Forest Bailey proves himself to be more than just a film sensation at Winter X Games Aspen 2012
Winters X Games is a platform where the winter action sports athletes can truly get their skills acknowledged and assert their dominance in their respective sport. On Thursday, January 26, America’s Forest Bailey made his debut in Winter X Games Aspen 2012
by stepping into the Snowboard Street contest to take on some of the most talented snowboarders from around the world for the coveted gold medal. By the time the contest finished, Bailey wore a huge smile on his face and a gold medal around his neck as he
stood on the highest spot on the podium.
Standing a few inches below the 20-year-old Bailey on the podium was Ryan Paul with a silver medal around his neck, while Nick Visconti occupied the last remaining spot on the podium, beaming due to the fact that he had just managed to put a Winter X bronze
medal on his cv.
Returning to Aspen, Colorado, for the 16th edition, Winter X Games promised the fans of action sports a heavy dose of enthralling action. It was only natural to expect the major part of the promised action to come from the renowned winter action
sports athletes. However, the Vermont-based Bailey proved the speculations wrong as he stole the show in his debut appearance in winter action sports mega-event.
Better known for his parts in films such as Givin Crew’s “One”, Bailey came to Aspen to prove that riding powder was not the only thing he was good at. For someone who hardly struck as a contest rider, heading straight into the Winter X Games was indeed
a huge step to take for the Jamaica-native. Spending two weeks riding powder at Mount Baker in Washington was hardly the sort of preparation one expected of a rider who was about to take on the world’s best rider in Snowboard Street contest.
Missing contest practice on Wednesday, Bailey arrived at the event site just one hour before the action was about to kick off, leaving him very little time to adjust from backcountry scenery to a well-groomed course with street-inspired features such as
a concrete Jersey barrier, a metal cargo container, as well as a set of hand-rails and ledges.
The Snowboard Street contest kicked off with the elimination round, which Bailey survived comfortably by finishing in top-three to advance to the five-man final.
Pitted against Paul, Visconti, Ethan Deiss and Phil Jacques in a four-runs best-two-count final, Bailey wasted no time in announcing himself as the strongest contender for the gold medal by earning a score of 47 out of possible 50 on his first run, which
featured a exquisite 270 to front-side on the cargo container that triggered a wild applause from the crowd.
The Vermont-based rider soon landed another impressive run to earn a 41.00 for the effort. With a two-run score of 88.0, Bailey found himself well ahead of his rivals.
Paul emptied his arsenal of tricks on the course, pulling off a 270 on the Jersey barrier to 450 out and a gap to 50-50 on the down-flat ledge feature to wildcat back-flip out. However, his efforts were only able to carry him to runner-up place with a two-run
total of 83.0.
Visconti also well all-out during his best run, throwing tricks like a switch hard-way front-side 270 on the down rail, a 270 onto a curved C-rail and a front-side 50-50 to 180 out on the cargo container. However, he not only failed to threaten Forest’s
position but also finished behind Paul as well after finishing with a two-run total of 76.0 points.
With none of his four competitors earning enough score of their remaining runs to challenge his lead, the Winter X Games rookie eventually claimed the top spot on the podium and thus his maiden Winter X gold medal.
Talking to a reporter after the final, Bailey conceded, “I never thought I'd even come to X Games in my whole life, but I guess we're here and I guess gold will do.”
Even though he was hardly expected to make such a solid impact in a snowboard street course, Bailey had proved that he was actually quite adept at handling the boxes and rails, etc.
“It was probably one of the best rail set-ups I've ever ridden,” Bailey said. “It was mellow, not super gnarly or super scary, just really fun so everyone could throw down their best tricks. It was weird coming from Baker, where no one was around, to this
kind of crowd. Everyone was killing it. It was a great contest.”
Bailey had indeed stolen the show during the afternoon on the opening day of Winter X Games Aspen 2012. While an outstanding win in his debut Winter X Games appearance, the Vermont-based action sports athlete may be expected to dedicate a substantial amount
of his time to grooming his snowboard street skills even further in order to increase the chances of a successful title defence next year.
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