January 5 , 2010

Red Bull running 'extreme' online lottery
Branded sports campaign now online

Red Bull Crashed Ice is skating into Quebec City for the fifth year in a row, and that means veterans and adrenaline junkies alike will soon be sharpening their blades and lacing their skates for the chance to battle for glory and bragging rights.

Male and female amateur and pro hockey players from across the country can register their names into the online lottery at www.redbullcrashedice.com starting today until January 24th at 11:59 pm EST for the chance to participate in one of eleven qualifying events across Canada.

Making the cut

On January 26th 200 men and 20 women (per qualifying city) will be randomly selected to participate in a qualifying event, which will consist of individual speed trials on a flat ice surface in a traditional indoor hockey rink. The top participants from each qualifying event who demonstrates the best skating skill, agility, strategy and strength will earn a spot in the finals in Quebec City, where consecutive heats of four skaters will then race head-to-head in a double elimination bracket (based on time).

In the final, brackets will narrow the field down from the top 64 qualifiers to a final four in the men's division, and from the top 16 qualifiers to the final four in the women's division. The World Championship final rankings will be determined based on the points accumulated over the two stops. The top four finishers in both the mens' and womens' divisions will skate away with not only bragging rights, but a share of the prize purse totalling $10,000 for both divisions.

First Stop: Munich

Red Bull Crashed Ice officially becomes a World Championship in 2010. The capital city of Bavaria is preparing for the first ever Red Bull Crashed Ice on German soil on January 16, 2010. Athletes representing eight countries will be battling head-to-head in Munich's Olympiapark - built for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The serpentine ice track features banked turns, challenging curves, and fearsome obstacles and will drop all the way down to the park's Olympic Lake. The main challenge for the athletes will be the banked curve, where they will have to try to keep their speed up on the open stretch of ice with a pylon at the end that can be circled from either side.

Battling for the glory and representing Canada are the country's top three performers: 2006 champion in Quebec City Gabriel Andre ( Edmonton, AB), 2007 champion in Quebec City and Helsinki Kevin Olson ( Lethbridge, AB), and local favourite Christian Papillon ( Quebec City, QC). Joining them will be Jean-Guy Chouinard ( Sherbrooke, QC) and Bruno Richard ( Bedec, NB) who qualified in Garmisch, Germany in December 2009.

About Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship

A combination of hockey, boardercross, and downhill skiing, Red Bull Crashed Ice sets a thrilling stage for intrepid male and female amateur and pro hockey players from around the globe. No flat surfaces here - instead, daring racers hurtle down a 575m ice track (with a 60m vertical) coiling through the city's stunning landscape while navigating through vertical drops, jumps and hairpin turns in a battle to the finish. There's only one rule: first to the bottom wins!