{"id":2453694,"date":"2020-01-24T20:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-01-25T03:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle\/"},"modified":"2020-01-24T20:00:01","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T03:00:01","slug":"canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian X Games rookie Brandon Cormier takes gold in snowmobile freestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8343949044586\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-319726-89\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-1024x693.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | X Games athlete Daniel Bodin competes in his second run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Bodin was the returning gold medalist and finished second this year. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>X Games athlete Daniel Bodin competes in his second run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Bodin was the returning gold medalist and finished second this year. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-1024x693.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"X Games athlete Daniel Bodin competes in his second run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Bodin was the returning gold medalist and finished second this year. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-1-1024x670.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | X Games rookie Brandon Cormier performs during his first run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Cormier took home the gold. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>X Games rookie Brandon Cormier performs during his first run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Cormier took home the gold. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-1-1024x670.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"X Games rookie Brandon Cormier performs during his first run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Cormier took home the gold. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Brandon Cormier waits to start practice laps on the freestyle course on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Cormier will be competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday at 5 pm. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Brandon Cormier waits to start practice laps on the freestyle course on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Cormier will be competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday at 5 pm. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Brandon Cormier waits to start practice laps on the freestyle course on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Cormier will be competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday at 5 pm. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | David England competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. England was the alternative after Joe Parsons scratched. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>David England competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. England was the alternative after Joe Parsons scratched. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"David England competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. England was the alternative after Joe Parsons scratched. (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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Brett Turcotte competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Brett Turcotte competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Brett Turcotte competes in the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-5-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-5 | \" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-5<\/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\/xsmbfree-atd-012520-1-5-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Continuing a run of rookies mining gold on their first trip to X Games Aspen, Canadian snowmobiler Brandon Cormier pulled off a trick his veteran training partner couldn\u2019t Friday night and found his way to the top of the podium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cormier, who was born the year the games began, has been training with seven-time X Games medalist Brett Turcotte. The 2018 freestyle champ finished sixth Friday after getting out ahead of the sled on the fourth jump of both his runs and bailing as he attempted a new trick. He, like all those who crashed Friday, was able to walk away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As for most X Games rookies, getting to Aspen is a dream come to fruition. For the 24-year-old Cormier, it was a snowmobile journey that started when he was 3 and a sled career that started to really take flight before he was a teenager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI look up to all of these guys and I grew up watching the X Games,\u201d Cormier said after being mobbed by his fellow riders when he was announced as the gold medalist. \u201cNever in the world would I think that this would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cormier secured the gold after an 88-point ride on his second of the two-run event. On the last hit of his second run, Cormier was able to land a new trick, which propeled him into first. The trick is one that he had been working on with Turcotte and is a heart-attack style body varial in which he has a one-hand release, rolls in mid-air and then landed on the side of his sled, almost facing backward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Defending champion Daniel Bodin, the last rider of the night, crashing on his third hit in the 75-second run. The 35-year-old Swede, whose rookie trip to Aspen was 2007, won silver Friday, his second in X Games to go with his five golds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Idaho\u2019s Willie Elam, whose first X Games comp was the 2006 snowcross, won his second bronze in Aspen. Fellow Idaho rider and X Games stalwart Heath Frisby, who has 11 medals and first came to Aspen for the 2004 hillcross and won bronze in the 2007 freestyle, crashed out on his first run Friday and didn\u2019t return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cormier was the first rider of the night, and on his first jump of his first X Games, he went a little deep in the landing but pulled it out despite breaking part of his sled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was pretty crazy and I was trying to stay calm,\u201d he said of the debut run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On opening night Thursday, Park City freeskier Colby Stevenson, 22, won the new ski knuckle huck event, then less than two hours later snowboarder Miyabi Onitsuka, 21, won the women\u2019s big air.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Going into Friday\u2019s event, snowmobile freestyle had a spotlight on the veterans, and in particular Joe Parsons, who is chasing Shaun White\u2019s 18-X Games medals record. But Parsons crashed in practice and couldn\u2019t run in the finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Parsons, who\u2019s competed in Aspen every year since 2008, has five golds, seven silvers and five bronze in the 24 winter events he\u2019s started. He won freestyle gold in 2016 and \u201917 but now has missed the podium the past three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At one point, Parsons was competing in three events during the Aspen swing. In 2013, he won silver in freestyle and in best trick and bronze in speed and style. This year, only freestyle is on the Aspen lineup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Parsons\u2019 departure meant an opening for a third rookie in the field, Canadian Dave England, a 28-year-old miner who trains in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The alternative who found out he was competing just hours before the start finished fifth after two clean runs. The other rookie, Rasmus Johansson of Sweden, was fourth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a href=\"mailto:dkrause@aspentimes.com\">dkrause@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/canadian-x-games-rookie-brandon-cormier-takes-gold-in-snowmobile-freestyle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>X Games athlete Daniel Bodin competes in his second run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Bodin was the returning gold medalist and finished second this year. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times X Games rookie Brandon Cormier performs during his first run of the Snowmobile Freestyle Final on Friday, [&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":{"0":"post-2453694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-30 12:01:39","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\/2453694","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=2453694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}