoyed temperatures above 40 degrees in the Twin Ports area on Thursday, dozens of ice cross racers were hoping for cooler conditions on Friday at Mont du Lac Resort for the opening day of competition for the United States Ice Cross Association's (USIX) Cup Series event.
Mont du Lac hosted a number of ice cross events in the past with 2025 marking the 10-year anniversary of the first USIX race at the resort.
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Forty-three ice cross racers are scheduled to compete in men's, women's and juniors races this weekend. Jack Beatson, 19, of Cary, North Carolina is among those competing in both men's and juniors. Beatson is one of the top competitors in both divisions and is no stranger to skates, as he is a sophomore forward on the Appalachian State University men's club hockey team in Boone, North Carolina. He was inspired to give ice cross racing a try after seeing videos on social media.
“This is my fourth year doing this,” Beatson said. “I started when I was 16 and this (Mont du Lac) was actually my first event, back in 2021.”
This is Beatson’s third Mont du Lac event. While hockey and ice cross share similarities in skates, helmets and padding, obviously, there are differences between the two sports such as the elevation changes, jumps, drops and turns.
“It's pretty terrifying, to be honest,” joked Beatson. “It's fun and everyone, if you ask them, they do it for the adrenaline rush. Everyone's got a smile on their face, but it's for sure dangerous. You have people going downhill on a track on ice skates. Obviously, there’s potential for cuts and bad falls and the ice is super hard, so there's no give in that. I mean, it's super unique.”
New this season with USIX is the requirement that competitors wear neck guards, after the death of former Hibbing/Chisholm Blue Jacket and Minnesota Duluth Bulldog Adam Johnson in October 2023 after being cut by a skate in the neck while playing professional hockey in the United Kingdom.
“We decided we should really enforce them (neck guards) especially with people going such high speeds,” said Kale Johnstone, USIX president. “We've had people slashed in the legs and stuff before, so we want to take every precautionary measure necessary too, especially for the neck.”
Thursday’s warmer weather affected practice time for the ice cross racers and temperatures above 32 degrees early Friday afternoon delayed the qualifiers from the scheduled 3 p.m. start, as crews worked on the track. But by late afternoon, as temps dipped a bit, the racers were able to get in some practice runs.
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The finals are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m and the races are free for spectators to attend.
If you’ve ever thought about giving ice cross a try, you have a chance on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
“For anybody that's interested that maybe didn't compete this weekend. We're gonna have a bunch of the athletes that are skating this weekend stay behind and kind of teach everybody the ropes,” said Johnstone.
For race results and more information on the U.S. Ice Cross Association, visit www.usicecrossracing.org.
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