Ski and snowboard slopestyle finals to be held under lights at Winter X Games 16
The 16th edition of Winter X Games will feature men’s ski and snowboard slopestyle finals go down at night in Aspen, Colorado, in the last week of January next year.
It will be the first time in the history of Winter X Games that a slopestyle contest is held under lights, with the contests normally taking place during afternoon in the previous years.
The decision to change the schedule for the slopestyle contest has been influenced by the approval of International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the inclusion of the ski and snowboard slopestyle to 2014 Winter Olympics that will be held in Sochi, Russia.
Traditionally, Winter X Games had been featuring pipe contests under lights since 2004. However the demanding task of lighting an entire slopestyle course had discouraged the event organiser, ESPN, from moving the latter under lights.
However, the growing interest in slopestyle and its inclusion to the 2014 Winter Olympics schedule compelled ESPN to undertake the challenge of lighting the entire slopestyle course and bring the action to primetime TV, a measure that is expected to increase
the viewership of the ski and snowboard slopestyle contest drastically.
The slopestyle athletes are thrilled about the new schedule and getting an opportunity to show off their stuff to a wider range of audience.
Expressing his sentiments about competing in ski slopestyle contest at night, Colorado-based Gus Kenworthy said, “Having a slopestyle event at night is an amazing opportunity to showcase our sport to the world. To be one of the few athletes lucky enough
to get to compete on skiing's biggest stage, on a lighted course, at the best possible time for TV viewers would be a dream come true.”
The snowboard slopestyle athletes are just as excited as the skiers for a brighter share spotlight at the upcoming Winter X Games, as made apparent by last year’s snowboard slopestyle bronze medallist from California, Tyler Flanagan.
“I love snowboarding at night,” said Flanagan. “I haven't done too many contests at night besides X Games Big Air, and a few rail jams. But it has always been fun, considering it's not something many of us get to do too often.”
With less than a month left for the Winter X Games 16 action to get underway, the winter sports athletes are already getting into the competition mode, hoping to put on their best performance at what is unarguably the biggest stage of action sports. If there
is one thing that is guaranteed during the course of the mega-event, it is the non-stop delivery of adrenaline-pumping action.
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