Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Saturday at X Games Aspen is all about the ladies.
Noted as “Women’s Day” on the official X Games schedule, this is not the first time organizers have earmarked a day for women, but this year they are making sure the focus from competitions to Studio X events and film screenings all focus on female action sports.
The women’s snowboard slopestyle final starts the day at 11 a.m. with American Jamie Anderson looking to podium to tie Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris and American snowmobiler Joe Parsons for the second most X Games medals at 17.
Other female finals Saturday include the ski superpipe at 6:30 p.m., followed by women’s snowboard superpipe closing out Day 3 at 8:45 p.m.
In between competitions, the film screenings and panels at Studio X are centered around women. At 1 p.m. there is a screening of “Unconditional,” a 21-minute documentary focusing on Anderson. Right after the film screening is a panel discussion in Studio X at 1:30 p.m. called “Women of X Games.”
FERREIRA HAS FOCUS
Aspen’s Alex Ferreira, the reigning X Games Aspen gold medalist in men’s ski superpipe, took part in the inaugural Special Olympics Unified ski race on Thursday, winning silver alongside Lakewood’s Haldan Pranger.
Ferreira will compete in Sunday’s halfpipe final looking to defend his title from last winter and said everything has been smooth sailing for far this week. As a returning medalist, he does not have to compete in Friday night’s elimination.
“Training has been going great,” Ferreira said after Thursday’s unified race. “We had an awesome training Monday and Tuesday night and I feel like I’m skiing well and I’m happy. When you are skiing well and you are happy, then usually good results come.”
ASPEN’S JARRELL GETS HIS CHANCE
Aspen skier Cassidy Jarrell will make his first appearance in the X Games. He found out Thursday night he has been added to the start list for Friday’s superpipe elimination.
Jarrell, 20, was named an alternate in December, meaning someone had to drop out if he was to get in. That happened Thursday.
“Words can’t describe how proud of this guy I am!” Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club coach Sam Ferguson posted on social media. “Now let’s get it Cass!”
Jarrell is trying to become the next to join a list of Roaring Fork Valley halfpipe skiers to make the big stage, a list that includes Ferreira and two-time Olympian Torin Yater-Wallace, who returned to competition Thursday night in the inaugural ski knuckle huck event.
SKI BIG AIR QUALIFIER
Sweden’s Henrik Harlaut, a fan favorite and six-time X Games gold medalist, snuck into Friday night’s men’s ski big air final after taking fourth in Thursday’s qualifier at Buttermilk. He and Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli, who won slopestyle bronze in 2018, were the last two to qualify.
Winning the qualifier was Finland’s Elias Syrja, followed by France’s Antoine Adelisse and Christian Nummedal. They will join last year’s podium finishers in Norway’s Birk Ruud (gold) and Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand (silver) in the final; previous podium finishers automatically qualified to finals.
Last year’s bronze medalist, James Woods, is not competing this year, so last year’s fourth-place finisher, Canada’s Evan McEachran, slipped into the third automatic qualifying spot.
Not making Friday’s 8:35 p.m. final were Utah’s Alex Hall, the reigning X Games champion in slopestyle, 2016 big air champ Fabian Boesch, Jesper Tjader and Teal Harle.
Compiled by Rose Anna Laudicina and Austin Colbert