 |
| Tim Cimmer flying high - both in competition and the business side of Ice Cross |
Dynamic and
dramatic, dangerous and daring, Ice Cross - alternatively named Ice Cross Downhill - could be the next Olympic sport. A
combination of skating and jumping on a fast obstacle course, the sport was christened ‘Ice Cross’ in 2014 by Tim Cimmer, a Canadian
entrepreneur and Crashed Ice competitor.
Watching
Red Bull’s televised Crashed Ice events back in 2008, Cimmer dreamt of becoming
an ice racer himself. When the chance to try out came four years later in
Saskatoon, he was thrilled to make the squad for a Niagara Falls fixture. As
the fastest skater on his hockey team and a daring motor cross racer, he
assumed he was well set up for podium potential. “I thought that with the racing and skating experience I had I
would be one of the best,” says Cimmer. “But I found out that flat ice skating
has nothing to do with it. My debut on the turbulent track, I felt like a
two-year-old kid, skating on ice for the first time.”
Despite this setback
Cimmer persevered with intensive core training and in 2013 became one of the
first North Americans to qualify for a Red Bull Crashed Ice competition in
Europe. “I made it through a qualifier in Airolo to go to Lausanne, Switzerland
only to find the track started with a large jump called a spine. After finding
out the hard way what a spine was, I was still determined to do this sport,”
Cimmer recalls.
A natural businessman,
Cimmer began researching how to make the fledgling winter sport official. He consulted with another athlete and various business associates in March 2013,
launching an innovative business plan to promote Ice Cross. “I knew it would be challenging and that making these
courses affordable was a must,” he says.
He went on to create
simple, fast and cost-efficient strategies for engineering both outdoor and
inside tracks. In 2014 he got the opportunity to put his new ideas to the test.
Qualifying for a Red Bull contest in Jyvascula, Finland, he met former world
champion, Arttu Pihlainen, who was building a practice track.
In order to save time and money, Cimmer enlisted the help of nearby ski hill, Laajis Laajavuori, using their snowcat and groomer to carve the rollercoaster track and
also to make obstacles. “Six hours later and with the help of four people we
had a designed track with one sheet of ice for a cost of under $1500. It was a
breakthrough,” Cimmer says. “We could now build a track on a ski hill with
enough elevation, an easy way up the hill using the existing ski lifts, and
very cost efficient.”
This gave Cimmer –
known as the Audacious Cowboy - the confidence to set up his own race in
conjunction with Laajis ski hill, demonstrating that Ice Cross was a viable sport in its own right. Using his
business model, the first world race was held Feb 15, 2014 under the umbrella
of the brand new World Ice Cross League. “It was a huge success to all, young
and old, with a crowd of over 5000 spectators,” Cimmer recalls. “Later that spring came the formation of the
associations, international federation and the registrations of all that would
be needed to formalize the sport of Ice Cross."
Since Feb 2014, Cimmer has been founder, director, board member and owner of World Ice Cross Inc. which is dedicated to expanding the sport, educating participants and organizing events. Investing tens of thousands dollars and countless man hours into the sport, he is also director and board member of both the Canadian and US Ice Cross Associations and the International Ice Cross Sport Federation. Since 2014 he has been President and CEO of the World Ice Cross League.
Currently, four Red Bull Crashed Ice events are held annually: in the USA
(St Paul), Finland (Helsinki), Ireland (Belfast) and Canada (Edmonton). Four ‘Rider Cups’ have been added to the schedule this year, also in
the USA, Austria, Finland, and Canada. A women's only division was added in Canada in 2009. The
last stop on the Crashed Ice Tour is at Edmonton this weekend, running Friday
March 13 and Saturday March 14, marking the tenth year of Red Bull fixtures in Canada. The city centre tracks
involve downhill skating
with tight turns and dramatic drops over a fast-paced course, attracting
hundreds of thousands of spectators. Red Bull says that each year the ice track is completely redesigned to challenge athletes' endurance, skills and nerve in exciting new ways. This year there will be nine turns over the 415m track with a 45m vertical drop. A 50-strong international crew works for more than three weeks building the track and setting up audiovisuals for the massive production.
His first season appearing in all the tour fixtures this year, Cimmer is ranked 46 in the world and is looking for a strong finish in Edmonton to keep him in the top 64 overall. Gabriel Andre, 2006 world champion, and William Dutton, an Olympic speed skater, are also hometown favorites. The threatening threesome are hooking up for a great team competition race on Friday followed by individual events on Saturday.
His first season appearing in all the tour fixtures this year, Cimmer is ranked 46 in the world and is looking for a strong finish in Edmonton to keep him in the top 64 overall. Gabriel Andre, 2006 world champion, and William Dutton, an Olympic speed skater, are also hometown favorites. The threatening threesome are hooking up for a great team competition race on Friday followed by individual events on Saturday.
Going forward, Cimmer
wants to take the sensational sport indoors, too, using NHL-scale arenas with
existing flat ice both for events and practice. Plans for this year included
opening up Ice Cross to additional global sponsors and international media in
order to support and spotlight what he hopes will be the next Olympic sport.
Links and Contact Info:
Canada
Cell: (403) 880-7600
USA
Cell: (216) 225-2000
Toll Free:
(888) DREAM 41 (1-888-373-2641)
Email: tim@futurenow.com
