X Games welcomes women’s big air, snowbike cross events
Action sports festival begins today at Buttermilk
Aspen’s 2017 Winter X Games features new events, one a long time coming and another that’s more experimental.
For the first time on an X Games course in the U.S., the women of skiing and snowboarding will compete on the big air jump. On the snowcross course, snow bikes, the offspring of snowmobiles and dirt bikes, will see their X Games debut.
The new events were discussed, along with other general matters of X Games interest, at the opening press conference for ESPN’s signature action sports festival, which takes place today through Sunday at Buttermilk ski area. The kick-off featured a panel of nine of the most gifted X Games participants, including Danny Davis, Chloe Kim, Bobby Brown and Aspen native Torin Yater-Wallace.
Jamie Anderson, the most decorated rider in X Games slopestyle history, shared her excitement for gender equality in the big air. X Games Oslo last year had a women’s big air competition, but the venue’s urban setting required a scaffolding-based jump, which is less favorable to riders than a traditional ski-slope jump such as the big air at Buttermilk.
“I’m really happy to have a jump on the mountain,” said Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe. “Scaffolding jumps are pretty scary and those are the only big air events I have competed in, so this is what I’ve always wanted, to be able to compete in big air at X Games, because it’s always a really proper jump. I think all of us girls are really excited for this week.”
The women’s snowboard big air final is today at 8 p.m. while women’s skiing big air finals are on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. Men’s snowboarding and skiing big air finals are at 10 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, respectively.
The snowbike cross event is attracting participants from the worlds of snowmobiling and motocross, X Games spokesman Danny Chi said earlier this week. The machines feature a modified dirt bike frame with a ski in place of the front wheel and a snowmobile track instead of a rear wheel. Finals take place at 2:30 p.m. Friday, when 16 total riders will compete in multiple heats to crown a champion.As usual for the opening press conference for Winter X Games, which began in 1997 in California before moving to Aspen in 2002, where it’s taken place ever since, athletes extolled the value of the annual prime time completion to their respective sports.
Asked to compare the ESPN event to the Winter Olympics, which take place in February 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, skier Maddie Bowman opined that, “The difference between the two is I feel the X Games is really who we are and where we come from. The Olympics is special in its own right, but I think for me coming back to the X Games is one of the most special feelings just because I grew up watching people from my hometown, like Jamie, compete here and wanting to come here.”
The 2014 Olympic gold medalist Bowman, also from South Lake Tahoe, will compete for her fifth straight X Games gold medal in the superpipe at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
While he was not on the panel, the return of Shaun White, who dominated men’s snowboarding for much of the last decade, prompted a question. Danny Davis, who according to emcee Brandon Graham is “your favorite snowboarder’s favorite snowboarder,” said it’s “fantastic” that the flying tomato is returning to competition after being absent from Aspen in two of the last three years.
White, 30, is hoping to make a return to the Olympics next year after falling off the podium in Sochi, despite winning gold in 2006 and 2010. White won six straight X Games gold medals in the superpipe through 2013.
Even though it “puts us in a tough spot because he always does well,” it’s “not a contest when the best guys aren’t there,” Davis said, noting that the competitive atmosphere encourages progression.
“He’s always one that pushes the envelope – usually in height lately,” Davis said. “I’m sure he’ll be sending it so it’s good to have him back.”
The men’s snowboard superpipe finals takes place tonight at 8:45 p.m., while the women’s snowboard superpipe final is Saturday at 7 p.m. For skiers, the women’s superpipe finals are at 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by the men’s final at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Click here for the complete story.
Source: aspendailynews.com