Ontario native Evan McEachran taking his warm up lap before his judged rounds. photo by Megan Lahatte
A new year and a fresh layer of snow on Buttermilk Mountain brings the annual X Games competition to Aspen, Colorado.
Skiers and snowboarders from all over the world venture to Colorado to show off their skills on one of the best mountains worldwide. Fans of these winter sports also travel from all over the globe to experience world-class skiing in the day and witness the best of the best compete at night.
One of the biggest show-stopping events during the games is the Men’s Ski Big Air, and this year was no exception. With the introduction of the style round, many skiers did revolutionary tricks that have never been seen before. Legendary skier Alex Hall performed a switch no spin, where Hall went off of the jump backwards and had no rotation after the jump; this is a trick any skier would agree is incredibly hard to pull off. Ultimately, Italian skier Miro Tabanelli reigned victorious with the first ever 2340 on skis, winning not only his first X Games gold medal, but his first of any medal in general. Tabanelli’s sister Flora also made headlines this winter, winning her first gold in the Women’s Big Air with a clean 1440.
Switching events, Slopestyle consists of a mixture of rails and jumps, showcasing the versatility of the world’s top skiers. The men’s runs were generational, with New Zealand skier Luca Harrington taking home the gold due to a substantial three point lead over silver medalist Andri Ragettli. Harrington obtained this medal with flawless landings on both the rails and jumps, as well as simply having an overall clean run with no major mistakes. On the women’s side, Tess Ledeux won her 6th overall medal and 3rd gold medal with a womens high score of 95 even. This round was far and away the best of the day, with Ledeux leaving no questions to the judges that she deserved the gold more than anyone.
Next up was one of the most anticipated and watched events, the Ski Street Style. This consists of rails, boxes and anything else skiers can jump both on and off and ride. Many notable names participated in this event, including former gold winning skiers such as Alex Hall, Eileen Gu, and winners Olivia Asselein and Colby Stevenson. Asselein made a huge comeback, going from being placed as low as 7th out of 8 in the round before her almost flawless last run, marking off a great weekend for the Ontario native with her additional silver medal in slopestyle. Stevenson’s run was nothing short of greatness either, with equal amounts of creativity and style, ultimately earning the Park City native his 5th gold medal.
With these combinations of never-before-seen tricks and gravity-defying jumps, this year’s X Games was far from disappointing. Although the games have just finished, big variations to next year’s games have already been unveiled. X Games announced that next year would feature team-based leagues, similar to those in Formula One. Many athletes have already expressed their opinions on this, with Winter Park’s Svea Irving stating that these new X Games are “innovating and bringing fresh ideas to the table.” As a result of these upcoming changes combined with skiers constantly improving, many will be waiting on the edge of their seats to see what the future holds for these winter sports.
