X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom, left, sitting with Australian snowboarder Scotty James, talks during the X Games Aspen pre-event press conference on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen has hosted Winter X Games since 2002, making this week’s edition the 25th straight at Buttermilk Ski Area. And, with a subtle comment to close out Thursday’s pre-event press conference, it sounds like it could be around for another quarter century.
“Thank you to the town of Aspen for 25 years. That’s iconic,” X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said. “I can say, which was not the case last year, we are not going anywhere. We look forward to the next 25 years here in Aspen.”
With Bloom, the former moguls Olympic champion and University of Colorado football star, now in his second year as the head of X Games, changes are beginning to stack up. The brand unveiled a new logo back in September, is set to launch a new team-based league this coming summer, and is seeing a surge in new sponsors.
This year’s competition, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday night, is set to be the largest since 2020, which was held mere weeks before the world shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For us athletes, the only other time we would sit in a row and look at press like this is the Olympics,” said Australian snowboarder Scotty James about the impact of X Games on their careers. “As always, X Games in Aspen, the town really embraces this event and I think for us, we always really enjoy coming here. We have an amazing platform to showcase what we’ve been working all year round for. It’s an exciting time to be here.”
Here are a few other notes as the action returns to Buttermilk.
Jamie Anderson is back
The slopestyle snowboard queen has returned. The 35-year-old from Tahoe hasn’t competed at X Games since 2022, having stepped away to become a mother. But the 21-time X Games medalist returned to snow earlier this winter at the Steamboat big air World Cup, finishing sixth.
She took a nasty fall during the slopestyle World Cup competition earlier this month at Snowmass, but was lucky to avoid any major injury. She did compete last week in Laax, Switzerland, the final World Cup event before the Olympics, but did not make it out of qualifying. She was not named to the Olympic team.
American snowboarder Jamie Anderson smiles while listening to Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser talk during the X Games Aspen pre-event press conference on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
“I feel so happy to be back. X Games is really where my snowboard career started,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be back, especially as a mom. I didn’t really see this coming, but here we are. Buckle up.”
Anderson will be among the first athletes to compete as the women’s snowboard slopestyle final gets X Games underway early Friday. She is not expected to compete in big air.
Snowmobiles are back
Yes, the vroom-vroom is back at Buttermilk. A longtime Winter X Games staple, the snowmobile contests were last part of the program in 2020 but were scrapped going into the 2021 pandemic contest that was held without fans. With those same fans clamoring for the return of motorsports, Bloom made that a priority.
“It’s so awesome to be back. Just to put snowmobiling back on the main stage,” said Canadian star Brett Turcotte, one of the sport’s top names. “Coming back to the event, I feel awesome. I am motivated. I got a gold medal here in 2020 in snowmobile bike best trick. Crashed both of my runs in snowmobile freestyle, so I got some redemption and am looking forward to it.”
Canadian snowmobiler Brett Turcotte, right, sitting next to Australian snowboarder Scotty James, talks during the X Games Aspen pre-event press conference on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The official return is scheduled for Friday with the snowmobile freestyle final beginning at 8:35 p.m., the final competition of the night. There will be a speed & style seeding session at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with the snowmobile speed & style finals scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday.
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The Olympics are back
While X Games is sort of a Super Bowl for skiers and snowboarders, so are the Olympics. And the Olympics are a hot topic this week, with the Milan Cortina Games scheduled to get underway Feb. 6 in Italy. U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Thursday released its list of 97 athletes bound for the Games.
It’s not uncommon for some athletes to sit out X Games during an Olympic season — snowboard halfpipe star Chloe Kim is among those not expected to compete this week — but for the most part, all the major names are in Aspen ready to drop in.
Utah freeskier Alex Hall talks during the X Games Aspen pre-event press conference on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
“We get so much good practice here at X Games,” said Utah freeskier Alex Hall, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in slopestyle. “We get unlimited laps. The course is always perfect, so I think it’s just a great spot to come and train and just figure stuff out.”
Alex and Hanna are back
Roaring Fork Valley locals can catch at least two of their own competing at X Games. Basalt’s Hanna Faulhaber is back in the women’s halfpipe ski final on Friday (6:15 p.m. start), and Aspen’s Alex Ferreira will go for his fourth X Games gold in the men’s halfpipe ski final at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Ferreira’s main competition is likely to again be Indiana’s Nick Goepper, who just edged him for X Games gold a year ago. As for their budding rivalry, there might not be that much to it.
Indiana freeskier Nick Goepper talks during the X Games Aspen pre-event press conference on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
“Alex is such a nice guy. I wish he wasn’t,” Goepper joked. “It would be a lot easier to be a rival with him. But he’s an incredible athlete and coming over to halfpipe and having some targets, so to speak, to chase after is part of what fuels me.”
The 31-year-old Goepper was a longtime slopestyle star before a brief retirement ended with him returning, but in halfpipe instead. He was recently named to the U.S. Olympic men’s halfpipe ski team alongside Ferreira, Oregon’s Hunter Hess, and Winter Park’s Birk Irving.
But even for him, X Games Aspen remains a truly unique experience after all these years.
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“The best thing X Games has going for it is the brand. It’s the name,” Goepper said. “People know it worldwide. That was the thing I latched onto when I was a kid dreaming about being up in this chair right here. The longevity of the event and the interest now with the new direction it’s going in, I’m pinching myself to still be a part of it and I’m excited to see where that thing that I loved as a kid, where it’s going to go from here.”
For the complete schedule of events, visit xgames.com. With winter weather forecast for the weekend, time changes and even event cancellations will be possible.
Reach Austin at [email protected]
