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Carving history: Colorado athletes compete in Winter X Games

Emma Askren, Sports Editor

January 24, 2024

Collegian | Garrett Mogel

Jesper Tjader practices for the X Games Aspen Chipotle Ski Knuckle Huck Jan. 26, 2023. Tjader achieved gold during the competition with a switch double backflip, backside butter and a trick coined the “worm turn” into a 900.

Colorado’s snow-covered peaks are about to echo with the cheers of hometown pride as athletes gear up for the X Games Aspen. From the Rocky Mountains to the foothills, Colorado’s best skiers and snowboarders are set to carve their mark in X Games history.

Out of the 30 athletes competing for Team USA in these X Games, nine hail from Colorado. Nearly one-third of the American X Games team is from Colorado, which is impressive considering Colorado is only one of 50 states athletes could be from.

The X Games originally began in the summer of 1995 in Providence, Rhode Island, and were initially marketed as the “Extreme Games.” Skateboarding, bungee jumping, sky surfing and mountain biking were some of the main events.

After the phenomenal success of the two first years of X Games, ESPN decided to host an annual Winter X Games. The inaugural Winter X Games were held in Big Bear Lake, California, and hosted events such as snow shovel racing, ice climbing and skiboarding on top of the classic skiing and snowboarding events people know of today.

For the upcoming 2024 Winter X Games, there are significantly fewer nontraditional events. The competition begins Friday, Jan. 26, with Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Monster Energy Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, Thayers Men’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck, Pacifico Men’s Ski Big Air and Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe.

Saturday, Jan. 27, starts off early with Samsung Men’s Ski Slopestyle, then into Thayers Women’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck. The rest of Saturday consists of Thayers Women’s Ski Knuckle Huck, OKX Snowboard Street Style, Women’s Ski SuperPipe, Pacifico Women’s Ski Big Air, Pacifico Men’s Snowboard Big Air and Thayers Men’s Ski Knuckle Huck.

Sunday concludes the 2024 Winter X Games with Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle leading the way, followed up by Samsung Women’s Ski Slopestyle, Men’s Ski SuperPipe and Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air.

Slopestyle is replicated from terrain parks in ski areas but made significantly larger. The X Games Slopestyle has around six to eight feature park sections, and jumps can be anywhere from 55-70 feet, meaning athletes can travel 90 feet from the takeoff to the landing.

Big Air is exactly what it sounds like. The course consisting of a single jump, athletes have four to six attempts to land their top two tricks on the more than 80-foot-long jump.

SuperPipe is the renamed Half Pipe from the first three X Games and consists of a slightly varying 590-foot-long, 70-foot-wide and at least 22-foot-tall half pipe. The U-shaped run can send athletes 20 feet into the air from the top of the pipe due to the 18-degree pitch.

The most recent addition to the Winter X Games lineup, the Knuckle Huck, was added as a men’s-only discipline in the 2020 games and for the first time ever features a women’s side as well in the 2024 games. The Knuckle Huck is when athletes pop off of the “knuckle” or top of a jump and use that momentum to go into another trick.

For the 2024 Winter X Games, Colorado is making a large impact for the American team.

Up-and-comers

Riley Jacobs is an athlete who, despite having been around on the Team USA squad, has yet to compete in an X Games. Hailing from Oak Creek, Colorado, Jacobs has been on Team USA since 2021 and competes in the halfpipe competition.

Ellie Weiler is from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and will be competing in her first X Games. Weiler specializes in knuckle tricks and will be one person to look out for in the inaugural Women’s Knuckle Huck event.

Jake Canter is someone whose age of 20 years signals he should be someone who’s new to the X Games, but after getting a spontaneous chance in the 2019 X Games, he’s been in the back of everyone’s minds. Canter’s hometown is Denver, and after missing out in the 2022 X Games, he’ll be one to look out for in the Knuckle Huck.

Veterans

Alex Ferreira is from Aspen, Colorado, home of the Winter X Games, and has been around in the snow sports landscape for quite some time. After competing in his first X Games in the Ski SuperPipe in 2013, he’s had mixed success with his best results coming in 2019 and 2020, when he placed first overall in the Ski SuperPipe event.

Red Gerard is another experienced veteran from Silverthorne, Colorado, and mainly competes in Snowboard Slopestyle with one appearance in Snowboard Knuckle Huck in 2019. Gerard’s best performance was in 2020, when he placed third in Snowboard Slopestyle.

Aaron Blunck’s hometown is Crested Butte, Colorado, which put him in a great place to come into early talent in the X Games. Blunck’s first X Games appearance was in 2013, when he competed in Ski SuperPipe, and he has competed every year since, appearing in multiple X Games.

Sibling pride

Birk Irving and Svea Irving are a sibling duo hailing from Winter Park, Colorado. Birk Irving first competed in the X Games in 2016 in Ski SuperPipe and has continued to do so every year onward. The 2024 X Games will only be Svea Irving’s third X Games, where she will compete in the Ski SuperPipe alongside her brother. Svea Irving placed seventh overall in 2022 and third overall in 2023.

The 2024 Winter X Games prove another example of Colorado’s athleticism, with nearly one-third of American athletes coming from the Centennial State.

Reach Emma Askren at easkren@collegian.com or on Twitter @emma_askren.

About the Contributors

Emma Askren, Sports Editor

Emma Askren, alongside Damon Cook, is the fall 2023 sports editor for The Collegian. She began working at The Collegian during her first year in the fall of 2022, when she covered the swim and dive team as well as anything sports-related. She is currently a sophomore at Colorado State University, where she is majoring in journalism and media communication and double minoring in Spanish and sports management. During her first year, she joined the rowing team, began working as a reporter for The Collegian and working at the Student Recreation Center. Askren applied to CSU as a journalism major, knowing she wanted to combine her passion for sports and writing to create a fulfilling career. Upon realizing that Rocky Mountain Student Media was hiring for first-years, she jumped at the opportunity to become a writer for The Collegian. While working for the sports desk, Askren has had the opportunity to write about hockey, logging, whitewater rafting and the importance of women in sports. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, she seeks to break the status quo and become a successful sports journalist following graduation. Following a year as a sports reporter, Askren became a co-editor for the sports desk alongside Cook. Together the duo seeks to create a new and improved sports desk that caters to all readers of The Collegian and beyond.

Garrett Mogel, Photo Director

Garrett Mogel is a fourth-year journalism student with a second field of study in philosophy. He is one of two photo directors for the 2024-25 school year. Growing up in Colorado and surrounded by dreamlike landscapes and adventure sports, it was only a matter of time before Mogel picked up a camera. For over a decade, he explored Colorado, ported rivers, postholed through several feet of snow, rappelled over cliffs and skinned up mountains, all with a camera in hand. Through his adventures, Mogel began attaching stories to images and engaging viewers in conversation about their favorite areas. Eventually, Mogel’s passion for photography and storytelling drew him to pursue a degree and career in photojournalism. In his time at Colorado State University, Mogel has worked with The Collegian every year. In progressing through the publication, Mogel has seen all the ways student media fosters growth, both individually and through collaboration. Additionally, the opportunity to witness how impactful a story can be on a personal, organizational and community level is his greatest lesson thus far. Beyond The Collegian, Mogel still finds time to appreciate his Colorado upbringing. When not on assignment, he can usually be found mountain biking, skiing, camping, river surfing or at home planning his next adventure.

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