The 25th X Games returns to Aspen’s Buttermilk Mountain Friday, and this year’s competition comes with several changes.
Snowmobile competitions are making a comeback after a five-year hiatus, with the first round starting Friday night.
Brett Turcotte, an eight-time X Games snowmobile gold medalist, said at a press conference Thursday that he had not hung up his boots in that time. He has been competing in other competitions and said he is ready to be back.
“It’s so awesome to be back putting snowmobiling back on the main stage, and to have X Games be the stage to perform on,” he said.
“I feel awesome — motivated. I got a gold medal here in 2020 for best trick, but I crashed both my runs in snowmobile freestyle, so I got some redemption.”
As Turcotte practiced on Thursday, he said the knuckle huck is bigger than ever. The jump propels riders more than 100 feet in the air, and athletes have more hang time, which is the total time an athlete stays in the air during a jump or trick.
Snowmobile competitions were phased out during the COVID-19 pandemic. X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom has brought them back.
Other new initiatives introduced during his tenure include AI-powered judging and sports betting. He also introduced an X Games League that will compete in skiing and snowboarding competitions including some co-ed teams. It is set to have its first draft pick in March.
Bloom also started requiring tickets during last year’s games, which had previously been free of charge. Games are free to watch this year before 4 p.m., but tickets are required for later competitions and musical performances.
At the press conference, Bloom reported that revenue for Aspen’s X Games had grown 120% year over year, and that the games had brought in three times as many corporate partners as ever, including businesses like Google.
“Action sports [are] back in growth mode,” Bloom said.
A rise in women’s sports
X Games athletes also feel that the sport is in growth mode. Several commented on the caliber of the athletes and the difficulty of the tricks.
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser, who has competed in the X Games for over a decade, said that women’s competitions are only getting bigger. More women are joining the sport, more women are competing professionally, and more people are watching.
Women’s events have also been added to competitions in recent years, where there were previously only men’s events.
“I’m really inspired by the new generation, and they are so fearless, and they’re sending it,” Gasser said. “Every year, we see new chicks, and I'm one of the old guys now.”
“I’m really happy I’m still a part of it. I'm getting motivated by those young girls sending it, and I feel like, nowadays, it pushed me to get better.”
Australian snowboarder Scotty James, who has also competed in the X Games for over a decade, said that the halfpipe competitions are the most competitive that they have ever been.
“Any guy could win on the day, and I think the next couple of weeks, we're probably going to see the most competitive park riding in history,” James said.
“Your best is what it takes to win every single year, and your best always gets harder every year, so it’s exciting. It's going to be, I suspect, a very good battle. It’s going to be a good show.”
Looking toward the Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are approaching, and most of the athletes competing in the X Games this weekend will also be heading to Europe next month for the Olympics.
Athletes have to consider whether landing on the podium at the X Games is worth the risk of injury before the Olympics.
For most, like American halfpipe skier Nick Goepper, it is.
“I’ve always held the X Games in very high regard,” he said. I mean, even higher than the Olympics. So, for me, I think this week means a lot, and it’s also amazing practice for the next couple of weeks.”
Goepper will go head-to-head with Aspen’s own Alex Ferreira in the halfpipe during both the X Games and the Olympics. Both skiers are looking for an elusive gold medal at this year’s games.
“Alex is such a nice guy,” Goepper said. I wish he wasn’t. It’d be a lot easier to be a rival with him.”
“[Alex] is an incredible athlete, and coming over to halfpipe and having some targets, so to speak, to chase after is what fuels me,” he said. “That competition and that rivalry [are] part of what has really lifted up these sports in the last 15, 20 years.”
Celebrating 25 years
Competitions will kick off on Friday at noon with the women’s snowboard slopestyle.
American slopestyle snowboarder Jamie Anderson has competed in almost every X Games competition for the last two decades. She said she is proud to be considered one of the founding athletes of the games.
“It’s really where my snowboard career started. I grew up watching it,” she said.
“It feels nostalgic to be back here again. Twenty years of doing anything is a long time, so being in action sports, I have a lot of appreciation for my body.”
Women’s ski knuckle huck, women’s snowboard superpipe, women’s ski superpipe, men’s ski big air and snowmobile freestyle will also make up Friday’s events.
Disco Lines and Tessla are the musical performances.
The Aspen X Games run until Sunday.
