ESPN returns to Aspen Snowmass, Colo., January 22-25, 2015, for the 14th consecutive year to televise the world’s premier action sports competition with live coverage on ESPN and ABC. After a competition packed 2014 season, more than 100 Olympic athletes will return to X Games Aspen with an emphasis on style and fun. The world’s best will battle it out for a podium spot in Ski, Snowboard and Snowmobile competitions.
ESPN and ABC will televise a combined 16 hours of live X Games Aspen competition. Additional competition, music and behind-the-scenes content will be carried on ESPN3 as well as the latest coverage across ESPN digital platforms, including XGames.com, X Games app, X Games pages across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and more.
The initial athlete invites include:
- Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, Utah) – Always the snowboarder having the most fun on the mountain, Kotsenburg had a breakout contest season in 2014 with a Cinderella-style rise to the first Olympic gold of the Sochi Games. Kotsenburg capped off 2014 with an ESPY award win for Best Male Olympian.
- Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) – The most decorated rider in the Snowboard Slopestyle field, Anderson has earned a medal in every X Games Slopestyle event in which she has competed. After taking Slopestyle gold at X Games Aspen in 2012 and 2013, Anderson settled for silver at X Games Aspen 2014 but returned a month later to win the first-ever women’s Snowboard Slopestyle gold medal at the Sochi Olympics.
- Levi LaVallee (Longville, Minn.) – The most versatile snowmobiler in X Games history, LaVallee will compete in every able-bodied snowmobile discipline at X Games Aspen 2015. The only athlete in history to compete in all seven disciplines, and medal in six, LaVallee will have the opportunity to defend his 2004 Hillcross gold with its return this year.
- David Wise (Reno, Nev.) – The three-time defending X Games Aspen Men’s Ski SuperPipe gold medalist, Wise had the most successful year of his career in 2013, winning X Games Aspen gold, the FIS World Championships, Grand Prix finals and securing his first AFP halfpipe title. He proved his dominance at the Sochi Olympics, winning the first-ever men’s Ski Halfpipe gold medal.
- Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) – At X Games Aspen 2014, Bowman successfully defended her women’s Ski SuperPipe gold as the youngest athlete in the field. Bowman claimed the top spot on the 2013 AFP women’s halfpipe rankings and secured her spot in history by winning the first-ever women’s Ski Halfpipe gold medal in Sochi.
Competition Schedule Highlights Include:
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Men’s Ski Slopestyle Elimination
Mono Skier X Final
Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding Final
Snowboard SuperPipe Men’s Elimination & Final
Snowmobile Speed & Style Finals
Friday, January 23, 2015
Snowboarder X Men’s, Women’s and Adaptive Finals
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Elimination
Men’s Ski SuperPipe Elimination
Snowboard Big Air Final
Snowmobile Long Jump Final
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Men’s Ski Slopestyle Final
Women’s Ski Slopestyle Final
Snowmobile Hillcross Final
Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final
Ski Big Air Final
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Men’s & Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals
Snowmobile SnoCross & SnoCross Adaptive Finals
Men’s Ski SuperPipe Final
The full initial list of invited athletes can be found on www.xgames.com. The full X Games Aspen 2015 competition schedule will be available on www.xgames.com for fans in the coming weeks. Follow the X Games on Twitter at http://twitter.com/xgames.