Winter X Games 15 is right around the corner. Perhaps you'll be attending, or maybe you plan to camp out on your couch with chips and salsa and watch on TV. Whatever your pleasure, it's more than likely that you'll be following along.
It's safe for me to make that assumption, because X Games is big. It's real big. To get a sense of just how grand this production actually is, wrap your head around some of the numbers below.
Peter Olenick en route to Winter X Games 14 Gold. Photo: Shay Williams
Fun Facts:
3 – Consecutive years that Winter X Games has been the highest-rated and most-viewed Winter X Games telecast ever.
3 – Tyler Walker will attempt to complete the first-ever Mono Skier X three-peat. He has also won the gold in Mono Skier X three of the four years it has been a medaled event at Winter X Games.
4 – Locations Winter X Games has taken place: Snow Summit, CA (1997); Crested Butte, CO (1998-99); Mount Snow, VT (2000-01); Aspen, CO (2002-2011).
5 – Ophelie David will this year attempt to win her fifth consecutive Skier X Women’s gold medal. She will be the first ski athlete and first female athlete in Winter X Games history to complete a five-peat.
6 – Ski athletes who have competed in both the Winter X Games and the Olympics.
8 – Tied for the most appearances of any skier, Davey Barr (Skier X), Opehlie David (Skier X), Simon Dumont (Superpipe) and Casey Puckett (Skier X) have all competed at Winter X Games for eight consecutive years.
10 – Consecutive years that the Winter X Games have taken place at Aspen/Snowmass.
10 – Number of skiers who have won two Winter X Games medals at the same event, including Jon Olsson who accomplished that feat at five different Winter X Games events.
11 – Record for the most overall medals in Winter X Games ski history by Tanner Hall, who also holds the record for most gold medals.
12 – Snowcats dedicated to the event.
15 – Foot halfpipe walls in 2000, up from 11 1/2 the year before.
15 – Torin Yater-Wallace is the youngest athlete competing at Winter X Games at 15-years old.
18 – Hours of live ESPN 3D programming at Winter X Games 15.
24 – Average age of athletes at Winter X Games 14
34 – Number of Winter X Games rookie skiers competing at Winter X Games 15.
49 – Chris Devlin-Young is the oldest athlete competing at Winter X Games (Mono Skier X).
85 – Gap (in feet) on Big Air feature.
100 – Perfect score achieved by Bobby Brown in the Winter X Games 14 Skiing Big Air competition. The tricks were a switch double Misty mute 1260 and switch double Misty mute 1440, the first time both tricks were landed in competition.
143 – Number of scaffolding structures built for Winter X Games 15.
172 – Countries and territories in Latin America, the Pacific Rim, Middle East, Africa, Israel and Canada where ESPN Networks televised Winter X Games 14.
436 – Total number of distinct ski athletes who have competed at Winter X Games since its inception.
567 – Length in feet of the Superpipe.
929 – Number of two-way radios used at Winter X Games 14.
50,000 – Feet of nylon rope used at Winter X Games 14.
55,000 – Zip ties used at Winter X Games 14.
677,000 – Number of households that watched Winter X Games 9.
846,350 – Total number of spectators at all Winter X Games events
1,025,887 and growing – X Games Facebook fans.
1,147,000 – Number of households that watched Winter X Games 14.
On-Hill-Spectatorship and Noteworthy Happenings:
1997 – Snow Summit, CA – 38,000 * Events included ice climbing and super-modified shovel racing.
1998 – Crested Butte, CO – 25,000 * New sports included Freeskiing, Snowmobile SnoCross and Skiboarding. Denis Rey bested Americans Kent Kreitler and Chris Davenport for Skier X gold.
1999 – Crested Butte, CO – 30,000+ * J.F. Cusson edged 1998 Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley in Ski Big Air's debut. Enak Gavaggio earned his only Skier X gold to date, in his first attempt, by beating late legend Shane McConkey.
2000 – Mount Snow, VT – 83,500 * The Halfpipe discipline's name changed to Superpipe.
2001 – Mount Snow, VT – 85,100 * Tanner Hall, 17, took Skiing Big Air.
2002 – Aspen, CO – 36,300 * Skiing Superpipe and Slopestyle debuted, with Jon Olsson and Tanner Hall earning gold, respectively.
2003 – Aspen, CO – 48,700 * Skiing Superpipe became a fan favorite as Candide Thovex used lofty 900's and an inverted 720 to best Tanner Hall.
2004 – Aspen, CO – 66,500 * First year that X Games was televised live. Simon Dumont blasted 22 feet above the deck for Skiing Superpipe gold while Tanner Hall three-peated in Slopestyle.
2005 – Aspen, CO – 69,750 * A four-peat was thwarted in Skiing Slopestyle when French-Canadian Charles Gagnier upset Tanner Hall. Hall was stuck with silver in SuperPipe, too, when Simon Dumont's massive amplitude trumped Tanner's technical mastery.
2006 – Aspen, CO – 69,650 * Tanner Hall gained his first Skiing Superpipe gold and Grete Eliassen successfully defended her crown in the second year of the women's event. When bad weather turned Skiing Slopestyle into Best Trick, TJ Schiller landed the best 1080 variation of the 15 competitors who attempted one.
2007 – Aspen, CO – 76,150 * Skiing Big Air debuts. In Skiing Superpipe, Tanner Hall again triumphed in his annual duel with Simon Dumont; Hall's initial hit — a switch 1080 that was a first — topped Dumont's 1260, another Superpipe first.
2008 – Aspen, CO – 72,500 * Introduction of 22 foot Superpipe. Tanner Hall became the only person to three-peat in two Winter X disciplines, adding three straight Skiing SuperPipe wins to his Slopestyle victories.
2009 – Aspen, CO – 68,100 * Twenty-year-old Frenchman Xavier Bertoni surprised everyone by upsetting Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont for the Skiing SuperPipe title.
2010 – Aspen, CO – 84,100 * Rookie Bobby Brown surprised competitiors and spectators by winning gold in Ski Big Air and Men's Ski Slopestyle in his first Winter X Games appearance. Not only did he win Big Air, he earned a perfect score on two of his runs, giving Brown an unprecedented perfect score of 100.
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