{"id":2452681,"date":"2019-12-28T22:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T05:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-named-x-games-alternate-for-first-time\/"},"modified":"2019-12-28T22:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T05:08:00","slug":"aspens-cassidy-jarrell-named-x-games-alternate-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-named-x-games-alternate-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen\u2019s Cassidy Jarrell named X Games alternate for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Aspen’s Cassidy Jarrell poses ahead of the 2018 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Snowmas. The halfpipe skier was recently named an alternate for X Games Aspen 2020.<\/strong>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

With a somewhat disappointing three competitions all to show for his season so far, Aspen\u2019s Cassidy Jarrell didn\u2019t believe he would get that first X Games invite. But, while he still has no guarantee he\u2019ll get to drop in, the halfpipe skier was recently named an alternate for next month\u2019s showcase event at Buttermilk Ski Area in Aspen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what I\u2019ve worked for my entire life,\u201d Jarrell told The Aspen Times on Friday. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was going to make it because I fell in New Zealand. I didn\u2019t make finals in Copper and I didn\u2019t make finals in China. And we were like, \u2018Well, my shot is pretty busted.\u2019 Then I got an email.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarrell, 20, 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 reigning X Games gold medalist Alex Ferreira and two-time Olympian Torin Yater-Wallace, who is not competing this season. Being an alternate means Jarrell likely won\u2019t get to compete unless someone else drops out between now and the Jan. 24 qualifier, but simply being an alternate is still a big step for the rising star.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited to have this opportunity, even as an alternate,\u201d Jarrell said. \u201cIf things fall in place, they fall in place. It\u2019s a hard position to be in because all my friends are skiing and someone has to get hurt in order for me to go in, or pull out, so I hope that no one gets hurt but if someone gets hurt, I get to go in. It\u2019s a tough spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s a spot Jarrell wasn\u2019t sure he\u2019d get to be in. He entered the season as one of many on the X Games radar, but thought he needed at least one strong result to push him firmly into the picture. His first major competition was a September World Cup in New Zealand, where he was 18th and didn\u2019t make finals.<\/p>\n

Then came the Copper Mountain Grand Prix earlier in December, where a tame and regrettable qualifying run again kept him out of finals. His latest competition was the Dec. 19 World Cup in Secret Garden, China \u2014 host of the 2022 Winter Olympics \u2014 where he was 16th and, again, missed finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did one of my best runs in China, but I missed my grab on my right dub 12 (double cork 1260),\u201d Jarrell said, \u201cand I just learned it so it\u2019s definitely new. And missed it. They crushed me for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the reason Jarrell was named an alternate was because X Games is bringing back eliminations \u2014 or qualifying \u2014 to the event this winter in Aspen. In recent years its been a straight-to-final competition with a much smaller field, but with qualifying back the door is open for more up-and-comers like Jarrell to sneak into the mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made it nearly impossible for the underdog to get into X Games,\u201d Jarrell said of the competition without qualifiers. \u201cSkiing in the competition is a very high level, but the amount of landed runs are so small that it\u2019s never really a good battle between everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with local star Yater-Wallace out of the mix, the men\u2019s ski superpipe contest is loaded per usual, with Ferreira, two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist David Wise and two-time reigning world champion Aaron Blunck all set to compete.<\/p>\n

Jarrell won\u2019t hold his breath on getting the final nod to drop in for the actual competition, but he\u2019s as close as he\u2019s ever been to realizing his goal of competing at X Games in what is essentially his backyard.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting closer and closer to the Olympics, my mind has changed a little bit. But it was always more important to me than the Olympics,\u201d Jarrell said of X Games. \u201cTo be in front of your hometown in what people call the \u2018Superbowl of skiing\u2019 and have literally every single person you know at the bottom of the halfpipe is one of the greatest feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

X Games Aspen 2020 is scheduled for Jan. 23 to 26 at Buttermilk. The men\u2019s ski superpipe eliminations are slated for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, while the finals are two days later in the Sunday night finale.<\/p>\n

acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen’s Cassidy Jarrell poses ahead of the 2018 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Snowmas. The halfpipe skier was recently named an alternate for X Games Aspen 2020.Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times With a somewhat disappointing three competitions all to show for his season so far, Aspen\u2019s Cassidy Jarrell didn\u2019t believe he would get that first X […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 23:49:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}