Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Setting A Stage

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme day for April is Wet.

Back during my Winterlude series, I mentioned Crashed Ice, an event that was held here in Ottawa on the first weekend of March. Today I'm starting a four day series about it. This was the first time this event was held in Ottawa. Red Bull came up with the idea in 2001 as a gimmick of sorts: ice cross downhill skating by hockey players at high speeds. It's taken off since, with a series of these events each winter in various places- often in Quebec City, but also over the years in places around Europe and North America- check the previous events here. This year the final event of the season was here. A course was set up over the Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal in the weeks leading up to the event, with a total drop of 35 metres from the top to the finish, and a total length of 375 metres. Nestled right between Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier, with a look out to the Ottawa River and Gatineau, it was a good setting for the event. I photographed the process of building the course several times. It was said in an article about the event that when you combine the work crew's hours on setting up, staging, and taking down this whole thing, ten thousand hours would have been spent on it.


These shots, from a few days after the previous ones, date to February 20th, a clear and sunny day. I happened to come up to Parliament Hill, took some shots up there I'll show you in a few days, and took the chance to get a view down to the course below.


Leaving Parliament Hill, I came down towards the Ottawa Locks to get a different point of view, heading along the course. I was surprised by the heavy machinery on the snow, but its purpose made sense the first night of the event- it was smoothing out the surface area so that people could stand up there and watch.

31 comments:

  1. First off, your header photo is very nice.

    So fun to see all the activity in this series.

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  2. Hope some of the snow is gone by now!

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  3. It looks (and sounds) scary! Interesting shots - looking forward to seeing some of the event.

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  4. So much color and texture in those photos.
    Thank you for reminding me about the theme Wet for April! It is a Saturday. I might even be able to combine the City Daily Photo theme with the Weekend Reflection meme.

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  5. neat, you always find the great tidbits to share. very cool! ( ;

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  6. ...this looks a bit too daring for me!

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  7. @Lauren: thanks!

    @Halcyon: it is slowly going.

    @Francisco: thank you.

    @Mike: it was a blast to watch.

    @Janis: I pretty have my theme post ready.

    @Beth: thank you!

    @Tom: it was crazy to watch!

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  8. That rather blows my mind! What a project and I'll bet it was great fun! Nice photos, William!

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  9. it's fun to see them getting it ready!

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  10. A big project indeed! Those who participated must be very daring.

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  11. Sun! New life is percolating out of the snow!

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  12. I'm so curious to see more William 😊

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  13. I will have to see further posts as I'm not sure how this works. It looks like maybe skateboarding on skates? I have skated on slopes and most of the time I was falling.

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  14. That's a lot of work spent for one event. I hope it was worth it.

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  15. @Lowell: it was fun!

    @Tanya: it was quite a job, and it had to be done in a way that didn't mar the Canal itself.

    @Nancy: it took a lot of guts to do that!

    @Cloudia: it is! We had such little sunlight in January and February- that one day, the 20th, was an exception.

    @Grace: and there's more to come, including video!

    @Red: that's actually pretty close to what it was.

    @Sharon: I think it was. The event was free, but it would have generated a great deal of publicity for the city, and the attention would have brought in a good many visitors for this event.

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  16. A lot of work and preparation went into this.

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  17. They take the preparation really seriously! I am looking forward to see more :)

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  18. I've seen films of the Quebec City event - it looks pretty crazy! A wild ride!

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  19. They did a great job preparing for the event. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your photos.

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  20. Looking forward to see more too.

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  21. @Linda: and it came off very well indeed.

    @Marleen: there was a lot of effort that went into it all.

    @RedPat: crazy indeed! I can say that having had watched it with my own eyes, but it was a blast!

    @Bill: more to come. I enjoyed this event.

    @Carolann: this was quite the thing to see. I'd known about the Quebec City events, but not the other places in the world it's been held over the years, until this one was being organized.

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  22. Some people have a real need for speed. This looks like another fun and interesting series.

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  23. This looks like it could be really fun. Looking forward to future posts!!

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  24. Still cold and snowy there, ha?

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  25. It looks cool... Nice captures and thank you for different angles.

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  26. I wouldn't want my kids to do this!!!i

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  27. I really love your new header!

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  28. @Mari: it is.

    @Kay: it was a blast to see.

    @Spare Parts: it was a fun event, but so cold.

    @Orvokki: thank you.

    @Karl: and still snowy right now.

    @Klara: you're welcome.

    @Jennifer: it takes a bit of insanity.

    @Norma: thank you!

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