I went to the first night of the Red Bull Crashed Ice down at the Rideau Canal locks. You couldn’t have a more beautiful setting. With the Parliament lit up on one side and the Chateau Laurier on the other side, it really is spectacular.

Friday night was the Junior World Championships where skaters between the age of 16-21 competed in heat after heat until it was narrowed down to a final four. Saturday night is the big show – the World Championship of Red Bull Crashed Ice will feature the best competitors in the world (including a number of Canadians).

The course is intense, the race begins with a straight-down drop and goes directly into a tricky turn. The crowd really gets into it, and there is a real party atmosphere. There are play by play guys providing commentary and a dj is spinning fun dance music the entire time. There are also large screens all along the race track giving fans a view of the entire race. The Juniors event was exciting, the finals even came down to a photo finish. The favoured Finnish athlete just edging out the Canadian skater Samuel Nadeau.

The Red Bull race really could be a great family friendly event, but honestly, this weekend it was just TOO COLD. With windchill it hovered around -25 degrees on Friday night. I don’t know that I have ever felt so cold. The locks acts like a wind tunnel and it was so chilly! I had to leave for some of the races and come back for the semis, and finals because I was turning blue.

I recommend the race for older children who are properly dressed, and I mean bundled up to the MAX. Strollers are not recommended because you will have to walk down the stairs to the locks. I also recommend packing a thermos with a hot drink. Once you are down with all the other fans it is not the easiest to get back up to buy a hot chocolate or coffee somewhere, so bring your own! Also, you may want to show up about half way through. The first hour or so is all preliminary races. The playoff rounds don’t happen until later, and it is a very long night out in the cold if you try and go for the entire time.

It really was like nothing I have ever seen, and it felt pretty special to see it live. But, I am happy that I went without my little kids. They would be too young to enjoy it and they would have been screaming at me within minutes because of the cold.