PlanetSKI is Trackside for the Dramatic Sport of Ice Cross

8th December 2024 | Simon Wilson, Val Thorens

Last modified on December 11th, 2024

Val Thorens held its inaugural Ice Cross race in the centre of the resort. A British/Canadian skater triumphed. So, what’s the sport all about?

It was cold.

It was snowy.

And it was loud, really really loud.

If you have never come across Ice Cross before, then picture this: four heavily padded and helmeted ice hockey players have forgotten their sticks and are standing around next to each other.

Someone shouts, “last one to the finish line pays the bar bill!” and they set off in crazy pursuit of each other.

Get the idea?

Add turns, bumps, fireworks, pounding dance music and a screaming crowd lining a narrow strip of ice and you can begin to imagine last Saturday night in Val Thorens.

Ice Cross, Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI

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Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross, which play out over much longer courses on snow, are already recognised as mainstream winter sports and have both won coveted places in the Olympics.

And this was very much the subtext behind the weekend event in Val Thorens, with ATSX, the body which runs run the Ice Cross world championships, hoping it will make the Olympic grade for the games in 2030, which are being held in the French Alps.

At 2300 metres, Val Thorens is the highest resort in Alps with a great record for early snow and the season here was already in full swing with big crowds and a decent covering on most pistes even before the welcome weekend storm.

For Val Thorens hosting the event fits into its images as a forward-thinking resort that welcomes the new.

This winter it is also hosting a round of the Freeride World Tour for the first time.

Freeride World Tour heads to Val Thorens

This being Val Thorens it was well-organised with the spectators experience in mind as much as putting on a platform for the athletes.

Ice Cross, Val Thorens. Image © PlanetSKI

For most of those watching the racing on Saturday, the Ice Cross itself was more of a curiosity than a destination on a bitterly cold night.

It was fabulous trackside:

There were loud cheers for the French racers, of course, and generally encouraging noises for those from the other 17 nations represented.

This is a gruelling sport where competitors race again and again over the short distance.

Each time the top two go through to the next round until there are only four left for the grand final race.

In the end, the main results in Val Thorens went with the form book with both the current men’s and women’s world champions, Rob Worling and Veronika Windisch emerging victorious.

The junior title went to Jack Beatson of the USA, who also finished fourth in the overall men’s competition.

World Champion Rob Worling is a dual Canadian and UK citizen and PlanetSKI caught up with him after the race to explore whether he might ever consider switching to represent Britain?

“I don’t completely rule it out!”, laughed Rob, 28, whose father is British and would regularly bring the family back to Sussex from Ottawa for holidays when he was younger.

“But there’s a better chance with my brother Andrew – he’s 25 and already representing the UK in Ice Cross.”

As for this weekend’s race itself, Rob confirmed that conditions had been particularly difficult.

“Because of all the snow, we didn’t get as much practice time as we hoped – and I found the elevation really tough, it was the worst I have ever felt in a race”, he said referring to the altitude in Val Thorens at 2300 metres.

As for Ice Cross getting recognised as an Olympic sport: “That’s what everyone hopes for”, says Rob.

“I’ll be in my early 30‘s in 2030 and there are plenty of people at that age who are really competitive.

For sure, if it happens I want to be there.”

As a first time spectator and novice to the sport of Ice Cross I can only say it was one of the most exciting snowsports disciplines I have seen in recent years.

If you get the chance then check it out.