Winter X Games returns to Aspen in 2026, joins busy comp schedule

A quarter of a century is more than enough time to establish deep roots in a community, and those ties means X Games is returning to Aspen for another year.

The popular action sports brand announced Tuesday that Buttermilk Ski Area will host Winter X Games this coming season for the 25^th consecutive year. The ski and snowboard competition will take place from Jan. 23-25, 2026.

“For 25 years, Aspen’s been where winter sports legends are made and boundaries are unlimited,” X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said via a news release. “We’re hyped to keep building on this legacy and bring X Games fans and athletes together for another unforgettable experience in 2026.”

The X Games brand is still undergoing a transformation after ESPN, which created the franchise, sold a majority stake to MSP Sports Capital in October 2022. Bloom, the famed moguls skier and football star, was named CEO of X Games back in December.

Bloom has expressed a desire to again expand the franchise’s footprint worldwide with multiple events. The 2025 summer slate includes trips to Osaka, Japan (June 19-22), and Salt Lake City (June 27-29). A previously announced summer stop in Sacramento has since been postponed.

There are also plans to launch the X Games League, a team-based concept, in 2026.

Without a long-term contract in place and the desire of X Games executives to expand, it’s been unknown in recent years when and if X Games would return to Buttermilk each winter. But so far under the new ownership, it’s remained the winter competition’s primary home, as it has been since 2002.

“We are pumped to have X Games return to Aspen for a 25^th consecutive year,” said John Rigney, SVP of Business Development at Aspen One, via a news release. “X Games is the gold standard of action sports, and years of exemplary partnership have defined our storied history together, as well as our mutual commitment to innovation in snow sports and excellence in elevating athletes who continue to break boundaries and raise the bar.”

Details were limited on exactly what disciplines would be included, but the news release did promise a return of live music, the acts to be announced at a later date. Ticket details will also be announced later, with general admission tickets available to the public, as well as a variety of hospitality upgrades. Fans can join the ticket wait list at xgames.com.

X Games will join a busy 2025-26 freeski and snowboard competition schedule that includes the Winter Olympics, scheduled for Feb. 6-22 in northern Italy.

The World Cup lineup also includes a trip to Aspen, as Buttermilk will host a U.S. Grand Prix for halfpipe and slopestyle from Jan. 7-10, presumably the final official Olympic team qualifier for American athletes. Aspen hosted the first of the Olympic qualifiers this past winter.

Also set to return to Aspen for a second go is Shaun White’s The Snow League, which made its world debut this past March at Buttermilk. With its first season stretching over two winters, Aspen will host the third of four stops from Feb. 26-28, 2026. The second contest will be at Secret Garden, China, from Dec. 4-6, 2025, and the finale is set for March 19-21, 2026, in Laax, Switzerland.

The 2025-26 freeski and snowboard park and pipe schedule also includes a standalone big air competition in Steamboat Springs from Dec. 12-13, and the return of the Copper Mountain Grand Prix (halfpipe only) from Dec. 18-20. Halfpipe athletes then head to Calgary from Jan. 1-3 before returning to Aspen. The halfpipe season kicks off Dec. 11-13 at Secret Garden.

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