Aspen – For freestyle moto X guru Brian Deegan, the moment remains frozen in time.
It was two years ago at the Winter X Games that Deegan’s world came crashing to a halt as his attempt at a 360-degree spin off a 90-foot ramp built from ice and snow went horribly awry.
Lacking the traction to carve out the momentum necessary to rotate his motorcycle full circle, Deegan was forced to abort the trick in mid-air, pitching the bike and succumbing to gravity’s merciless pull as he dropped like a meteor from the sky. Impact from the icy landing left him in a nearby hospital with a broken femur, two broken wrists and a massive loss of blood.
“Halfway through the jump, I knew the bike wasn’t in the right position and it wasn’t going to come around,” Deegan said afterward. “So I’m up there thinking, ‘Should I eject or hang on?’ I was up there long enough to think it through, and I knew there was a chance the bike could land on me, so I decided to jump off. I hit the ground so hard it felt like concrete.”
Deegan, who returned to win the best trick gold medal at Winter X last year, still can’t watch a replay of the accident. If he could, he gladly would reverse the earth and remove the moment altogether. Yet, along with the scars on his wrists and leg, it remains frozen in time like a modern ice age artifact.
In some ways, however, the horrific crash witnessed by thousands of spectators along with the elite of freestyle moto X had an impact on an entire era, perhaps even pushing back the pages of the calendar for competitors in what most consider the most dangerous – and progressive – sport at Winter X. To this day, Deegan is the only man to attempt the decidedly dicey trick on ice, and he admits now that he pushed the edge a little too far.
“I think I was ahead of myself two years ago trying a 360 at 100 feet,” Deegan said. “I don’t think anyone is going to do that again for a long time. I’d be impressed if someone goes for it.”
No one went for it Sunday night in the moto X finals won by Jeremy Stenberg of Winchester, Calif. – including Deegan, who settled for fifth place after landing consecutive backflips off the jump. For that matter, no one went for the “body varial” that left 2004 Summer X Games champion Chuck Carothers crumpled like a wet rag on the ice when he missed the trick here a year ago. Instead, Stenberg’s winning trick was a no-handed backflip with a sidesaddle landing, followed by Mat Rebeaud’s “Saran Wrap” backflip with a one-handed landing and Ronnie Faisst’s backflip with a one-handed sidesaddle landing, all variations on a now common theme.
“The only thing you might see different is a 360, but you’d be insane to try that up here,” Faisst said afterward. “Deegan already showed us it’s not really too smart.”
Like so many judged events at the X Games and elsewhere, the stunts in freestyle moto X appear to have matured to the point that they are separated only by subtle differences in style. Sunday in the best trick on skis competition, the switch 1080 was the starting point for podium contention, and the grab – the exact point of the ski where riders attach their hands to “tweak” the jump – often determined the difference in scores. How long the grab is held and how far up or down the edge of the ski decides who gets the gold.
Similarly, the backflip is the foundation in moto X. If you don’t have the trick in your arsenal, don’t bother showing up. If you do, you have to figure out a way to make it harder. Jumping 100 feet upside down and landing on a block of ice no longer is difficult enough.
There was a time, not so long ago, when it was. In 2002, the backflip defined the progression of the sport. Everyone was trying to learn the move. After they did, it was time to find something new. Enter the 360 – a horizontal rotation of the bike. The trick regularly earns medals in the summer edition of X Games, but in an apparent nod to Deegan and the hazards of motorcycle riding on ice, the notoriously progressive sport of freestyle moto was forced to take a step back in winter.
“There’s all kinds of new stuff out there – double flips, barrel rolls, body varials – but you won’t see it here. For Winter X, everybody backs down their game to a B game because of the snow conditions,” Deegan said. “Anytime you are going upside down over a 100-foot icicle, it’s way harder than any ramp or dirt jump. Dirt bikes aren’t really meant for snow. We’re just going out and doing the best we can, which is pretty good. I think we steal the show.”
For moto X riders, the show is what it’s all about, the reason they mount their tires with inch-long screws for traction and ride on ice. Progression is incremental at best when they’re jumping and landing on snow, something only done once a year for Winter X Games fans.
“We’d never load up the bikes and head to the mountains and say, ‘Let’s go find a big jump and try a backflip off it,”‘ Faisst said. “It’s not normal.”
Normal or not, it’s what they do to stay at the forefront of action sports, no matter the outcome.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t think you can ask one guy riding moto coming up here what he thinks about this event and he’ll tell you, ‘Man, it’s going to be so fun,”‘ Deegan said. “Because it’s not. It’s gnarly.”
Staff writer Scott Willoughbycan be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
RESULTS
Snowboard superpipe
AT ASPEN/MEN’S FINALS
Note: Of three runs, the lowest two scores are dropped and the best score is shown.
1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 91.00 points.
2. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 88.66
3. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 82.66
4. Risto Mattila, Finland, 82.00
5. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 81.66
6. Antti Autti, Finland, 81.33
7. JJ Thomas, Golden, 78.66
8. Mike Goldschmidt, Stratton, Ver., 75.00
9. Luke Wynen, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 74.66
10. Danny Kass, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 51.00
SnoCross
MEN’S LAST-CHANCE QUALIFYING
(Top four qualify)
1. Mathieu Morin Canada
2. T.J. Gulla, Colchester, Ver.
3. Ryan Simons Canada
4. Michael Island Canada
5. Garth Kaufman, Alta, Wyo.
6. Jeff Arsenault, Wilmington, Ver.
7. Matt Boron, Leverett, Mass.
8. Mike Schultz, Pillager, Minn.
SCHEDULE
TODAY
10 a.m.-noon: Skiing superpipe men’s qualifying
12:15-1 p.m.: Skiing superpipe women’s final
6-8:15 p.m.: Skiing superpipe men’s final
8:15-9 p.m.: Snocross final
