Sports

SLP Man Plays Daredevil, Takes on Crashed Ice

Tom Reid took part in the downhill skating competition last weekend in St. Paul.

Last weekend outside the St. Paul Cathedral, more than 150 skaters from around the world took part in Red Bull Crashed Ice, a downhill ice skating competition that sent them flying down a 1,300-foot course, complete with plenty of sharp turns, hills and jumps.

For St. Louis Park resident Tom Reid, it was an opportunity of a lifetime. The 33-year-old bartender had never done anything like Crashed Ice before, so when the last-minute invite came, he jumped on it. Reid made it to Friday's elimination round but did not advance to Saturday's finals. He finished in 98th place.

Reid, who played high school hockey in South Dakota, stays active these days by playing a variety of sports. But he said downhill skating was something new entirely. We sat down with Reid recently to discuss his Crashed Ice experience.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

St. Louis Park Patch: What was it like going down that course?

Tom Reid: It was pretty intimidating, because I don’t have any background in downhill skiing or skateboarding or anything like that. I’ve always done everything on a level sheet of ice. But I found that when I was going around, I was smiling and laughing the whole way.  Even when I was sliding down on my face. It was fun—a lot of fun.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

St. Louis Park Patch: How did you get into Crashed Ice?

Reid: I work at a bar over in St. Paul, The Bulldog. I found out about the event through our Red Bull rep. I went online and signed up for the qualifier, which they held at the Xcel Energy Center. I didn’t actually qualify—my time was too slow. I just thought, "That’s fine, it is what it is, a younger man’s sport." But then our Red Bull rep comes to me about two weeks ago and says, "Hey, I got you in." I was like, "What do you mean? I didn’t qualify." He said, "Don’t worry about it. I got you in. You’re skating. Get ready." So I had about a week and a half to fully prepare. The sensible adult in me said, "Pass." But the kid in me prevailed. (I knew) it’d be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go down a course like that.

St. Louis Park Patch: How did you train for the event in such a short amount of time?

Reid: I was on the ice as much as I could playing hockey. And just trying to do as much leg work in the gym as I could—squats, lunges, running, stair-climbing.

St. Louis Park Patch: Did that prepare you, or was it still kind of eye-opening?

Reid: It was still very eye-opening. I don’t know how I would have been able to prepare better. It was a lot of balance, and being comfortable on your skates, too.

St. Louis Park Patch: What were your runs like?

Reid: Thursday was the time trials. In the morning, we practiced. The coaches kind of took us down piece-by-piece. We didn’t just take a full run right away. Thursday afternoon is when we had two full time trial runs. My first qualifier was my best. It was a clean run. It wasn’t fast, but it was good enough. My second qualifier was pretty sloppy. I tried to take the starting hill at full speed, and that didn’t work out for me. They took the top 64, and I just snuck in—I tied for 59th. Friday night (the competition round) was not great. In my heat, I was hoping for the fast guys to wipe out and I was hoping for me to have a clean run (laughing). That was my strategy. And it didn’t happen. I think they all had a clean run because by the time I got close to the finish line, I couldn’t even see the backs of their jerseys. They were already getting their skate guards on (laughing).

St. Louis Park Patch: What was it like skating in front of a crowd of thousands in downtown St. Paul?

Reid: That was a different experience. From up on the starting hill, the way that they had the track lit up, I couldn’t really see the crowd. But then when you get down and you’re actually on the course, you can definitely see them. You hear all the banging (on the walls around the track) and people yelling. A lot of "boos" when you don’t jump the double jump (laughing). But it was fun, it was real cool.

St. Louis Park Patch: What were the other athletes like? Big, strong guys? Fast guys?

Reid: It was a little bit of both, but the fastest guys were the smallest guys it seemed like. I didn’t see any real big guys going too far. (The smaller guys) were very good skaters.

St. Louis Park Patch: Did you have any serious wipeouts or injuries?

Reid: I did not. The sensible adult in me won out, because with my job as a bartender, I have no Aflac insurance. I knew if I got hurt, I’m not making any money until I’m healed. So a major victory for me was not getting hurt (laughing).

St. Louis Park Patch: What did your friends and family think when you told them you were doing Crashed Ice?

Reid: Everyone was very supportive. I was kind of blown away by how much my Facebook blew up over the weekend. My cousin, Tara, back in South Dakota was easily my biggest cheerleader. When she found out I made it to Friday, she begged her husband to drop everything and drive here to watch me. They couldn't make it, but she was hardcore.

St. Louis Park Patch: Do you think this is a sport that can catch on in the U.S?

Reid: I’m not sure. I hope it does. It was an amazing experience. I know there are a lot of people who’d pay good money just to go down that course. I hope that this event piques everyone’s interest, and I hope it does blow up. I had an awesome time. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here