The Fischer Price ‘my first action sports programme’ of the snowboard world. With an international viewing figure surpassed only by the Olympics, the X Games Aspen is one of the premier events of the season.
Initially held on the shores of Big Bear Lake in 1997 and then Cressted Butte, Colorado from 1998 – 2000 before switching coasts to Mount Snow, Vermont until 2002 where the X Games found its home at Colorado’s Aspen Alpine Resort where it’s been held ever since.
Initially a Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Boarder-X competition, it expanded to include a Best Trick discipline in 2007 and then a Big Air Discipline in 2008. In recent years they also added a video based competition called ‘Real Snow’ in which riders are tasked to create a 2-minute edit of themselves riding backcountry or street riding, which is uploaded to the internet for the public to vote for which they feel is the best.
With the introduction of the new formats, came an onslaught of new titles, records and achievements for athletes across the board. Whether it’s Eero Ettalas monstrous 93.33 score in slopestyle back in ’10 or Kelly Clark’s game changing 1080° in the superpipe in 2011, the X Games has become the launch-pad for riders to throw down some of the most progressive riding of the season.