X GAMES ASPEN 2022 RECAP

The 25th anniversary of the winter edition of X Games went down over the weekend in beautiful Aspen, Colorado, and like each and every year, the invited athletes in attendance continued to push the boundaries of the sport.

While this year’s X Games saw a number of athletes opt out of the event due to their concerns surrounding Covid less than two weeks before the Olympics begin in Beijing (including the likes of favourites Henrik Harlaut, Cassie Sharpe, Rachael Karker, Brendan Mackay, Eileen Gu and others), the field was still beyond impressive, with a series of never-seen tricks being thrown and history being made in multiple disciplines.

Kicking off the whole show on Friday was Women’s Ski Big Air, where France’s Tess Ledeux picked up her third gold medal in the event by throwing the first-ever double cork 1620 by a female skier in competition, while Team Canada ascended the other two steps on the podium with Megan Oldman in second and rising star Olivia Asselin in third.

Women’s Ski Big Air Results

1) Tess Ledeux
2) Megan Oldham
3) Olivia Asselin
4) Maggie Voisin
5) Giulia Tanno
6) Elena Gaskell
7) Johanne Killi
8) Mathilde Gremaud

The day was then capped off with Women’s Ski Superpipe under the lights at the base of Buttermilk Mountain (the longtime venue for X Games Aspen), where Kelly Sildaru’s technical prowess allowed her to continue to assert herself as one of the most formidable female pipe skiers in the game by taking the top spot, and in the process surpassed Shaun White and Nyjah Huston to become the athlete with the most X Games medals won as a teenager. Behind her was the high-flying and always consistent veteran Brita Sigourney in second, while newcomer Hanna Faulhaber unleashed some of the biggest amplitude ever seen in the event to bring home the bronze in her first appearance at X Games.

Women’s Ski Superpipe Results

1) Kelly Sildaru
2) Brita Sigourney
3) Hanna Faulhaber
4) Zoe Atkin
5) Devin Logan
6) Dillan Glennie
7) Svea Irving
8) Annalisa Drew

In contrast to the overcast and snowy skies of Friday, Saturday dawned in the most bluebird of ways for the ladies-first schedule to continue with Women’s Ski Slopestyle, where Tess Ledeux bested the field to win back-to-back gold medals, while last year’s Women’s Ski Big Air winner Mathilde Gremaud slotted in at second and Meghan Oldham also made it two-for-two by grabbing the bronze.

Women’s Ski Slopestyle Results

1) Tess Ledeux
2) Mathilde Gremaud
3) Megan Oldham
4) Johanne Killi
5) Kirsty Muir
6) Maggie Voisin
7) Kelly Sildaru

Then, once everything was wrapped up for the women, it was the men’s turn to kick the can, beginning with Men’s Ski Big Air, which was unquestionably one of, if not the wildest big air competition in history. The reason? A plethora of literal head-spinning, brand-new tricks being stomped, most notably from Alex Hall, who became the first skier in history to throw a double cork 2160, aka the “future spin,” which was more than enough for him to score his second gold medal in the event. Rounding out the podium after a hard-fought battle was X Games Aspen rookie Mac Forehead in second, while Whistler’s very own Teal Harle happily won his first X Games medal with the bronze.

Men’s Ski Big Air Results

1) Alex Hall
2) Mac Forehand
3) Teal Harle
4) Edouard Therriault
5) Matej Svancer
6) Colby Stevenson
7) Andri Ragettli
8) Evan McEachran

With Saturday capping off an already insane two days of action, Mother Nature continued to smile upon Aspen Snowmass for the third, final and all-ski day of competition, beginning with Men’s Ski Slopestyle. While a significant amount of the field surprisingly struggled with various parts of the course, it was no problem for Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli, who impressively stood atop the podium in his second competition back following knee surgery, while Canadian wonderkid Max Moffatt skied as smoothly as a symphony to win his first-ever X Games medal with the silver, and big air gold medalist Alex Hall doubled his hardware count with the bronze.

Men’s Ski Slopestyle Results

1) Andri Ragettli
2) Max Moffatt
3) Alex Hall
4) Mac Forehand
5) Sebastian Schjerve
6) James Woods
7) Colby Stevenson
8) Nick Goepper
9) Evan McEachran
10) Christian Nummedal

As day turned to dusk, it was time for the newest and most creative event at X Games, Ski Knuckle Huck, where a field of eight eclectic skiers defied the laws of physics in a fun-filled session that satisfied anyone who had the pleasure of watching it. In the end, Quinn Wolferman won his first-ever X Games gold for his unique efforts, while the beloved Jake “Mango” Mageau scored silver in his inaugural appearance at X Games outside of Real Ski, and Alex Hall did it yet again by making it three-for-three with the bronze.

Ski Knuckle Huck Results

1) Quinn Wolferman
2) Jake Mageau
3) Alex Hall
4) Colby Stevenson
5) Max Moffatt
6) Matej Svancer
7) Will Berman
8) Keegan Kilbride

And then, to cap it all off, Men’s Ski Superpipe took centre stage as the final event of X Games Aspen 2022, and much like big air, the likes of this level of halfpipe skiing has never been seen before. Once it was all said and done, last year’s champion Nico Porteous’s back-to-back left and right double cork 16s put him in a position to ski his way to a repeat victory, which edged out X Games stalwarts Aaron Blunck and four-time winner David Wise at the last minute to see them round out the podium in second and third.

Men's Ski Superpipe Results

1) Nico Porteous
2) Aaron Blunck
3) David Wise
4) Noah Bowman
5) Birk Irving
6) Hunter Hess
7) Miguel Porteous
8) Ben Harrington
9) Gus Kenworthy

That’s all for this year’s X Games Aspen. For more on the event, be sure to visit xgames.com, and to watch full replays of each competition, head to youtube.com/xgames. Congratulations to all of the winners and competitors, and best of luck to each and every one of them who are scheduled to show the world what’s possible on skis at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. We’ll be rooting for you.