Winter X Games remains magnet for talent
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:16
- Written by Brian Gomez
BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE
ASPEN – Happy birthday, Winter X Games! You’ve hit a milestone. You’re 15 years old – well-established enough that some of the world’s top skiers and snowboarders take you almost as seriously as the Olympics, yet still fresh enough that they keep coming back.
The biggest names in action sports – when Olympic medalists Shaun White (above) and Gretchen Bleiler are at your party, you know the rest of the guest list will be impressive – return to Buttermilk Mountain on Thursday for the beginning of Winter X Games 15, with more than 200 athletes, including 20 Colorado residents, competing through Sunday in 21 events.
Fresh off a gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games, his second straight in the halfpipe, White hopes to add to his Winter X record total of 15 medals – he has 10 golds, five in the pipe and five in slopestyle. The past three years on Buttermilk, he has won gold in superpipe, however, he might be rusty in slopestyle after a summer spent mostly on his skateboard.
A four-time Winter X superpipe gold medalist, Bleiler, of Aspen, looks to defend her title against a stacked field that features two-time Olympic medalists Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter. Other Olympic medalists at Winter X are J.J. Thomas in superpipe; Ross Powers in snowboard best method; and Lindsey Jacobellis and Seth Wescott in snowboarder X.
Catching the athletes won’t be a problem, as 24 hours of live programming from the 10th consecutive year Winter X has been held in Aspen will be carried on ESPN and ESPN2, with primetime coverage each night reaching 382 million U.S. homes and 154 countries. Last year, a record 84,100 fans visited Buttermilk, a jump of 9 percent from the previous high mark set in 2007, and 43 million viewers watched ESPN’s broadcasts, also a record.
“It’s so amazing to be at the bottom of the mountain and just look up and see everything,” Bleiler said. “I’m a little biased, but I couldn’t think of a better place than Aspen.”
“I’ve been coming here so long,” White said, “you add these extra elements, and it feels like the first time. … This is the destination. Everybody shows up and has a good time.”
Weather
Current Contests
