Telluride snowboarder Lucas Foster airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice ahead of X Games Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at Buttermilk Ski Area. Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Back for the 21st consecutive year at Buttermilk Ski Area, X Games Aspen gets underway Friday with many of the world’s top skiers and snowboarders slated to compete over three days in ESPN’s signature winter competition.
While much of the talk is currently on the upcoming Winter Olympics, which officially start Feb. 4 in Beijing, X Games will bring with it an atmosphere all its own with the Olympic team qualifiers wrapped up and the pre-Olympic stress yet to really hit home.
“I’m kind of glad it’s not an Olympic qualifier,” said slopestyle skier Nick Goepper, an Indiana native and four-time X Games champion. “X Games has always been a little more relaxed than some of the other events because they take such good care of the athletes and we get so much practice. It gives you a lot of time to get creative and really work out a run. I’ve always held X Games to a higher standard than every other event, except for the Olympics.”
Last year’s X Games was truly one-of-a-kind, as it was held without fans amid the coronavirus pandemic and before the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines made it into any arms. While cases remain high a year later, the fans are allowed to return to Buttermilk this weekend, although in limited numbers and all attendees must be vaccinated; proof will be required to get into the venue.
Admission remains free.
What remains absent are the motorsports, from the snowbikes to the snowmobiles, part of a still-condensed COVID-19 lineup at X Games.
“Generally speaking, it’s going to be awesome to have fans back on the venue watching all of these amazing athletes,” said ESPN’s Tim Reed, the longtime vice president of X Games. “I know I’ve missed it and I’m just excited to get thing going.”
Photos: X Games Aspen 2022 practice
Kaishu Hirano airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli airs out of the X Games superpipe during practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Red Gerard, from Silverthorne, Colorado, practices on the rail section of the X Games slopestyle course on Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Australian snowboarder Scotty James airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice for the Winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Australian snowboarder Scotty James prepares himself at the top of the superpipe on Buttermilk during practice for the Winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli buckles his bindings at the top of the X Games superpipe during practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck stands on the top of the superpipe at the beginning of practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Spain’s Queralt Castellet airs out of the superpipe during practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Snowboard athletes practice in the superpipe at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Spain’s Queralt Castellet airs out of the superpipe during practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Telluride’s Lucas Foster airs out of the superpipe on his second hit during practice for winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Snowboard athletes practice in the superpipe at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Telluride’s Lucas Foster airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice for winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kaishu Hirano airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Chase Josey, from Idaho, airs out of the superpipe on his second hit during practice for winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Telluride’s Lucas Foster airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice for winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kaishu Hirano airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Colorado’s Ryan Wachendorfer airs out of the Buttermilk superpipe during practice for winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Colorado’s Chase Blackwell airs out of the superpipe on his first hit during practice at the 2022 Winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Snowboard athletes practice in the superpipe at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
David Wise, from Reno, Nevada, airs out of the superpipe during an evening practice on Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Skiers air out of the pipe during a practice at Buttermilk on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
X Games medalist Aaron Blunck airs out of the superpipe during a practice for the 2022 Winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Skiers air out of the pipe during a practice at Buttermilk on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Canadian Noah Bowman airs out of the Buttermilk superpipe while practicing for the 2022 Winter X Games in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Red Gerard, from Silverthorne, Colorado, practices on the rail section of the X Games slopestyle course on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Park City’s Alex Hall looks back at a rail on the second set of the slopestyle course on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Sebastian Schjerve practices on the slopestyle course for the 2022 winter X Games on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Christian Nummedal hits the first jump on the slopestyle course for the 2022 winter X Games on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A skier hits the first jump on the slopestyle course for the 2022 winter X Games on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Evan McEachran hits the first jump on the slopestyle course for the 2022 winter X Games on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Sebastian Schjerve hits the first jump on the slopestyle course for the 2022 winter X Games on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Aspen Skiing Company crews groom the second jump on the slopestyle course as the practice switches from skiers to snowboarders on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Large, light-up Wendy’s French fries are arranged by a crew preparing the X Games village for spectators and the start of finals on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Megan Oldham practices on the slopestyle course on Buttermilk for the 2022 winter X Games on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
British skier James Wood practices for the 2022 slopestyle finals at the winter X Games in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A skier practices on the X Games slopestyle course in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A skier practices on the X Games slopestyle course in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Megan Oldham practices on the slopestyle course on Buttermilk for the 2022 winter X Games on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Colby Stevenson practices for slopestyle on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Defending slopestyle gold medalist, Nick Goepper, practices on the Buttermilk course for the 2022 winter X games in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Estonian skier Kelly Sildaru practices for slopestyle on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Mac Forehand practices for slopestyle on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Mac Forehand hits the end of a rail while practicing for slopestyle on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Maggie Voisin gets air on the first jump of the X Games slopestyle course during practice on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Judd Henkes gets air on the first jump of the X Games slopestyle course during practice on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Canadian Laurie Blouin gets air on the first jump of the X Games slopestyle course during practice on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A snowboarder hits the first jump on the slopestyle course while practicing for the X Games at Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
German snowboarder Anikka Morgan hits the first jump on the slopestyle course during practice for the winter X Games in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Norwegian snowboarder Marcus Kleveland hits the first jump on the slopestyle course during practice at Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Red Gerard, from Silverthorne, Colorado, practices on the rail section of the X Games slopestyle course on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Red Gerard, from Silverthorne, Colorado, practices on the rail section of the X Games slopestyle course on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
A snowboarder hits the first jump on the slopestyle course while practicing for the X Games at Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser hits a rail during practice for the Winter X Games slopestyle finals on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser jumps off the end of a rail during practice for the Winter X Games slopestyle finals on Buttermilk in Aspen on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Here are some first day storylines to watch as action gets underway with women’s slopestyle snowboarding on Friday morning:
Who is here?
Because of the upcoming Olympics and concerns around COVID-19 — one positive test could mean an athlete doesn’t get to compete in China — a handful of big names have decided to skip X Games this year. Fan favorites like Chloe Kim, Shaun White, Cassie Sharpe and Eileen Gu will not compete.
Still, the lineup remains star-studded, with Mark McMorris, Red Gerard, Jamie Anderson and Scotty James among a long list of athletes still expected to compete.
Local talent
The Roaring Fork Valley is home to two of this year’s athletes, and both are halfpipe skiers. Reigning Olympic silver medalist Alex Ferreira is back and will be one of the frontrunners to land on the podium at Buttermilk. He won X Games in both 2019 and 2020 and also will return to the Olympics next month.
Making her X Games debut on Friday night is Basalt’s Hanna Faulhaber, who will head to her first Olympics in February. Ferreira will compete in the men’s competition on Sunday night (6:30 p.m.), while Faulhaber gets things going on Friday night (7 p.m.). Of note, brief Aspen resident Chris Corning is also back. The Colorado snowboarder will compete in the men’s big air contest at 8 p.m. Saturday.
What to watch on Day 1
Friday’s lineup is jam-packed. Anderson and the slopestyle snowboard women get things started at 10:30 a.m. The Tahoe rider will be the favorite, just as she will be at the Olympics, although New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Austria’s Anna Gasser could give her a run.
At 12:30 p.m. is women’s ski big air, where Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Hoefflin, Norway’s Johanne Killi and France’s Tess Ledeux will be among the favorites. Ski big air is making its Olympic debut next month, so this is definitely worth watching.
Following the Special Olympics Unified event at 2:30 p.m., snowboard knuckle huck will go down at 6 p.m. Last year’s champ, Dusty Henricksen, and 2020 champion Zeb Powell, who sat out 2021 with injury, are both expected to compete.
When the sun goes down the action shifts to the pipe, with the women’s halfpipe skiing contest set for 7 p.m. with Faulhaber and event favorite Kelly Sildaru of Estonia. Winter Park’s Svea Irving is another Colorado kid expected to get her first X Games start along with Faulhaber.
The first day will wrap up with the men’s snowboard halfpipe final at 8:35 p.m. It’ll be an American-heavy lineup and despite a few big names not competing, like White and last year’s champion, Yuto Totsuka, the contest still features James and Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who might be the Olympic gold-medal favorite. Hirano, the two-time reigning Olympic silver medalist, landed the sport’s first-ever triple cork in competition only last month at Dew Tour.
Mother Nature — and some unfortunate training injuries — completely changed the vibe around the women’s halfpipe skiing final on Saturday at X Games Aspen.