Outdoors

Women’s ‘Knuckle Huck’ competitions feature X Games rookies and seasoned vets on the podium

Aspen Public Radio | By Kaya Williams

Published January 29, 2024 at 8:30 PM MST

Egan Wint holds up her first-ever X Games medal after finishing third in the women’s snowboard Knuckle Huck competition on Jan. 27, 2024. Wint teared up with joy as she processed the experience at the base of Buttermilk Mountain; she was pulled into the event as an alternate and didn’t expect to land on the podium.

For the first time in the history of the Winter X Games, male and female athletes had an equal number of competitions this year,

thanks to the addition of women’s ski and snowboard “Knuckle Huck” events.

It’s a relatively new discipline (the men’s snowboard iteration debuted in 2019) that scores athletes based on the overall impression of their tricks off the convex rollover on either side of the “Big Air” jump.

Saturday’s competition wasn’t the first time a woman ever competed in the Knuckle Huck, as 21-time X Games medalist Jamie Anderson did it a few years ago. Anderson was a commentator this weekend, and told the crowds it was “amazing” to see women hold their own.

It meant a lot to the spectators too. Alexia Lewis is an Aspen-area membership specialist with the Girl Scouts of Colorado; she was one of the adult chaperones for several Girl Scout troops who got VIP access to watch the event.

“Our girls come every year to support the women but I think it's wonderful to see a historic moment like this for our girls, and just show them that they can be up there with anybody else,” Lewis said.

The Knuckle Huck podiums featured a mix of X Games rookies and seasoned pros, who showed off creativity and style through front flips, 360s and tricks like the “Misty 540” — a sort of diagonal spin with one and a half rotations.

An X Games athlete competes in the women’s snowboard “Knuckle Huck” event at Buttermilk Mountain on Jan. 27, 2024. Because the rollover or “knuckle” doesn’t give athletes as much amplitude as the “Big Air” jump, they have to get creative with tricks closer to the ground.

Snowboarder Egan Wint, who earned bronze in her X Games debut, was moved to joyful tears at the medal ceremony. She didn’t expect to compete in the event, but was pulled in as an alternate since she was already in Aspen for the snowboard Street Style competition.

“This is just totally insane,” Wint said after receiving her Knuckle Huck medal. “I live a really cool life, and I've worked really hard for it, but it always seems unattainable until you're there — and here we are.”

Wint’s advice for all those Girl Scouts? Just do what you like to do every day. If you stick with it, you might be surprised where you land.

Rounding out the women’s snowboard Knuckle Huck podium, Annika Morgan earned silver and Kokomo Murase earned gold.

In the women’s ski Knuckle Huck, Olivia Asselin landed on top. Rell Harwood was second and Sarah Hoefflin was third.