Williams Lake’s Trevor Mack recently qualified for the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championships, coming up March 16 in Quebec City.
The 20-year-old earned his berth to worlds following the Red Bull Crashed Ice National Championships in Niagra Falls early December — an event he’s competed at the past three years.
Red Bull Crashed Ice blends ice hockey, downhill skating and bordercross with competitors skating down an ice track taking jumps and bumps along the way.
“It was amazing because I’d never been to Niagra Falls before and I was able to race down the track and see the falls right in front of me, which is definitely something I’ll probably never be able to do again so that was really, really cool,” Mack said, adding a new track was built to accommodate the event’s first time being held in Niagra Falls.
“The track was so much harder than Quebec City the past two years. It was a lot more technical and a lot more physically demanding. I remember in training runs six guys were taken off the track by ambulance.”
At nationals Mack placed 76th out of 150 skaters, qualifying him as one of eight racers to compete in a small race called the Reverse Falls.
“We had to race the rack uphill and that literally was the most physically enduring thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,” Mack said. “We raced up a 300-metre section of the 400-metre track.”
Mack was second most of the way, but fell toward the end, leaving him sixth.
“It was the last eight people up to 76th, so that qualified me for Quebec City in March,” he said. “I was literally the last guy to qualify out of all 150 skaters.”
Now, he said, he’s focusing on the world championships in Quebec City, where he hopes to continue to improve.
“Last year I was 96th [at nationals] and this year I came 76th, so I’m getting a little better but I still have to train a lot more,” he said. “At least now I know what to do for March, so I’m feeling a bit better about it.”
Additionally, the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championships will be broadcast live on Sportsnet.
“My goal for Niagra Falls was to qualify, and now since I’ve qualified my goal is to hopefully try to race on TV this time,” he said.
“The top 32 get to be on television.”