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The time is white

Winter X Games 11th edition offers familiar-new mix

Brian Metzler, Special to the News

Published January 20, 2007 at midnight

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If you enjoy sports on snow and were born between 1979 and, oh, about two weeks ago, Buttermilk Mountain is the place to be next weekend.

From Thursday through Jan. 28, skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers from Generation Y will take over Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen for the 11th edition of ESPN's Winter X Games. Held in Aspen since 2002, it showcases more than 250 of the world's top winter athletes in 15 sports, including 28 Olympians who competed in last year's Winter X Games 10 before traveling to Turin, Italy.

Along with the athletes will be thousands of fans, a small army of TV camera operators, producers and on-air hosts and a few of the world's hottest musical acts. Skiing and staying in Aspen can be pricey, but all X Games events and concerts are free to the public. And that means there's more money to spend on Red Bull and munchies from Taco Bell.

Here's the skinny on what's new, what's hot, who to watch and where to park at this year's WX11.

What's new

The staple events of the Winter X Games remain unchanged: Snowmobile SnoCross, Skiing SuperPipe, Skiing Slopestyle, Skier X, Snowboard SuperPipe, Snowboard Slopestyle and Snowboarder X.

Moto X was dropped, partially because of challenges created by heavy snowfall last year, but added were Snowmobile Freestyle, Mono-Skier X and the Snowboard Best Trick Showdown.

• Snowmobile Freestyle

This event will feature 10 snowmobilers taking individual runs on a course that tests their skills. The course includes jumps ranging from 45 to more than 100 feet. Judging will be simple: The bigger the tricks, the better the score. The variety of jumps will allow the riders to showcase a full arsenal of tricks, including backflips with their 500-pound snow machines.

One favorite in the event is 28- year-old Chris Burandt, of Kremmling, considered by many to be the best all-around snowmobiler in the world. The finals will be at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 28.

"This should open people's eyes to a whole new world of motorsports," Burandt said. "I expect it to be a huckfest with a lot of wrecks. I'm excited to be there because Winter X is the pinnacle of action sports, and being recognized as one of the best in the world is something I'm proud of."

• Mono-Skier X

After introducing this adaptive skier event as a demonstration sport two years ago, the X Games is including it as a medal event this year. Modeled after Skier X and Snowboarder X, Mono-Skier X will include heats of four athletes racing down a course that includes banked turns, rollers, tabletop jumps and gap jumps. The four fastest riders will advance to the medal round at noon Jan. 27.

Mono-Skier X is being coordinated by Kevin Jardine, the former U.S. Disabled Ski Team coach who heads up the adaptive ski program called Challenge Aspen. Among the favorites in the coed event are New Jersey's Kevin Bramble, a 2006 Paralympic sit-ski downhill gold medalist, and Vail's Sarah Will, who has won 12 Paralympics gold medals.

• Snowboard Best Trick Showdown

This event will feature eight snowboarders competing in a head-to-head elimination format over a small-scale slopestyle course that includes a rail feature and a 70-foot kicker. The top two riders will make it to the finals slated for 12:30 p.m. Jan. 28.

The lineup of competitors hasn't been announced, but expect this to be an energetic event with snowboard superhero Shaun White and other top riders from the SuperPipe and Slopestyle competitions. It could have some Colorado flavor if Chad Otterstrom (Breckenridge), Marc Frank Montoya (Denver), Steve Fisher (Breckenridge) or J.J. Thomas (Golden) are in the mix.

Entertainment

The Winter X Games aren't just about the progression of snow sports. They're also about music and pop culture, too. In addition to the lively bar scene and spontaneous parties known to pop up in Aspen, three free concerts will take place in Aspen in conjunction with the Games.

Rock band Everclear will play at the base of Aspen Mountain at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in conjunction with the unveiling of the winners' Red Bull Illume Image Quest, an international action and adventure sports photography contest. The 50 finalist images and the grand prize winners will be on display in an illuminated kiosk at the bottom of the Little Nell Run from Thursday through Feb. 4.

Hip-hop artist Common and new band Satellite Party will be the headline acts of this year's Après X concert series at Wagner Park in downtown Aspen. Headed by former Jane's Addiction front man Perry Farrell, Satellite Party blends sounds from rock, electro, urban and symphony music. It will make its world-debut performance at 10:30 p.m. Friday on the Après X stage. Common, a Grammy Award-winning artist known for his poetic lyrics, will perform at 10 p.m. Jan. 27.

Parking

Planning to watch the caffeine- induced madness of the Winter X Games in person? All of the on- snow events will take place at Buttermilk Mountain, but there will be no public parking at the base of the resort. Free X Games shuttles will be available to and from the Brush Creek Park & Ride on Colorado 82 at Brush Creek Road about three miles west of Buttermilk Mountain. Otherwise, shuttles between Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk are free. Pay-per-ride bus service is available from Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt via the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority.

Colorado connection

Below are the athletes from Colorado expected to compete in the ESPN Winter X Games, Thursday through Jan. 28 in Aspen:

• Clair Bidez, Minturn, Women's Snowboard Superpipe.

• Gretchen Bleiler, Snowmass, Women's Snowboard Superpipe.

• Brett Buckles, Steamboat Springs, Women's Skier X.

• Chris Burandt, Kremmling, Snowmobile Freestyle.

• Jake Fiala, Frisco, Men's Skier X.

• Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Men's Snowboard SuperPipe.

• Nick Catanzarite, Winter Park, Mono-Skier X.

• Sam Ferguson, Aspen, Mono-Skier X.

• Gerald Hayden, Winter Park, Mono-Skier X.

• Jordan Karlinski, Snowmass, Women's Snowboarder X.

• Scott Meyer, Frisco, Mono-Skier X.

• Marc Frank Montoya, Denver, Men's Snowboard Slopestyle.

• Peter Olenick, Carbondale, Men's Skiing Slopestyle, Skiing SuperPipe.

• Chad Otterstrom, Breckenridge, Men's Snowboard Slopestyle.

• Casey Puckett, Aspen, Men's Skier X.

• Tyler Shepherd, Boulder, Men's Skier X.

• Jason Smith, Basalt, Men's Snowboarder X.

• Lindsey Telling, Edwards, Women's Snowboarder X.

• J.J. Thomas, Golden, Men's Snowboard SuperPipe.

• Ross Trulove, Carbondale, Men's Snowboarder X.

• Sarah Will, Vail, Mono-Skier X.

On the tube

ESPN and ABC will feature 15 hours of live programming Thursday through Jan. 28. ESPN2 will present daily late-night highlight programs Friday through Jan. 29, resulting in 19 total hours of original programming for Winter X Games 11. ESPN's SportsCenter will report live from Aspen/Snowmass every night of Winter X.

Thursday

• 7-9 p.m., ESPN, Snowboard SuperPipe Women's Final.

• 9 p.m., ESPN, SportsCenter.

• 11 p.m.-midnight, ESPN2, X Center.

Friday

• 7:30-9:30 p.m., ESPN, Snowmobile SnoCross Round 1; Skiing SuperPipe Men's Final.

• 9:30 p.m., ESPN, SportsCenter.

• Midnight-1 a.m., ESPN2, X Center.

Jan. 27

• 11 a.m.-2 p.m., ABC, Snowboard Slopestyle Women's Final; Snowboarder X Men's & Women's Final; Snowmobile SnoCross Round 2.

• 7-9 p.m., ESPN, Snowmobile SnoCross Final.

• 9 p.m., ESPN, SportsCenter.

• 11 p.m.-midnight, ESPN2, X Center.

Jan. 28

• Noon- 4 p.m., ESPN, Skier X Men's & Women's Final; Skiing Slopestyle Final; Snowboard Best Trick Showdown Final.

• 7-9 p.m., ESPN, Snowmobile Freestyle Final; Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final.

• 9 p.m., ESPN, SportsCenter.

• 11 p.m.-midnight, ESPN2, X Center.

Men

• Tanner Hall, 23

Park City, Utah

Labeled one of the most influential skiers of the past 35 years by Powder Magazine, Hall dominated Slopestyle from 2002-04, and in 2006, he won his first SuperPipe gold. Small in stature (5-foot-6, 140 pounds) but with a huge persona, Hall has carried a rap star image off the snow and helped start the Armada ski brand.

• Shaun Palmer, 38

South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Palmer was a larger-than-life action sports star before the X Games blew up into the celebrity show it has become. "Palm" owns five X Games golds in various ski, snowboard and mountain bike events between 1997 and 2001. He's coming out of retirement to compete in his signature event, Snowboarder X.

• Daron Rahlves, 33

Sugar Bowl, Calif.

One of the most successful ski racers in U.S. history, Rahlves retired last spring after winning 12 World Cup events and a gold medal in the 2001 World Championships. He's in his first year as a Skier X racer and he'll face former teammates Casey Puckett (Aspen), Zach Crist (Sun Valley, Idaho) and Jake Fiala (Frisco) in a heated battle for gold.

• TJ Schiller, 21

Vernon, British Columbia

From unleashing skiing's first-ever 1440 at last year's U.S. Freeskiing Open to running the table in freeskiing events, Canada's Schiller has officially arrived as the one to beat in slopestyle and big-air events.

• Shaun White, 20

Carlsbad, Calif.

The 2006 Olympic Halfpipe gold medalist, White already owns six X Games golds and three silvers (including one in skateboarding from the summer X Games). More importantly, he has become a heavily sponsored icon of a generation and is known as "The Flying Tomato" because of his wavy red hair.

Women

• Jamie Anderson, 16

South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Last winter, Anderson became the youngest X Games competitor to win a medal, taking bronze in Snowboard Slopestyle. Versatile and ambitious, Anderson competes in all three snowboard disciplines at WX and enters this event having won five of her past six competitions.

• Gretchen Bleiler, 25

Aspen

Bleiler took the silver medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics and has two SuperPipe gold medals under her belt. She's organizing the inaugural Snow Angels Invitational, a female-only snowboard contest that will take place at Aspen/Snowmass in March.

• Kelly Clark, 23

Mount Snow, Vt.

The four-time Winter X Games medalist and two-time Olympian returns for her eighth Winter X Games appearance as one of the most dominant female snowboarders in pipe history. Although she didn't medal at the Turin Games, Clark flew high above the pipe and exceeded the amplitude of many male pro snowboarders.

• Grete Eliassen, 20

Lillehammer, Norway

The two-time defending SuperPipe gold medalist returns for her third Winter X Games to dazzle the crowd with her immense skills and amplitude in the Skiing SuperPipe competition. In the meantime, she's hoping to win a fourth straight U.S. Open slopestyle competition at Copper Mountain this weekend.

• Hannah Teter, 19

Mount Holly, Vt.

Teter won a 2006 ESPY award for Best Action Sports Athlete Female after bringing home the Olympic gold in women's halfpipe in Italy. She's out to regain gold in the SuperPipe Women's competition that she won three years ago.