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Winter X Games Snow Bike Best Trick
NEWS

X Games Aspen - Day 4

Jan 272020

Presented by Monster Energy as the long-time energy drink partner, X Games Aspen 2020 awarded 59 medals in 21 disciplines while showcasing the state of the art in winter action sports.

Over the course of four action-packed days, the spectacle attracted 111,500 on-site spectators.

In terms of progression, this edition of X Games Aspen raised the bar once again. History-making performances included Monster Energy young gun Colby Stevenson becoming the first-ever rookie to win Ski Slopestyle. And how about Jamie Anderson setting a new record for most Snowboard Slopestyle gold in X Games history at six medals? Or Monster Energy’s Doug Henry proving that age is just the number by winning his second consecutive gold medal in Para Snow BikeCross at age 50.

When all was said and done, Monster Energy snow sports athletes claimed a total of 22 medals across ski, snow bike, and snowboard disciplines. The team’s dominant medal haul included ten gold, five silver, and seven bronze medals that were earned in some of the most spectacular final sessions in X Games history.  

Televised live to global audiences, X Games Aspen 2020 featured 166 athletes from 21 countries as well as music performances by acclaimed urban and electronic artists alongside festival experiences at X Fest. On Sunday, the crowd was treated to a live set from American singer Bazzi on the GEICO Music Stage, before the last ski, snowboard, and snow bike competitions shut down the show with a bang.

After claiming a whopping six gold medals on Saturday, here’s how the Monster Energy team’s medal run unfolded on Sunday, the final day of X Games Aspen 2020.

Under blue skies on Buttermilk Mountain, the Jeep Women’s Ski Slopestyle final saw eight of the world’s top freestyle skiers take on the downhill obstacle course. Similar to other freestyle disciplines at this edition of X Games, the final was contested in a new, 35-minute jam session format that emphasized overall impression.

Monster Energy’s Sarah Hoefflin came into the final struggling with pain from plantar fasciitis in both heels and the aftermath of a leg injury suffered at the December 2019 World Cup in Atlanta. But that hadn’t stopped the 29-year-old from Geneva, Switzerland, from claiming bronze in Friday night’s Big Air finals. 

There was no keeping Sarah Hoefflin off the Slopestyle podium on Sunday, either. Working the course with difficult, technical rail tricks and contorted aerials, her highlights included leftside 450 on 270 out and switch rightside 270 on the rails as well as 540 mute, bio 720, left cork 900 tailgrab, alley-oop 360 mute, and switch right bio 900 in the jump section for the silver medal.

On the strength of her two new medals from X Games Aspen 2020, Hoefflin now owns four X Games medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze). She came into professional skiing relatively late in her career after earning her neuroscience degree in 2013, but has since become a force to be reckoned with after winning Women’s Ski Big Air at Aspen 2018 and Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea that same year.

Hoefflin was joined on the podium by her Monster Energy teammate, 21-year-old Maggie Voisin from Whitefish, Montana. After missing the podium in Big Air on Friday night, Voisin returned hungry to Slopestyle, which she won in 2018 as the first American rider in X Games history. 

In the final session, Voisin worked the rails with technical moves like 450 on 270 out and left 270 to pretzel. She also hit the jumps with switch left 900 mute, leftside 720 tailgrab, rightside 900, and a huge 540 rodeo off the shark fin obstacle for the bronze medal. With Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru in the top spot, Maggie Voisin earned her fifth X Games medal (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze).

Next up, progression was the name of the game in the first-ever Jeep Snowboard Slope Rail Jam. In a 20-minute jam session, eight riders attacked the three rail sections at the top of the Slopestyle course with their most creative moves. 

 

Known for his diverse jib tricks, Monster Energy’s Darcy Sharpe was a top contender in the new event. The 23-year-old from Comox, Canada, had just claimed his very first X Games gold medal in Slopestyle one day earlier and did not disappoint when the action focused on rail moves. 

 

In the free-flowing progression session, Sharpe stoked the crowd by delivering different lines and fresh moves on every attempt. Standouts such as bluntslide 270 on the rainbow rail, Cab lipslide fakie, hardway switch 270 bring-back, lipslide 270 out, frontside boardslide to fakie, and 50-50 360 out on the monster rail earned Sharpe a well-deserved silver medal in the new discipline right behind Minnesota’s Jesse Paul in first place.

 

Also cracking into the top three in the inaugural Rail Jam, Monster Energy’s Sven Thorgren brought the right jibs to the battle. Thorgren raised the bar by posting technical standouts like backside 360 to 50-50 to frontside 180 out, Cab 270 on 450 out, Indy grab to backside lipslide fakie, and Cab 450 on 270 out for the bronze medal.

 

After winning his third consecutive Big Air medal the night before, the 25-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden now holds six X Games medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze). 


As the final event in a spectacular four-day action sports showcase, Monster Energy Snow Bike Best Trick shut down X Games Aspen 2020 with a bang. In terms of riding technique, Snow Bike Best Trick shares similarities to freestyle motocross with a focus on spectacular spins and acrobatics. Riders perform on customized motocross machines transformed into freestyle-ready snow bikes with rear-mounted track drives. 

 

During the six-rider final, contestants received two attempts to send their tricks over a choice of two Super Kicker Ramps – similar to motocross jumps – over a 40-foot long gap onto a 12-foot tall snow landing. 

 

After claiming silver in the event at X Games Aspen 2019, Monster Energy’s Brett Turcotte stepped to the plate as a top competitor in snow bike freestyle. But the 31-year-old from Clearwater, Canada, had a tough weekend in Aspen so far this year. Unable to land a new trick creation in the Snowmobile Freestyle final, in which he was a podium favorite, he was hungry for a medal in the snow bike event.

 

His hard work would pay off, even though Turcotte had to battle. On his first attempt, he threw a heel clicker backflip, but abandoned the spin in mid-air. Tossing his snow bike to the ground, Turcotte walked away unscathed, while his bike suffered visible damage.

 

Thanks to his pit crew, Turcotte was able to return for a second shot at the title. Hitting the super ramp at full speed, the seasoned snow bike rider pulled an extended superman backflip – hanging from the handlebar horizontally in mid-air – for 79.33 points and the top spot.

 

But before it was a done deal, Turcotte had to wait a tense moment while Rob Adelberg took a final attempt at spinning a frontflip for a potential walk-off victory. Ultimately, the defending gold medalist stuck the rotation but could not ride out the trick, making Brett Turcotte’s first X Games snow bike gold official.

 

“I am literally at the last ounce of energy. That was the longest wait of my life watching Adelberg rotate that frontflip around. It’s awesome to be able to come back here year after year and chase after these medals,” said Brett Turcotte on winning the Snow Bike Best Trick gold medal at X Games Aspen on Sunday.

 

Turcotte now owns eight X Games medals (3 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) and was joined on the podium by his Monster Energy teammate Jackson Strong. No stranger to freestyle tricks on dirt or on snow, the 28-year-old from Lockhart, Australia, had already claimed a Snow Bike Best Trick silver medal at Aspen 2018.

 

Strong started in the final wearing a #24 Los Angeles Lakers basketball jersey in tribute to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, who had tragically passed away earlier on the same day. Although he did not get the full extension on a backflip on his first attempt, Jacko pulled a nac nac to no-footer backflip on his second run and finished the night with a highest score of 75.66-point for the bronze medal, his twelfth X Games medal (6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze).

 

As the final trophy of the night, X Games presented Monster Energy freeskier Colby Stevenson with the Jeep Best in Snow Award for making history as the first-ever rookie to win the Ski Slopestyle competition. What a weekend!

 

On that note, congratulations to all Monster Energy snow sports athletes on their dominant performance at X Games Aspen 2020. It was really one for the books and with 22 medals – including 10 gold – even surpassed last year’s total count of 18 medals for Monster Energy at XG Aspen 2019.

 

Thanks to everyone who attended, the crew at ESPN and Buttermilk Mountain and all who tuned in to watch a history-making event! 

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