{"id":2453638,"date":"2020-01-23T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier\/"},"modified":"2020-01-23T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T23:00:00","slug":"x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier\/","title":{"rendered":"X Games slopestyle course, conditions challenging in men\u2019s snowboard qualifier"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.4930362116992\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-319613-252\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Sven Thorgren competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Sven Thorgren competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Sven Thorgren competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Darcy Sharpe competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Darcy Sharpe competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsbslope-atd-012420-1-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Darcy Sharpe competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Californian Judd Henkes didn\u2019t mince words when describing the daunting challenge he and the 15 other slopestyle snowboarders faced Thursday at X Games Aspen. Henkes, Red Gerard and most other riders felt the long slopestyle course at Buttermilk Ski Area was the most challenging they\u2019d ever ridden. On top of that, warmth and fresh snow made the course slow, driving up the difficulty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSo take that challenging course and double that,\u201d Henkes said, \u201ccause of these conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Moments earlier, the 18-year-old rising American star Henkes hugged his close friend, Red Gerard of Summit County. Gerard had also just tamed the bear of a course, finishing in third behind Henkes and their close friend and top qualifier Brock Crouch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s how the USA does! Top three!\u201d an excited Henkes said to a smiling Gerard, who replied by putting up three fingers to signify the young trio\u2019s success on the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For Crouch, a 20-year-old from Mammoth Mountain, snowboarding Thursday\u2019s difficult conditions turned into a dream. Just two years ago, Crouch nearly died when he was heli-boarding backcountry in Whistler, Canada. After surviving, Crouch spent last winter, with Gerard by his side, improving his backcountry snow and avalanche safety and skills. Snowboarding and freeski legends like Michelle Parker and Danny Davis took the young duo under their wings, nursing Crouch\u2019s confidence before he returned to the competition circuit this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy road in my career,\u201d Crouch said. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten in an avalanche and pretty much was dead and now it\u2019s pretty cool to be back on top of qualifying in X Games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Thursday, Crouch was the star of the show as a loaded slopestyle field meant many stars failing to qualify through. That included names like Stale Sandbech, Max Parrot and Chris Corning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Crouch laced lines that featured several approaches through the rail sections and a soaring triple cork (three inversions).<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite the controlled chaos of the new slopestyle jam format \u2014 which didn\u2019t award scores, rather, ranking and re-ordering snowboarders after each run \u2014 Crouch didn\u2019t pay the swirling storm around him much attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEvery time I drop into a course,\u201d Crouch said, \u201cI try to ask myself, \u2018Dude, you know how many times you\u2019ve ridden a rail, done a jump?\u2019 I was just trying to focus on myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Crouch, Henkes and Gerard will be joined in the final by Canadian Darcy Sharpe and Swede Sven Thorgren. That fivesome will join automatic qualifiers, last year\u2019s podium placers Mark McMorris, Mons Roisland and Rene Rinnekangas. The men\u2019s snowboard slopestyle final is scheduled for Saturday at 1:45 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/x-games-slopestyle-course-conditions-challenging-in-mens-snowboard-qualifier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sven Thorgren competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Darcy Sharpe competes in the Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle qualifying event on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Show CaptionsHide Captions Californian Judd Henkes didn\u2019t mince words when describing [&hellip;]<\/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-2453638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 19:31:56","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&#039;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\/2453638","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=2453638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}