Trip Report
Aspen X-Games has been off to a blazing hot start, and now the heat of day three is in full fruition. Day three featured some of the most sought after events of the entire weekend, including Men’s Ski SuperPipe and Women’s Snowboard Big Air, but spotlighting the takeover of the Slopestyle field seems especially important today as it took up the entire morning of events.
When it comes to the Slopestyle discipline this X-Games, there is one course shared by the four cumulative groups of men’s and women’s skiers and snowboarders. The top of the course features a rail section with a ton of options and is followed up by three massive jumps. Each rider gets three runs and is “judged on amplitude, execution, difficulty, variety and landings, and use of the course.” The best judged runs are always the complete top to bottom runs where the riders successfully gets through each part of the course, meaning they landed their rail tricks as well as all three jumps.
Today, I got to watch the Women’s Ski Slopestyle and Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle competitions, and caught some interviews with a few of the athletes including gold medalists Red Gerard and Tess Ledeux and also with the style wizard and runner-up Rene Rinnekangas. Each of these athletes put their own personal touch on how they ripped through the course and did so with incredible style. Special shoutout to each of these awesome riders for taking a few minutes to answer some questions.
The first athlete to spotlight from today’s events are none other than Colorado’s own, Red Gerard. After eight years of competing in X-Games, Red won his first X-Games gold medal today in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle final. Given the pool of athletes Red was going against, it took nothing short of perfection to secure his first X-Games gold. Through the rail section of the course, Red took a technical line and executed it surgically; he slid every rail to the end and entered the jump section with proper speed. At the bottom of the course, on the third and final jump, Red threw a massive backside 1800 and landed about as clean as possible. Putting together a clean top to bottom run was always the goal for Red and he ended up going three for three, putting up scores 93 or greater in each of his three runs. Since the first practice I got to watch a few days ago, it was telling that Red was locked in and focusing all of his energy towards this one event.
After securing his first X-Games gold, I got to talk with Red. He said that, “[style] is the name of the game and that snowboarding is evolving knowing there is such a contrast between the big spins and styling tricks out. Innovation and trying things differently” is how to secure gold in events like Slopestyle. I also asked him how it felt to put together not one, but three, near-perfect runs in such a high-caliber competition. “Anytime you get to land three runs in the final of a Slopestyle you feel like the luckiest person in the world [and] I am so happy and honored to win a gold at X-Games,” he responded. Red is a Colorado local and got to put down his gold-medal winning runs in front of friends and family, a truly unparalleled feeling. Congratulations to Red Gerard on taking home the gold medal in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle event and for taking the time to answer some questions about how it felt.
Another monumental performance today, also from Slopestyle, came from the Women’s Ski gold medalist. Tess Ledeux is no stranger to X-Games medals, as she also won the Women’s Ski Big Air final last night, and has eight other X-Games medals to flex. Tess was so incredibly fun to watch in this competition because on her first run she put down a 95/100 with some insanely large tricks including a switch left double 1440 off of the final jump at the bottom of the course. None of the other athletes could catch up to what Tess put down on her first run, so for her other two we saw some super unique, stylish tricks that were really fun to watch.
With the Slopestyle gold medal dangling from her neck, Tess said, “I think that the style and level of women’s skiing is getting better and better and there is a good mix of [both] this year.” I felt inclined to ask the athletes their specific thoughts on style since it is more incorporated into the judging this year, and Tess was the perfect athlete to ask as she took a gold in both Big Air last night and Slopestyle today. “It was hard, honestly, to have a competition last night and this morning again. I was so tired from the whole week but I really tried to keep my mind on my goals.” Competing in back to back events is not for the faint of heart, but goal-oriented athlete Tess Ledeux came to X-Games locked in and ready to prove why she is the best at her disciplines.
The final athlete who is worth spotlighting from today’s Slopestyle events is Renne Rinnekangas, a fan favorite and X-Games medalist. Rene, even though he did not medal today, embodies the term ‘style‘ which has recently become so important in the world of ski and snowboard competitions, especially this weekend. In today’s Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle event, Rene put down a few of my favorite tricks that I saw this weekend, and was proclaimed the people’s champ by many of the Big Air fans last night. On his first Slopestyle run, Rene unconventionally hand-dragged to revert over a rainbow rail, and landed what he calls a double ‘Vomu‘ flip on the final jump. Rene told me that the inspiration for this rotation came from his very close friend and coach who stays in a trailer park in Ruka, Finland where he learned the trick. Vomu is slang for trailer park in Finnish, so it was only right to name the trick after him. “I feel like I’ve never been the person who has the most rotation so I’ve always been trying to figure out something unique.” Explaining Rene’s tricks are a difficult task, but they were by far the craziest maneuvers I saw this weekend.
“Competing at the X-Games has been a dream of mine since a kid. X-Games is the main event of the year and seeing so many people watching at the bottom of the jump creates so much energy. The fans came to watch us, so I am trying to give them the best show possible.”
Day Three of Aspen’s Winter X-Games was fantastic. Some other premiere events today, like Men’s Ski SuperPipe and Women’s Snowboard Big Air were also incredible to watch, but focusing attention on today’s Slopestyle events seemed crucial as style has been heavily incorporated into all of this years events. Getting to speak to the athletes when they’re in the zone, mid-practice or right after competitions, allows for super raw emotions, straight thoughts, and candid interview responses. I would like to give a super special shoutout and a huge thanks to each and every athlete who put aside some time to chat and answer questions. X-Games exceeded all of my expectations by far, and from what it seems, the athletes felt the same way.
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Day Three Results
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
- Red Gerard (USA)
- Marc McMorris (USA)
- Mons Røisland (NOR)
Women’s Ski Slopestyle
- Tess Ledeux (FRA)
- Mathilde Gremaud (SUI)
- Giulia Tanno (SUI)
Men’s Ski SuperPipe
- Alex Ferreira (USA)
- Nico Porteous (NZ)
- Hunter Hess (USA)
Women’s Snowboard Big Air
- Kokomo Murase (JPN)
- Reira Iwabuchi (JPN)
- Anna Gasser (AUT)
