Vroom vroom: Snowmobiles return to X Games Aspen after five-year hiatus

The last time Brett Turcotte — or anyone — competed on a snowmobile at X Games Aspen was in 2020, when he crashed during his two freestyle runs in a failed attempt at returning to the podium. Little did he know, he’d have to live with that failure for years to come.

But, with X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom recently announcing the return of snowmobile events to Buttermilk Ski Area this January after a five-year hiatus, the 37-year-old Turcotte now has a route to climb back to the sport’s mountaintop.

“Myself as an athlete, and the guys I will be competing against, we are going to be fully rejuvenated and ready to drop the hammer,” the Canadian said in a phone interview with The Aspen Times.

“It’s not like I parked my snowmobile by any means,” he continued. “I feel like I probably rode it more than I did when I was just focusing on competing at X Games. I feel better than ever about where I’m at with my riding and my abilities right now. The announcement that we are making a return couldn’t have come at a better time.”

It’s been a five-year break for snowmobile athletes at X Games Aspen, the motorsports seemingly vanishing into thin air at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 competition was held in late January, less than two months before the coronavirus brought the world to a standstill. When X Games returned to Aspen in 2021 without in-person fans, it also returned without snowmobiles, leaving only skiers and snowboarders to compete since then.

The desire from fans and athletes alike to see snowmobiles return to X Games wasn’t lost on MSP Sports Capital — which purchased a majority stake in the brand from ESPN in October 2022 — or Bloom, the former CU football standout and Olympic moguls skier who only took over as X Games CEO last December.

“We’ve heard it from fans, athletes, and partners; it’s been one of the most consistent requests since I came onboard. That kind of demand told us it wasn’t just nostalgia,” Bloom recently told The Aspen Times via email.

“Our mission is to grow new audiences for action sports while bringing back fans who may not have been as engaged recently. Snowmobiles do both — they bring a unique energy to Aspen and put another group of athletes on a big stage. On top of that, fans have been loud and clear in asking for this, so this winter felt like the right time to reintroduce it.”

In September, when Bloom announced a major rebranding campaign for X Games, complete with a new logo, he also said this year’s event at Buttermilk will “feel like a really big X Games. The footprint of the event, the hospitality, is going to be taken to a new level.”

Athletes like Turcotte will be a big reason why this could turn out as Bloom said. As it has been for the skiers and snowboarders, X Games was long considered to be the equivalent of football’s “Super Bowl” for the snowmobilers. With ESPN’s spotlight — the sports media powerhouse has continued to stay involved in televising the event, despite no longer controlling its overall vision — winter motorsport athletes haven’t been able to replicate the exposure they get from X Games anywhere else.

While Turcotte fell short of the freestyle podium in 2020 — he won gold in 2018 and silver in 2019 — he did win snow bike best trick. But since the pandemic took X Games away from the athletes, his life has mostly been about making films in the backcountry — he still works closely with sponsors like Monster Energy and Polaris — and launching his own guiding business.

He hopes this winter’s X Games will bring back some of that pre-pandemic energy to Buttermilk.

“It’s massive. My success at X Games in the past has shaped my life and my career and put it on a good path. Being given a global stage to be able to compete on and showcase our talents is huge,” said Turcotte, an eight-time X Games medalist. “I just came off one of the most progressive and exciting winters I’ve had in a long time. So, I’m pretty fired up.”

As environmentally conscious as Aspen is, those types of concerns have been voiced by local government officials. But with electric motors now becoming the norm in snowmobiling, Bloom did want to assure the fans they have those same concerns in mind and have a plan to deal with them.

This includes bigger motors with electronic fuel injection that will perform better on a course that is just shy of 8,000 feet above sea level.

“Motorsports bring a raw power and intensity that feels distinctly X Games. When you hear the engines and see the scale of what these athletes are doing, it changes the whole atmosphere,” Bloom said.

“With snowmobiles specifically, we’re working with modern, fuel injected sleds that run more efficiently at Aspen’s elevation. More broadly, we’re looking at how every part of X Games, from operations to venues to transportation, can be done with less impact. Our commitment is to keep progressing the sports while also being a responsible partner to the community and the environment.”

X Games Aspen 2026 is scheduled for Jan. 23-25 at Buttermilk and will be the last major competition for skiers and snowboarders prior to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.

Exact times are still being determined, but snowmobile freestyle is tentatively scheduled for that Friday (Jan. 23), while snowmobile speed & style — making its first appearance since 2018, won by Turcotte — will be held Sunday (Jan. 25). There will be a seeding session for S&S on Saturday (Jan. 24).

On-site spectating will be free prior to 4 p.m. each day, but tickets will be required to access the X Games venue in the evenings.

Alongside Turcotte, two-time bronze medalist Willie Elam and Brandon Cormier have also been announced as competing. As an X Games rookie in 2020, Cormier won freestyle gold in what so far has been his only appearance in Aspen.

“It’s going to be firing on all cylinders. The crowd is going to be really stoked to hear motors back in the venue,” Turcotte said. “I’ve had nothing but great experiences while in Aspen, so I’m looking forward to more. It’s a crazy town, but I’m here for it.”

This will be the 25th consecutive winter that Aspen has hosted X Games. For the most up-to-date information, visit xgames.com.

acolbert@aspentimes.com