The pressure is off this week in Aspen.
Last year, the high-flying skiers and snowboarders who built the X Games were racing toward international glory in Russia’s Winter Olympics, spinning through five qualifying contests in a mere six weeks. They were weary, battered and in no mood to bust out the big guns at the X Games with the Sochi showdown only two weeks away.
This year, there’s no fight to make the Olympic team. No need to keep runs conservative. So expect a spectacular X.
“It’s definitely less stressful this year. There’s a lot more time this year to prepare and hang out and focus on skiing and have fun,” said Gus Kenworthy, the puppy-loving Telluride freeskier who took silver in the Olympic debut of slopestyle skiing at Sochi and will compete in this week in the halfpipe and slopestyle contests in Aspen.
“It’s not going to be chill and it won’t be mellow by any means. People are more rested and not so overwhelmed. But everyone wants to win at the X Games. I bet we see some creative stuff.”
Here’s a capsule view of what’s going down at Aspen’s 14th hosting of the Winter X Games, which has a few new scheduling twists:
• Ski halfpipe women’s final, 7 p.m. Wednesday: The women skiers kick it off in the superpipe at the freshly renovated Buttermilk base. Maddie Bowman, who capped her second X Games gold last year with a , spun her powerful pair of 900s to win Dew Tour gold at Breckenridge last month. She’s red hot. Watch for France’s Marie Martinod and Team USA’s Annalisa Drew to force Bowman’s hand in the first medal event.
WATCH:
• Snowboard halfpipe men’s final, 7:45 p.m. Thursday: Will the world’s most dominant snowboarder, Shaun White, be ready for his post-Olympic debut? Is he too distracted with his new international Air & Style festival, which takes over Pasadena’s Rose Bowl next month? The pack of riders aiming for White is ready to the topple the king: Steamboat’s Taylor Gold has the style and tricks. Danny Davis, fresh off a tour of Japan’s deepest winter in years, is fired up. The Japanese contingent has the momentum of two Olympic medals, and White’s Swiss nemesis Iouri Podladtchikov could lead the rebellion.
• Boardercross, 11 a.m. Friday: Snowboarding gladiator season continues in Aspen, with 24 men and 12 women from across the world gathering for their sport’s highest profile event of the year. Seven-time gold medalist Nate Holland will be hunting for redemption after a disappointing show in Sochi. , the board-tech turned bronzed Olympian, will be aiming for his first X title. Lindsey Jacobellis has eight X Games gold medals, with six of those wins by more than a half second.
• Snowboard big air, 8:30 p.m. Friday: Next generation trickery by the world’s most daring riders. Triple cork 1620s by the Canadians were the rage in 2013 (the event wasn’t held last year). Technical wizardry by the Euros previously were the rage. Canadian Mark McMorris won gold in 2012 when he was 18, and silver in 2013, and returns to the big kicker jumper. Americans Sage Kotsenburg and Eric Willet are also back.
• Ski slopestyle men’s final, 11 a.m. Saturday: The show that thrilled Sochi during the Olympics takes the stage Saturday. Indiana’s Nick Goepper is going for a three-peat for gold. Will Telluride’s Kenworthy, who took gold at last month’s Dew Tour, find his first Aspen X medal? Salt Lake’s Tom Wallisch, whose Olympic dreams dissolved with his torn ACL last winter, is as hot as ever. Denver’s Bobby Brown is reinvigorated. remains at its zenith. And the mighty Euro slopestyle skiers could be itching to upstage the American sweep of slopestyle skiing’s Olympic debut last year.
• Ski slopestyle women’s final, 1:30 p.m. Saturday: With Canadian Kaya Turski, the most dominant woman in slopestyle skiing, , the field is as open as it was in Sochi, when Canadian Dara Howell sailed to gold.
• Snowboard halfpipe women’s final, 6 p.m. Saturday: last week after she was diagnosed with a degenerative spine condition. Her absence leaves the women’s field at a mere five competitors. Kelly Clark has a dozen X Games medals, seven of them gold.
• Ski big air, 8 p.m. Saturday: in the baggiest britches is back on the roster for the Aspen spinfest under the lights. Can he best his stupefying nose buttered triple cork 1620 for his third big air gold?
• Snowboard slopestyle women’s final, 9:45 a.m. Sunday: California’s yoga-honed will count a decade of X Games appearances in Aspen this year. And she’s only 24. Norway’s Silje Norendal — the 2014 X gold medalist — is hungry after a disappointing show in Sochi.
• Snowboard slopestyle men’s final, 11:30 a.m. Sunday: A dozen of the world’s best riders are in the mix, and the podium is wide open. If triple corks rule, watch for McMorris, Sebastian Toutant and Max Parrot to find the podium. , then watch for American’s golden Olympian Sage Kotsenburg to find his second X Games slopestyle medal.
• Ski halfpipe men’s final: 2:45 p.m. Sunday: Skiers replace snowboarders in the marquis closing event Sunday with a showdown that will easily eclipse the fog-addled circus in Sochi. David Wise, the now two-time father whose unwavering fortitude delivered him medal, is the man to beat.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
X Games schedule
A look at the event finals for this week’s X Games at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen:
Wednesday
Women’s ski halfpipe, 7 p.m.
Thursday
Monoskier boardercross, 1:30 p.m.
Snowmobile speed and style, 7:15 p.m.
Men’s snowboard halfpipe, 7:45 p.m.
Friday
Men’s and women’s boardercross, 11 a.m.
Men’s snowboard big air, 8:30 p.m.
Snowmobile long jump, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Men’s ski slopestyle, 11 a.m.
Women’s ski slopestyle, 1:30 p.m.
Snowmobile hillcross, 3 p.m.
Women’s snowboard halfpipe, 6 p.m.
Ski big air, 8 p.m.
Sunday
Women’s snowboard slopestyle, 9:45 a.m.
Men’s snowboard slopestyle, 11:30 a.m.
Snowmobile adaptive, noon
Snowmobile snocross, 1 p.m.
Men’s ski halfpipe, 2:45 p.m.
If you go
What you need to know if you venture to Buttermilk Mountain this week:
Parking
The main lot is located at the Brush Creek Intercept Lot at Colorado 82 and Brush Creek Road. Free shuttles are provided to Buttermilk. Tailgating and camping are not permitted in the lot.
Concerts
There are four concerts (tickets are required) at the base of Buttermilk this year: Snoop Dogg, 6:15 p.m. Friday; Chromeo, 4 p.m. Saturday; Skrillex, 9:30 p.m. Saturday; Wiz Khalifa, 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
On-site
• All competitions are free.
• Items not allowed include: large bags, weapons, alcohol, drugs, coolers, pets (working animals excepted), folding chairs, large umbrellas, noisemakers and beverages of any kind except factory-sealed water in plastic bottles.
