All Pictures : Courtesy of X Video games Skier: Miro Tabanelli
Merely put, there isn’t any extra iconic occasion for Valley locals, world excessive sports activities opponents and Entrance Vary weekend warriors every January than the X Video games. It’s everybody’s good excuse to hit Aspen and its 4 related mountains for at the least one epic weekend each winter. And that custom is staying alive as X Video games introduced as we speak the return of its premier winter occasion to Aspen Snowmass for the twenty fifth consecutive 12 months, marking a milestone in action-sports historical past.
And whereas the melee used to again as much as Out of doors Retailer and SIA trade commerce reveals in Denver, that’s now not an issue, and consumer-friendly occasions just like the X Video games (and Sea Otter within the bike world) have taken heart stage post-COVID.
X Video games Aspen 2026 will happen January 23–25, 2026, at Buttermilk Mountain, celebrating a quarter-century partnership of genre-defining performances and emotional moments every winter within the Aspen valley, together with the return of dwell music.
Basic admission tickets can be accessible with quite a lot of hospitality upgrades providing enhanced experiences and premium viewing choices. Ticket and music lineup particulars can be forthcoming however followers wanting to be the primary to seize tickets and catch the total leisure lineup can join the X Video games Aspen 2026 ticket waitlist at xgames.com.
The Summer season X Video games started in 1995 in Rhode Island (initially referred to as the “Excessive Video games”). ESPN launched the inaugural Winter X Video games in 1997 at Snow Summit, California, that includes primarily snowboarding occasions alongside area of interest competitions like mountaineering and snow mountain biking. The evolution of freeskiing inside the X Video games started when the occasion moved to Crested Butte, Colorado, for 1998-99, introducing freeski disciplines and welcoming pioneering athletes like Denis Rey, Kent Kreitler, and Chris Davenport within the first Skier X competitors. J.F. Cusson made historical past in 1999 when he edged out Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley to win the first-ever Ski Huge Air, whereas Enak Gavaggio bested the legendary Shane McConkey in Skier X.
After a short stint at Vermont’s Mount Snow (2000-2001), the Winter X Video games discovered its everlasting dwelling in Aspen in 2002, the place it expanded to incorporate Ski Slopestyle and SuperPipe, gained by Tanner Corridor and Jon Olsson respectively. Since first arriving in Aspen in 2002, X Video games has grown into a world winter custom rooted within the distinctive power and terrain of Buttermilk. By way of technological developments, evolving disciplines, and a number of other generations of athletes pushing the boundaries of what’s doable on skis, the X Video games has remained the premier showcase for freeskiing innovation and development—a legacy that may proceed with its milestone celebration in 2026.
X Video games options 5 key freeski disciplines: SuperPipe, Slopestyle, Huge Air, Knuckle Huck, and Avenue Fashion. SuperPipe makes use of a halfpipe with 22-foot partitions the place athletes chain collectively technical methods; Slopestyle combines rail sections with leap options; Huge Air focuses on single, progressive methods off one huge leap; Knuckle Huck showcases inventive methods off the rollover of jumps; and Avenue Fashion brings urban-inspired options to the mountain setting.
Not like FIS World Cup occasions, X Video games doesn’t function an Olympic qualifier however maintains its place as freeskiing’s premier invitation-only occasion. The competitors operates independently from the FIS qualification system, choosing roughly 100 elite athletes throughout all disciplines slightly than utilizing an open qualification format. Regardless of missing Olympic implications, X Video games medals carry immense status inside the freeski group, with many athletes contemplating them equal to or extra important than Olympic {hardware}.
The occasion has constantly pushed development in freeskiing, usually introducing new disciplines years earlier than their adoption into the Olympic program or World Cup circuit. Its ESPN broadcast platform gives unparalleled publicity in comparison with commonplace World Cup occasions, making X Video games notably useful for athletes’ sponsor relationships and profession trajectory. The competitors has develop into such a cultural cornerstone that high opponents incessantly prioritize X Video games over conflicting World Cup occasions, illustrating its distinctive standing within the sport regardless of working exterior the Olympic qualification pathway.
X Video games Aspen 2026 will deliver the world’s high ski athletes to compete in disciplines throughout males’s and girls’s occasions. Miro Tabanelli (Males’s Ski Huge Air) wowed crowds by touchdown the first-ever 2340 in competitors final 12 months, including to the anticipation round what can be achieved at X Video games Aspen 2026. The X Video games’ partnership with Aspen Snowmass has led to a spectacular celebration of snow sports activities, development, world-class athletes, tradition, music, and artwork that continues to attract audiences in from around the globe, and the model says that the twenty fifth anniversary will honor the legacy of previous competitions whereas spotlighting the innovation and pleasure nonetheless to come back.
X Video games CEO Jeremy Bloom mentioned the model, now with summer season and winter occasions in Salt Lake Metropolis, Osaka, Japan, and Aspen, is hyped to proceed constructing on its legacy and produce X Video games followers and athletes collectively for an unforgettable expertise in 2026. “For 25 years Aspen’s been the place winter sports activities legends are made and bounds are limitless,” he mentioned. Since its inception in 1995, X Video games has been the main motion sports activities competitors and life-style model, spotlighting the world’s finest athletes in opposition to the backdrop of iconic host cities. Over the previous 30 years, X Video games has hosted world-class occasions across the globe, paired with top-tier music acts and immersive fan experiences throughout all platforms.
Further updates and knowledge for X Video games Aspen 2026 can be accessible at xgames.com.
