The Winter X Games 2023 are about to begin, and there is a deep bench of athletes eager to shred Buttermilk Mountain. Some of the most accomplished athletes in the world are coming back to Aspen, Colorado, between January 27 and 29, 2019, to defend the titles they won the year before. Famous snowboarders of that year took part in both the Winter X Games and the Winter Olympics, winning several medals.
How to watch The Winter X Games 2023:
Viewers around the world can watch the action live on the following channels and here for free:
Live Broadcast: The Winter X Games 2023 Live
The Winter X Games 2023 Preview:
Last year, an influx of young riders shocked the seasoned pros by taking their places on the podium. In the women’s competition, perennial powerhouse Jamie Anderson (USA) finished second to up-and-comer Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), while Marcus Kleveland (NOR) won the most medals overall. Mark McMorris (CAN) won Slopestyle to tie Jamie Anderson (USA) for the most medals at the Winter X Games with 21.
As Anderson is taking a year off from the race to prepare for the birth of her first child, Sadowski-Synnott may have an easy road to victory this year. If McMorris does well in Slopestyle and Big Air, he will have a chance to surpass Anderson’s medal tally and take first place.
Defending champion Scotty James (Australia) will have his hands full with the Hirano brothers from Japan, who have won medals at the Winter X Games and the Olympics. With Olympic champion Chloe Kim not competing and defending champion Sena Tomita not competing, the women’s SuperPipe event is wide open.
It’s exciting to see up-and-coming stars against seasoned veterans in the men’s or women’s categories. Do the seasoned veterans have what it takes to stem the stream of new talent, or will the contours of the future be set this year?
The Winter X Games 2023 Complete Schedule:
Friday, January 27th
- 11:30 am: Women’s Slopestyle
- 8:30 pm: Men’s SuperPipe
Saturday, January 28
- Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
- Special Olympics Unified Snowboard & Ski
Sunday, January 29
- Women’s Ski Big Air
- Ski Knuckle Huck
- Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe
- Men’s Ski Slopestyle
- Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe
Monday, January 30
- Women’s Ski SuperPipe
- Women’s Snowboard Big Air
- Men’s Snowboard Big Air
- Women’s Ski Slopestyle
- Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
Tuesday, January 31
- Snowboard Knuckle Huck
- Men’s Ski Big Air
- Men’s Ski SuperPipe
Read More: 2023 Winter World University Games Everything You Need To Know And How To Watch
What to look out for at the Winter X Games 2023:
Slopestyle
To be successful in Slopestyle, riders need to be versatile in their trick selection and execution, and they must be able to connect their tricks in a way that maximizes the flow from one feature to the next. Skaters compete by attempting to land tricks on ramps, rails, boxes, and other obstacles.
The degree of difficulty, the size of the trick, the execution, and the routine’s overall aesthetic are all considered. Riders can get in as many attempts as time allows during a jam session, with just their best run counting toward their final score.
The upper half of the course will feature highly technical rail work, while the lower section will feature massive airs and dizzying spins. The judges’ criteria during the competition are smooth grabs and landings. It’s not enough to land stunts in this day and age of extremely complex moves.
Competitors are judged on their ability to demonstrate technical finesse in their performance and total board command. To be in medal contention, riders must achieve flawless landings and escapes. Many of these tricks will be executed by switching stances, making them even more incomprehensible to onlookers until they understand that the riders are going in the opposite direction.
SuperPipe
Truly, SuperPipe is incredibly astounding. A rider can launch over 20 feet into the air with many inversions in a single trick by hurling themselves against the 22-foot inclined walls at breakneck speed. Anyone who has been inside a SuperPipe can attest to its massive dimensions.
The quickness and accuracy needed to stick to a winning run are equally remarkable. Combinations, flow, difficulty, amplitude, and execution are the primary criteria for scoring in SuperPipe. To keep their momentum going down the 567-foot SuperPipe, riders will likely complete many corked turns and land high on the transition.
In the realm of pipe riding, 2016 was a huge year. Ayumu and Kaishu Hirano, two brothers from Japan, spent the entire season competing against Scotty James, first in the Winter X Games and then at the Olympics. James won Winter X Games last year, and the Hirano brothers finished second and third.
In the Olympics later that year, Ayumu Hirano outdid James by doing the most impressive SuperPipe run ever. At the end of the season’s most important snowboarding competitions, both riders took home gold and silver medals, with younger brother Kaishu winning bronze in both. The Hirano brothers want to rule SuperPipe, but Scotty James is standing in their way.
When it came to the women’s competition, the winners from the previous year were Haruna Matsumoto of Japan and Queralt Castellet of Spain. Both riders have their sights set on Gold, and with the absence of a few heavy hitters, they may be able to make the switch.
Chloe Kim, winner of many Olympic GoldGold medals, and Sena Tomita, winner of the Winter X Games gold medal in 2017 but not this year, will not be competing. This creates an opportunity for some of the sport’s up-and-coming young riders to demonstrate that they belong in the conversation for Winter X Games hardware.
Big Air
The best show in snowboarding is Bis Air. Big Air at the Winter X Games will reveal exactly how dedicated these riders have been to increasing their rotations and establishing themselves as the undisputed kings of the air. The judges will evaluate each rider’s best two jumps based on their degree of originality, difficulty, inventiveness, style, and trajectory. The previous year, Marcus Kleveland triumphed by landing a backside 1800 and a cab 1800.
Because of the nature of these competitions, everyone will likely improve upon their previous year’s results by anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0 rotations. Dusty Henricksen of the United States of America and defending champion Marcus Kleveland of Sweden are worth keeping an eye on these two players in the men’s competition.
Hendricksen, a past Winter X Games champion, failed to place in the top three in 2018. He plans to rectify this in 2023. While Zoi Sadowski-Synnott may assume an easy victory in the women’s competition if Jamie Anderson isn’t in the running, she’d be mistaken.
Knuckle Huck
Since its debut at the 2019 Winter X Games, the Knuckle Huck has become an instant classic. It’s like Big Air’s scrappier, more inventive younger sibling. In the Knuckle Huck competition, competitors float into the void below using the landing part of the ramp rather than the massive launch ramp used to launch riders in Big Air.
Most of the time, the riders appear to levitate above the snow before plunging into the landing ramp, where they spin and flip multiple times.While defending champion Marcus Kleveland never fails to impress, this year’s competition should focus on Zeb Powell of Burton Snowboards (USA).
After posting the most original feats of the competition, his fans were shocked when he did not place last year. While last year’s winners all performed big flips and spins, Powell is undoubtedly the most creative rider and will perform moves that have never been attempted.
