{"id":2453703,"date":"2020-01-24T23:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-25T06:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals\/"},"modified":"2020-01-25T07:57:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T14:57:39","slug":"aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen\u2019s Cassidy Jarrell enjoys first X Games experience despite missing finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8203356367226\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-319748-810\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-1024x671.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell celebrates after his second run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifying event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Jarrell finished sixth in the elimination round for his X Games debut. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell celebrates after his second run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifying event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Jarrell finished sixth in the elimination round for his X Games debut. (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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-1024x671.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell celebrates after his second run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifying event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Jarrell finished sixth in the elimination round for his X Games debut. (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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-1-1024x696.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Cassidy Jarrell\u2019s close friends, Dylan Degraff, center left, and Jack W Cohan, cheer with a homemade sign as he begins his final run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><strong>Cassidy Jarrell\u2019s close friends, Dylan Degraff, center left, and Jack W Cohan, cheer with a homemade sign as he begins his final run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier 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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-1-1024x696.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Cassidy Jarrell\u2019s close friends, Dylan Degraff, center left, and Jack W Cohan, cheer with a homemade sign as he begins his final run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier 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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-2-819x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Cassidy Jarrell watches the screen after finishing his second run as the ranking update and a replay plays during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Cassidy Jarrell watches the screen after finishing his second run as the ranking update and a replay plays during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier 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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-2-819x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Cassidy Jarrell watches the screen after finishing his second run as the ranking update and a replay plays during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifier 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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell smiles as he talks about his debut run after the men\u2019s qualifying ski superpipe event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell smiles as he talks about his debut run after the men\u2019s qualifying ski superpipe event 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\/xskipipequals-atd-012520-1-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell smiles as he talks about his debut run after the men\u2019s qualifying ski superpipe event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Cassidy Jarrell could have been heartbroken about his first X Games Aspen experience as a competitor. Instead, it was mostly jubilation about finally getting to drop in under the lights Friday night on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It wasn\u2019t heartbreak. It was a dream come true.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s almost unexplainable. I literally had no idea what to do. My body did what it did and I was so excited,\u201d Jarrell said of reaching the bottom of the superpipe after his first run. \u201cI\u2019ve never experienced anything like that. I\u2019ve worked my entire life to get here and landing that first run and skiing to the crowd and my friends and family and all the people from this valley, that was something so surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Jarrell, 20, grew up in Aspen and has been through the Buttermilk superpipe more times than he can count. Last month, he was named an alternate for the men\u2019s ski superpipe contest at X Games Aspen, and Thursday, roughly 24 hours before the elimination round, Jarrell got news he was in the field and would be the first to drop in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Competing at X Games had long been his greatest dream as a skier. Friday night, with his closest friends in the crowd holding up signs and cheering, Jarrell dropped into the halfpipe for the first time as an X Games athlete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m so proud of him. He worked super hard all year long and puts his life out there,\u201d said Aspen freeskiing legend Peter Olenick, who coaches Jarrell. \u201cHe got to be the one to start off the pipe tonight with everyone fired up and he laid down a super good run and went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Unfortunately for Jarrell, his X Games debut won\u2019t carry into the weekend. He finished sixth in Friday\u2019s 12-man qualifier, with only the top five moving onto Sunday\u2019s eight-man final. Winter Park\u2019s Birk Irving won the elimination, followed by Crested Butte\u2019s Aaron Blunck and Canadians Noah Bowman and Brendan MacKay. Boulder\u2019s Lyman Currier was fifth, the last to qualify.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI was definitely bummed. Cass is my boy. He\u2019s a little brother to me,\u201d said Blunck of Jarrell. Blunck also trains under Olenick. \u201cI was definitely pretty bummed that he didn\u2019t make it. But the kid is an up and coming star. He\u2019s going to be on the scene for a long time. So I\u2019m stoked to watch him kill it for the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Being a last-second addition to the contest \u2014 which was a jam session where each skier got in four runs \u2014 Jarrell dropped in before anyone else. And, to the delight of a very pro-Jarrell crowd, he delivered in a big way, putting together a near flawless run that included numerous double corks and a pair of 1260s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When he got to the bottom, he wasn\u2019t quite sure what to do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe fact that was probably one of the best runs I\u2019ve ever done was just insane and to land my first run on my X Games debut was very emotional, to be honest,\u201d Jarrell said. \u201cJust to be able to throw my hands up and celebrate probably one of the best runs I\u2019ve ever done was something spectacular. It doesn\u2019t matter to me where I finished, I\u2019m just excited I got to ski in my first X Games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Jarrell won\u2019t compete in Sunday\u2019s 7 p.m. final, he said he\u2019d be on hand to watch. The five qualifiers from Friday will join last year\u2019s podium finishers in Aspen\u2019s Alex Ferreira (gold), Nevada\u2019s David Wise (silver) and New Zealand\u2019s Nico Porteous. Those three did not have to compete in eliminations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But make no mistake, Jarrell plans to be back at X Games as an athlete, and those around him have no doubt you\u2019ll see him again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou definitely will,\u201d Olenick said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be holding medals soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-cassidy-jarrell-enjoys-first-x-games-experience-despite-missing-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>X Games rookie Cassidy Jarrell celebrates after his second run during the men\u2019s ski superpipe qualifying event on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Jarrell finished sixth in the elimination round for his X Games debut. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Cassidy Jarrell\u2019s close friends, Dylan Degraff, center left, and Jack W Cohan, cheer with [&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-2453703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 19:01:19","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\/2453703","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=2453703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453709,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453703\/revisions\/2453709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}