Winter X Games 12 to be held in Aspen, CO, will feature 3 “new” sports to the line-up including Snowboarding Big Air, Skiing Big Air, and Snowmobile Speed & Style events, all of which are sure to add more excitement to the winter sports action including other events such as Snowboarding Superpipe, Slopestyle, Skier X, and Snowmobile Freestyle, among others.
However what’s interesting about this latest announcement from the X Games and their additional “debut” sports, is that Snowboard Big Air used to be in the X Games line-up—not only in the Winter X Games, but even Summer X Games using manmade snow gunning up a ramp for days. What’s different this time is that 50% of each competitor’s big-air score will come from live fan text voting—similar to what the X Games did with skateboarding events this summer. The return of snowboarding big-air may mean that the X Games is coming full-circle. Another sport that may just creep back into the line-up in the future is aggressive inline skating as more urban athletes reclaim the freestyle movement.
Skiing Big Air for the X Games version shouldn’t be confused with the Skiing Freestyle jumping in the Olympics that look more like acrobatic routines on mini skis than actual ski jumping. This version is the “extreme” version whereby competitors launch off a ramp like snowboarders and pull various moves (mostly copied from skateboarding and snowboarding, and now surfing) before trying to stomp a solid landing (with best scores usually coming from landing backwards). As for Snowmobile Speed & Style, think of it as a combo of snowboard slopestyle on a snowmobile whereby snowmobilers have to go through a course, hit multiple jumps and pull tricks, and race the clock around an entire track.
In other X Games news, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates will again host an X Games as part of the expanding X Games franchise in the Middle East from December 6-8 sponsored by Mountain Dew. Events include BMX, skateboarding, and freestyle motocross. Last year the Dubai X Games attracted 27,000 spectators, and odds are more will attend this year as it’s free to the public. Other sponsors include Dodge, Playstation, and the city of Dubai.
