X Games Aspen wrap-up: Looking back on my snowboarding predictions for 2023
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
This wasn’t my best work. I still stand by my original picks to win each of the snowboard contests at X Games Aspen 2023, but fate chose poorly.
The main lesson? Don’t pick against Mark McMorris, Marcus Kleveland or Scotty James, unless you have a very good reason. And even then, don’t do it. At least Zoi Sadowski-Synnott came through for me to get me on the scoreboard.
And Gaon Choi? She’s the real deal. Chloe Kim might finally have a real challenger.
Women’s slopestyle
My pick: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Actual winner: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
The one snowboard contest I picked correctly, and only because New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott delivered big on her final run to jump Australian Tess Coady at the finish line. Winning is winning, though. It was the Kiwi’s third slopestyle gold in Aspen and second straight. Jamie Anderson sat this one out because of her pregnancy.
Men’s halfpipe
My pick: Ayumu Hirano
Actual winner: Scotty James
This wasn’t a great contest for the Japanese riders, including Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano, who finished sixth. It was another great day for Australia’s Scotty James, who continues to dominate the discipline more often than not. Make that five X Games Aspen gold medals for James, who has now found the halfpipe podium eight straight years at Buttermilk.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Women’s halfpipe
My pick: Xuetong Cai
Actual winner: Gaon Choi
China’s Xuetong Cai did well, finishing third, while California’s Maddie Mastro earned her second career silver medal. But it was South Korean phenom Gaon Choi who made the massive jump to superstardom. Only 14, she became the youngest to ever win the event, a record previously held by California’s Chloe Kim, who was not competing.
Women’s big air
My pick: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Actual winner: Reira Iwabuchi
Sadowski-Synnott came to play, winning silver. But Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi decided to reset the bar, landing the first triple underfoot by a woman for her first X Games gold medal. Canada’s Laurie Blouin won bronze, the 48 (out of 50) she scored on her fifth and final run being the best of the contest. She just didn’t have that second run to match.
Men’s big air
My pick: Chris Corning
Actual winner: Marcus Kleveland
Well, Chris Corning’s X Games curse lives on. The Colorado son finished seventh of eight riders, making him 0 for 9 in podium appearances in his X Games Aspen career, including slopestyle. The win, no surprise, went to Norway’s Marcus Kleveland, who is the undisputed king of the discipline at the moment. It was his third straight big air title in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Men’s slopestyle
My pick: Red Gerard
Actual winner: Mark McMorris
Much like Corning, Summit County’s Red Gerard seems to have an Aspen curse. He does have one career bronze in Aspen (slopestyle, 2020), but that’s it for the 2018 Olympic champion. This year, he settled for fourth, bumped off the podium by Mons Roisland (bronze), Kleveland (silver) and Mark McMorris (gold). McMorris, who jumped Kleveland on his final run, snagged his 22nd Winter X Games medal, the most all-time. He broke a tie with Jamie Anderson.
Knuckle huck
My pick: Moritz Boll
Actual winner: Marcus Kleveland
I picked Moritz Boll, an X Games rookie, for no good reason. He performed decently, but came up short of the podium. The win, again, went to Kleveland, who inspired the contest’s creation and has now won it back-to-back years in Aspen. Kleveland, only 23, now has 13 career Winter X Games medals (including the contests in his native Norway), a number that will only grow before he’s out of the game.
