The 2012 Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship begins on January 12-14 on the banks of the frozen Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The title battle in the 12th season of one of the most exciting winter sports ever created will continue with stops in the Netherlands and Sweden in February before concluding in Quebec in front a crowd of more than 100,000 spectators in March. The Saint Paul race marks the return of the action to the United States for the first time since 2004.

Finland's Arttu Pihlainen is looking to defend his world championship against a pack of Canadians and fearless rivals from 30 nations. The fast Finn drove home the Mini awarded to the world champion after taking three of the last year's four races watched by a total of 170,000 spectators in the high-speed sport that is a combination of speed skating, boardercross and downhill skiing.

Canadian brothers Kyle and Scott Croxall finished second and third last year and hope to get their title aspirations off to a flying start in Saint Paul before what is expected to be an enthusiastic crowd of 75,000 over the three days of racing. The 406-meter track in Saint Paul features a steep 45-degree starting ramp with a kicker that will produce the sport's longest jumps ever.

The sport of Ice Cross Downhill demands a combination of agility, skating prowess and fearlessness going downhill at speeds of up to 70 km/h. The skaters descend the canals four at a time, jostling for position as they battle to the finish line while clearing jumps, rollers, obstacles and hairpin turns. With only the top two going through, the competition is fierce. The field of 64 finalists is whittled down to just four competing for the victory in the finale.

Race Calendar 2012: Jan. 13/14 Saint Paul (USA), Feb. 3/4 Valkenburg (NED), Feb. 17/18 Are (SWE), March 16/17 Quebec (CAN)