The hip was 30 feet tall and sent skiers flying through the air over a Mini Cooper. Winding up for a spin. American athlete Aspen Spora locking a grab in front of the crowd. Siamon Fujita getting his Red Bull fix before dropping in. The event consisted of three heats per day for two consecutive days. The night heats drew a larger crowd. Keita Takahashi busting out a corked 810....
Interview by Jeff Schmuck Hey guys, how was your week at X Games? Colby:Pretty ridiculous. Speaking of which, let’s get right to it. We wanted to do our own thing. How did it all come together? What made you decide to write and record the song, along with filming a music video for it? Are you guys planning on doing any more songs after this one? Colby:I think so. We haven’t really decided yet....
Words, photos & video by David Peacock Snow. These are all factors that influence the outcome of every day spent in the mountains. Skiers are a vulnerable group of individuals, affected by nature in profound ways. I joined him for three of those days. We visited three different zones, each of which provided amazing potential for shooting. While the conditions might not have been right for competing, the filming was working out just fine....
Plenty of teenagers lead dual lives. It evolved into the heavily structured aerials and moguls that still exist today in the Olympics. Younger kids began to introduce off-axis spins and grabs. Snowboarding was peaking at this time, and skiers wanted a sport in which they could be creative. The invention of twin-tip skis brought the possibility of skiing backwards, or switch. But the freeskiing world is one of daily innovation....
The Junior Freeride Tour completed its first tour stop of four this weekend at Crystal Mountain Resort, Washington. Athletes were judged on Air and Style, Line, Fluidity, Control and Technique. These five categories were complied to give athletes one over all score. Judges included Head Judge Eric Schmitz, Dylan Crossman and Chuck White. Men’s Skiing had a strong group of athletes which made the competition that much more impressive. New to the Freeride Tour this year is the snowboarding division....
Photo by Tomek Gola PC Fosse won big air qualification and semi-finals. Right after qualifications on the kicker, the competitors moved to the rail park. The spectators had a chance to see many stylish jumps, but also unexpected crashes that influenced final results. Bartek Sibiga was second and Jan Krzysztof was third. He also received a special prize for taking a special place in the 10-year history of the event....
An incredible X Games 2013 week comes to a close for Team O’Neill!
Words by Jeff Schmuck The fourth and final day of X Games in Aspen, Colorado kicked off with one of the biggest events of them all, Men’s Ski Slopestyle Finals. In eighth place was Joss Christensen, who’s run was highlighted by some of the most massive double corks of the day and an absolutely gorgeous switch right cork 10 japan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTpBtwE3Gfs Joss Christensen Taking seventh was Alex Schlopy, who fresh off his head spinning (literally) performance in last night’s big air wowed the massive crowd in attendance with a run that included a hug double cork 16 on the money booter at the bottom....
Words by Jeff Schmuck The final event of X Games in Aspen, Colorado, Women’s Ski Slopestyle Finals, wrapped up X with a bang yesterday afternoon at Buttermilk Mountain. Seven of the world’s best female slopestyle skiers took to the gargantuan course amidst the best weather we’ve experienced at X yet, and much like the ladies did in pipe, they put on one hell of a show. Taking seventh was a X Games rookie and full blown wild child, Jamie Crane-Mauzy, who wowed the crowd on her last two runs by laying out massive double backflips on the bottom jump where she went bigger than some of the guys....
Mountains and this big sky produce stand out people. Hows the winter treating you so far? It’s been good. Ive got these visions of you answering a Blackberry while in class. Haha… its an iPhone actually. To say the least, its a huge responsibility. I enjoy what I do greatly, and I wouldnt trade it for anything. Of course there will be those moments when Im asked Why arent you playing sports....
Words by Jeff Schmuck The biggest show of them all, X Games, continued last night with one of its marquee events, Men’s Ski Superpipe Finals. Photo by Jeff Schmuck In eighth place was Benoit Valentin, who had a bit of a tough night after bobbling on his first run and crashing on his second and third, but still showed that he’s one of the most technical pipe skiers in the game…...
Photo by Jordan Loyd/O’Neill Snow Seb Toots in his new O’Neill Seb Toots Premium jacket for 2013-14. Photo by Jordan Loyd/O’Neill Snow Defending Ski Superpipe gold medalist David Wise, ready to defend his crown. Photo by Jordan Loyd/O’Neill Snow David Wise during a practice session in the Superpipe on Wednesday night. Photo by Jordan Loyd/O’Neill Snow Seb Toots hanging out with fellow X Games competitors on Wednesday night.
A lot of photographers focus too much on the action and getting the most epic shots possible. I wanted to tell the entire story. Dalbys all-encompassing show resulted in him taking home the first place prize of $5000. Photo by Russell Dalby The rest of the photographer lineup included Chris Christie, Nic Alegre and Mike Helfrich. For the second year in a row, the judges opinions are not the only ones that matter....
