fbpx

FREESKIER hosts kick-off party at X Games, with athletes, VIPs galore

FREESKIER hosts kick-off party at X Games, with athletes, VIPs galore

[juicebox gallery_id=”399″]

 

All photos by Topher Baldwin, unless otherwise noted.

The most prestigious contest in action sports has returned to Aspen, Colorado; this marks X Games’ sixteenth appearance in the famed mountain town. And for almost as many years, it seems, the festivities—complete with world-class skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, live music, vendor booths, epic dinners, raging parties and tens of thousands of rowdy outdoors-people—have kicked off with a must-attend, head-banging Wednesday night rager, hosted by FREESKIER.

FREESKIER has hosted countless parties through the years at the swanky Sky Hotel (its locals’ favorite pool and hot tub are the place to be for après ski), but we’re officially pegging last night’s bash as the most-trafficked of them all. Last night, quite simply, rocked.

That’s right, FREESKIER Fest once again made its mark on Aspen. Some people consider X Games to be the Olympics of action sports, and if that’s the case, it’s fair to call FREESKIER the Michael Phelps of X Games partying. We always win. And so do all those who join us.

Last night included: Athletes. Free ski gear, from beautiful outerwear to top-notch headphones and everything in between. Party favors in the form of beanies, caps, necklaces, bracelets, etc. Thousands of free Bud Lights. Shot-skis. Industry VIPs. DJ Naka G spinning mind-boggling beats. An absolutely packed house. The local Red Bull crew on-site. The excitement of yet another X Games invading one of our absolute favorite mountain towns… It doesn’t get much better. The 9″ of snow that fell in the past 24 hours, and the 34″ that fell in the week prior? Icing on the cake. The skiing has been insanely great (see photos below) of late, and the party spirit reflected that on-hill awesomeness perfectly.

As aforementioned, a who’s who of skiing athletes and industry VIPs joined in on the fun, as always. It’s not everyday that the Average Joe has the opportunity to engage in conversation and pose for photos with the likes of FREESKIER’s most recent cover boy and Olympian, Jesper Tjäder; or reigning X Games slopestyle champion and Olympian, Jossi Wells; or X Games big air champion, Vincent Gagnier. And seeing the stoke on a skier’s face in the moment they meet a hero, well, that’s priceless. Those moments happened left and right, all night long, and that’s why we do it, folks—our goal with these parties is to provide partygoers with nothing short of the best night ever, every time.

Olympian and FREESKIER cover boy, Jesper Tjäder (center right) with FREESKIER Editor-in-Chief, Henrik Lampert (center-left), Storm Mountain Publishing Digital Media Director, Jon Glass (right) and friend, Frederik (left).

Happy partygoers.

Shot-skis making the rounds.

The best of times…

We have officially set the bar mighty high for the week ahead. In addition to the X Games competitions, there will be music from the likes of Bassnectar, Anderson Paak & the Free Nationals, and also The Chainsmokers. There will be mountain-top parties and downtown raucousness of the grandest sort. For folks in and around Colorado, it’s not too late to get up to Aspen to join in on the fun.

More happy partygoers…

When it feels like the entire town of Aspen came out for the party…

Aspen, we love you.

One Sky Hotel staffer estimated this was “the best weekday party” the hotel had ever hosted.

Can’t be in Aspen this week? The full X Games event and television schedule can be found, here.

And for those contemplating a trip to Aspen this spring:

See our breakdown (including custom trail maps) of Aspen Snowmass’ four mountains (all on one ski pass), right here. The skiing has been on-point of late, as evidenced by the photos, below.

Victor Major, captured by Matt Power, January, 2017.

JF Bruegger, captured by Matt Power, January, 2017.

More: See FREESKIER’s ultimate guide on where to ski, eat, sleep and drink in Aspen.

More, still: Read our feature-length article, The People’s Aspen: Where hard-working ski bums flourish.

Even more, ’cause we love you: Reminisce on that one time FREESKIER Fest rocked Breckenridge; drawing top name pro skiers and a huge crowd.

Cheers, folks. Thanks to all who joined us for this latest edition of FREESKIER Fest and we’ll see y’all again soon.

34" inches of snow in a week and Winterskol fireworks. Does it get any better?!? (????: @zmaraziti )

A photo posted by Aspen Snowmass (@aspensnowmass) on

Photo by Hal Williams

Upgrade Your Inbox

Don't waste time seeking out the best skiing content; we'll send it all right to you.

One thought on “FREESKIER hosts kick-off party at X Games, with athletes, VIPs galore

Comments are closed.