Another weekend rolled by but this one is had a different meaning for snowsports fans. The 15th Winter X Games kicked off on Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, CO last Thursday. 21 different medal events took place over the past four days for skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers. American’s once again swept the board, winning eleven of the 21 gold medals at steak: 9 men’s and 2 women’s. Canada wrapped up second with six golds in skiing and snowboarding.
These Winter X Games were a change from years past. As with every year the best pull out their bag of tricks and steal the show but the finish line looked harder to reach this year. Every event at the X Games sends participants home long faced and bruised but the frequency of wrecks this year was absurd. From the superpipe to skier x the best found themselves struggling on the poor conditions.
Ice was the biggest trouble maker in Aspen. As tracks became wore down through practice and qualifying ice built up. It made jumps slick, ruined the edge of the halfpipe, and turned the race course into a danger zone. With no fresh snow coming down the riders were left to fight it out on their own. The women’s skier x finals saw the top three come crashing through the finish leaving the Canadian gold medalist with a broken nose.
While to the casual viewer it may have looked like competitors were having difficulties staying on their equipment it truly showed who can win under any condition. It takes a high skill level to carve on ice and Shaun White did it, again.
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