
What a spectacular ending to one of the most epic X Games in history! On the last night of X Games Aspen 2018, Snow Bike Best Trick made its debut as a new medal discipline on a custom freestyle track on Buttermilk Mountain. In front of a pumped-up crowd, Monster Energy’s Jackson “Jacko” Strong from Lockhart, Australia, brought his signature aerial mastery from motocross into the snow arena for a Silver medal at the brand-new crossover event.
Contested for the first time at an X Games, Snow Bike Best Trick is a new discipline following the same rules as Moto X Best Trick and Snowmobile Best Trick: Riders attack the course in two runs each, trying to post the highest score by launching aerial stunts from a 10-foot tall Super Kicker Ramp – identical to motocross ramps used at Summer X Games – over a 40-foot long gap onto a 12-foot tall snow landing.
Tonight’s field of riders consisted of the world’s leading snowmobile freestylists, including Monster Energy’s Brett Turcotte, as well as motocross innovators such as Axell Hodges and Strong, who has already won three X Games Gold in Moto X Best Trick. Because snow bike freestyle is still in its infancy, there is no standard equipment for catching big air in the snow. Most riders designed their own custom conversion kits – lighter than the standard kits used at yesterday’s Snow BikeCross race – to transform motocross machines into freestyle-ready snow bikes with rear-mounted track drives.