Well, that was fun.
I’m happy to say I survived covering my third X Games Aspen event over the weekend, and it was certainly a blast. I’m not sure how many words we wrote or pictures we took over those four days at Buttermilk, but I’m sure it’s a ridiculous amount.
As much fun as it was, I’m also glad it’s over. It’s a commitment to cover X Games like we do, and that takes away from the basic necessities of life, such as laundry and showering.
However, as I look back on what we accomplished, I’m incredibly proud. I cannot say enough about Anna Stonehouse and all of her amazing photos and videos, or about our digital editor Rose Laudicina’s unrelenting push of content onto our social media channels. Thanks to editor David Krause for filling in the gaps and to Andrew Travers for excellent coverage of the concerts.
It takes a dedicated team to cover an event like this in the way we did, and I can’t think of a better crew to work with.
If you missed any of it, you can read about it all on our website at aspentimes.com/x-games. There was hometown hero Alex Ferreira finally winning X Games gold. There was the tearful final run from snowboarding legend Kelly Clark, who recently announced her retirement. There was the contract extension that will keep this event here in Aspen for another five years.
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I’d like to say we all took some extra time off afterward to recover, but the reality is most of us were back to work within a day or two of the final event (if not the next morning). As far as my schedule goes, I’ll probably feel fully recovered just in time to hop in the car and drive to Utah for Round 2.
If you’re unaware, Park City is hosting the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships from Feb. 1 to 10. If all goes well, I’ll get over there for some of it, including the Feb. 9 men’s ski halfpipe finals, which will include Ferreira.
While world champs doesn’t quite excite like X Games does for these athletes, it’s still a big deal. It’s held every two years and only rarely makes its way to U.S. soil. Vail hosted the alpine world championships back in 2015.
Like X Games, it’ll be free to watch the competitions in Park City. If the drive is too daunting (I’m not exactly looking forward to it), NBC and NBC Sports will be televising much of it. And, of course, we’ll keep you covered in print and online at http://www.aspentimes.com.