X Games Aspen 2024 officially commenced at Buttermilk Mountain on Friday (January 26) with a stacked day filled with gold medal competitions and a deep lineup of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders all vying for their shot at X Games glory.
The heart-pounding action popped off bright and early with the GoPro Game of SLVSH, Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Monster Energy Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, Thayer’s Men’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck, Pacifico Men’s Ski Big Air and finally wrapped with the highly-anticipated Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final, which aired live on ESPN, YouTube, Twitch and Caffeine.
Following the format of its popular summer counterpart, Game of S-K-A-T-E, the first ever GoPro Game of SLVSH kicked off the X Games Aspen weekend. A field of four men and four women faced off two-by-two in friendly competition, where the top winner per gender took home a coveted Nixon watch. Norway’s Ferdinand Dahl and Canada’s Olivia Asselin were the victors.
Following GoPro Game of SLVSH, eight of the world’s top slopestyle women brought on the heat for the first final competition of the weekend, pushing the boundaries of progression with amplitude, spins and style. Though all competitors upped the ante with every run, Mia Brookes (GBR) made her presence known in her second X Games appearance.
Celebrating her 17th birthday last week, Brookes earned the three highest scores in the competition, commanding the lead from her very first run and becoming the first woman to stomp a 1440 at X Games in Run 3.
“Oh my God, that was the craziest thing I’ve ever done! I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time so I’m super happy. Speed was a bit of a challenge so I just kept my head down. For my last run, it was not the best 1440 but I’m so stoked to put it down,” said Brookes in a statement.
Japan swept second and third place, with Kokomo Murase (JPN) who was favored to win taking second, followed by Reira Iwabuchi (JPN).
After failing to land a run in the LAAX Open Final, SuperPipe Queen Chloe Kim (USA) dropped into her first competition in the U.S. since the 2022 Olympics and her first X Games since 2021 with unmatched amplitude among her seven rivals. Tying mentor Kelly Clark for most gold medals in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe discipline, Kim dazzled spectators under the Aspen lights, winning the gold on her first run of the competition and sealing her victory lap with the world-first cab 1260 in women’s snowboard superpipe history.
“I am speechless. I’m so excited to be back. I really wanted to do the cab 12 and wanted to give it a shot after attempting it for the first time in Beijing. It obviously wasn’t as clean as I would have liked it but I’m happy I was able to complete it and show you all what I’ve been working on,” said Kim. “Kelly is my biggest inspiration, along with Torah Bright. Thank you to these badass women for paving the way for a girl like me.”
Coming off a win at the LAAX Open last week, 19-year-old Mitsuki Ono (JPN) finished in second and Xuetong Cai (CHN) defended her bronze medal in third.
The large crowds at the base of Buttermilk Mountain then moved over to the Big Air/Slopestyle course, where some of snowboarding’s most stylish riders came together for Thayer’s Men’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck. Entertaining fans with their biggest bag of tricks complete with stylish flips, hand drags, taps and more. Coming off of a slopestyle win at last week’s Laax Open, X Games rookie Liam Brearly (CAN) continued his streak with a surprising victory over 2020 gold medalist Zeb Powell (USA) and Darcy Sharpe (CAN) who finished in second and third place respectively.
“It’s a crazy feeling, I just found out I was competing in Knuckle Huck yesterday and I’m just hyped to go out and land everything, and come away with the gold. I’ve honestly never competed in anything like this…I’m so stoked, hyped to be snowboarding and having these new opportunities,” said Brearly.
The jam-packed night continued with Pacifico Men’s Ski Big Air, where eight skiers executed never-been-done tricks to wow the crowd in a nail-biting 20-minute jam session. Though each athlete challenged their abilities to put down two solid runs, USA’s Troy Podmilsak took the competition by storm when he launched from last to first to dethrone two-time X Games Big Air gold medalist Alex Hall (USA) by one point. Until that moment, Hall held a 15-point lead over the rest of his opponents, when Podmilsak snuck from behind to land a massive forward triple cork 2160 – the first in X Games history.
“This X Games win is a dream. It means a lot because I set out these goals 10 years ago and I finally hit them. I grew up watching this. My coach is a two-time X Games gold medalist TJ Schiller. Getting an X Games gold medal means you’re a pro and I feel like I can finally call myself a pro now,” said Podmilsak. “I knew I had [the 2160] and I knew I was going to land it. It was my destiny to land that trick. This was the second time I’ve ever done it. The first time, I won the world championships with it.”
Austrian Daniel Bacher clinched the third podium spot.
Wrapping up the solid day was the Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final, where Scotty James claimed the gold once again, marking his third consecutive X Games Gold medal, a feat only previously accomplished by legend Shaun White and one that he successfully earned tonight.
Donning his signature red boxing gloves, James made difficult tricks look easy and dominated his field from the first run. He took his victory lap to the next level as he pumped up X Games fans and worked in high fives on the deck on his way down to the base of the mountain to take his place in X Games three-peat history, his sixth gold medal and overall ninth medal.
“Thank you, Aspen. This is absolutely amazing. I feel like a little kid again riding and I’m enjoying snowboarding so much. X Games is so special and to join that record with Shaun is pretty nice too,” said James. “Competing at X Games is always a thrilling experience. The atmosphere is special and it’s the world stage for our industry and our sport so it means a lot to do well here. I knew I had to bring my best and I’m really happy to stand on the podium.”
Ruka Hirano (JPN) earned his first spot on the podium since winning bronze at X Games Aspen in 2021 while Kaishu Hirano (JPN), younger brother to Ayumu Hirano (JPN), boasted the highest air of the night that registered at 22 feet, 10 inches above the deck on the huck-o-meter in his third run to take third place – four stories high…
X Games Aspen 2024 continues tomorrow (January 27) with marquee contests like Samsung Men’s Ski Slopestyle, Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Thayer’s Women’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck, OKX Men’s & Women’s Snowboard Street Style, Women’s Ski SuperPipe, Pacifico Women’s Ski Big Air, Pacifico Men’s Snowboard Big Air and Men’s Ski Knuckle Huck. You can catch the competitions on ABC, YouTube, Twitch, Caffeine throughout the entire day before wrapping on ESPN beginning at 8PM ET.
For more coverage from X Games Aspen 2024, click here.
