The road to Winter X Games Europe 2011
With the Winter X Games 15 (WX 15) winding up in Aspen, Colorado, all eyes will now turn to the next winter sports event, the Winter X Games Europe 2011. More than 125 winter action sports athletes will be participating in the event that is going to be held
from March 16-March 18, 2011, in Tignes, France.
Winter X Games 2011 would be featuring both, the thrill and the heart pumping action that we were treated to in WX 15. World’s most sensational skiers and snowboarders will be gracing the French soil with their presence. There will be three full days of
Slopestyle and SuperPipe action, with the athletes competing for the medals and prize money. If that is not enough to get the hearts racing, then a snowmobile demo, interactive X Park, live music and X Fest, all free to public, definitely would.
Tignes has once again been selected as the venue for WX. It is known as the most cosmopolitan and sportiest resort in the entire Europe, with 54% of its athletic and young clients being foreigners. The resort has a close connection to the freestyle and freeriding
culture, with an extra large domain and exceptional off piste area. Tignes has an excellent infrastructure at an altitude of 2100 m, with many international events already successfully hosted. Some of these events include the first freestyle skiing World Championship
in 1986, freestyle skiing competitions during the 1992 Olympic Games, first freeride skiing championship in 2001, and last but not the least, Winter X Games Europe 2010.
“Nothing could be more justified than Tignes as the host resort of the first Winter X Games Europe. Tignes, the sportiest European ski resort, is always at the forefront of action and freestyle winter sports,” said Tignes Ski & Snowboard Resort Manager,
Sebastien Merignargues.
The very first edition of the Winter X Games Europe took place in March last year at Tignes. It was the first time that the Winter X Games was held outside the United States. The event, which was produced by CANAL+EVENTS and ESPN, went on for three days
and attracted 66,200 spectators. The event was broadcasted live in eight countries. Some really big names were present on the resort to compete in the events. Few of the top snowboarding names present on the scene included Torah Bright, Kaitlyn Farrington,
Jenny Jones and Spencer O’Brien. A few skiing aces competing for the gold at Tignes included Simon Dumont, Kevin Rolland, Sarah Burke, Jen Hudak, Bobby Brown, Sammy Carlson and Kaya Turski. Daniel Bodin and Heath Frisby were also spotted present there to participate
in the snowmobile demonstration.
The snowboarding events at Winter X Games Europe 2010 were nothing short of sensational. Colorado’s Eric Willett walked off with the gold in Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle. In Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe finals, Kaitlyn Farrington clinched the gold by pushing
Torah Bright to second place after an intense contest. Jenny Jones nailed the gold in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle and Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov triumphed in Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe.
In the skiing event of last year’s WX at Europe, Kevin Rolland dominated the Men’s Ski SuperPipe contest and walked away with the gold. Kaya Turski bested the Women’s Ski Slopestyle to grab the gold. Tom Wallisch took home the gold after winning Men’s Ski
Slopestyle, sliding the legendary Bobby Brown to second place. Jen Hudak prevailed in the Women’s Ski SuperPipe.
With an extremely successful WX Europe last year, expectations from this year’s competition would be high. With new names added to the list of invited athletes, it is yet to be seen who accepts the invitation and lands on the French soil with the intention
to dominate. It would be definitely worth it for the fans of action sports to attend the mega event and enjoy the action live.
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