{"id":2453895,"date":"2020-01-29T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions\/"},"modified":"2020-01-29T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T05:00:00","slug":"colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions-the-good-bad-and-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions-the-good-bad-and-ugly\/","title":{"rendered":"Colbert: Owning up to my X Games Aspen predictions, the good, bad and ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7595772787318\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-320154-139\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Anna Stonehouse\/courtesy photo | Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert, left, interviews Estonian freeskier Kelly Sildaru during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Anna Stonehouse)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert, left, interviews Estonian freeskier Kelly Sildaru during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Anna Stonehouse)<\/strong><br \/>Anna Stonehouse\/courtesy photo<\/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\/xgames-atd-013020-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert, left, interviews Estonian freeskier Kelly Sildaru during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Anna Stonehouse)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | The X Games sign atop Buttermilk Ski Area during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The X Games sign atop Buttermilk Ski Area during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/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\/xgames-atd-013020-1-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The X Games sign atop Buttermilk Ski Area during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | The Buttermilk superpipe under the lights during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The Buttermilk superpipe under the lights during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/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\/xgames-atd-013020-1-2.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The Buttermilk superpipe under the lights during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-3-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | From left, the slopestyle, superpipe and big air venues during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>From left, the slopestyle, superpipe and big air venues during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/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\/xgames-atd-013020-1-3-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"From left, the slopestyle, superpipe and big air venues during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/xgames-atd-013020-1-4-681x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times | Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert<\/strong><br \/>Anna Stonehouse\/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\/xgames-atd-013020-1-4-681x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Last week, before X Games Aspen got underway, I wrote a story for the Aspen Times Weekly predicting who would win each of the 12 major ski and snowboard contests. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s as difficult as picking the entirety of the NCAA basketball tournament correctly, but going 12 for 12 would have taken a lot of dumb luck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Looking back on my choices, I still think I did reasonably well. I mean, the people I picked correctly were fairly obvious choices, like Scotty James, but a win is a win. In the end, I was 5 for 12, and want to break down each selection and where I may have gone right or wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Snowboard Superpipe<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Scotty James<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Scotty James<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Had I picked against Scotty, someone should have taken my credentials away. He\u2019s now won 10 straight halfpipe contests dating back to the 2018-19 season. As long as Shaun White or Ayumu Hirano, the last two riders to beat him, don\u2019t show up, I think Scotty will continue to be a safe pick going forward. Yuto Totsuka, who took silver, is nipping at his heels, however.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Snowboard Big Air<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Miyabi Onitsuka<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">New Zealand\u2019s Sadowski-Synnott was a breakthrough star as an X Games rookie in 2019, and she\u2019s not going anywhere. Although, me picking her to reign supreme again this year was probably asking a lot. She still took fourth behind three Japanese women, led by Onitsuka. Did I know much about Onitsuka before this week? Honestly, no. She\u2019s been a star on the World Cup in slopestyle for a while, but this was her X Games debut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Ski Big Air<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Kelly Sildaru<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Tess Ledeux<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">My boldest prediction was probably thinking Sildaru, the Estonian teen superstar, would win three gold medals. She did win two, but big air was her downfall. She finished fourth, while France\u2019s Ledeux won her second X Games gold, the other coming last year in Norway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Ski Big Air<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Henrik Harlaut<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Henrik Harlaut<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The smartest thing to do is to not pick against a legend in his own event. Harlaut\u2019s win gave him his seventh X Games gold medal \u2014 six are in big air \u2014 and made him the most decorated X Games skier of all time, surpassing Tanner Hall\u2019s medal count in the process. Picking against Harlaut here would have been nearly as stupid as picking against James in the superpipe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Anna Gasser<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Jamie Anderson<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This might be my worst defeat of the week. I\u2019m a big Anna Gasser fan, but who picks against Jamie Anderson in a slopestyle event? That\u2019s just not smart. My apologies to Jamie. Her win gave her 17 career Winter X Games medals, second most behind only Shaun White and Mark McMorris, who won his 18th medal this year at Buttermilk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Ski Slopestyle<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Alex Beaulieu-Marchand<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Colby Stevenson<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">I\u2019m still a believer that ABM will win this at some point. But Stevenson, an X Games rookie from Utah, had too much good karma not to win. He had a VIP parking pass for the Buttermilk lot, but gave it to his mother and instead he and Evan McEachran, who won silver, took the bus in from Snowmass. The ski gods decided this contest before it even started. Kudos to you, Colby. By the way, Stevenson also won the inaugural ski knuckle huck contest. Not a bad X Games debut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Snowboard Slopestyle<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Mark McMorris<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Darcy Sharpe<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hard to believe Mark McMorris, who has won this event multiple times, finished eighth. Still, I have no regrets having picked the snowboarding god to win. Props to Canada\u2019s Darcy Sharpe, though, for winning his first X Games gold. He did it rather dramatically, as well, going from last to first on his final run in the new jam session format.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Ski Superpipe<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Kelly Sildaru<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Kelly Sildaru<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This was only Sildaru\u2019s second time competing in the X Games Aspen superpipe, and her first win, so I\u2019m proud of making this pick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She had to hold off Rachael Karker and reigning champion Cassie Sharpe for that gold medal. She\u2019s probably going to win many more gold medals in the halfpipe over the coming years, which is saying something as it\u2019s not her best event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Snowboard Big Air<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Chris Corning<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Max Parrot<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">I don\u2019t want to say Chris Corning, who once trained with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, is cursed here at X Games Aspen. But I\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019s cursed. The Silverthorne rider has won everything under the sun in big air, but he just has some bad mojo here at Buttermilk. This was his third time competing at X Games, and it wasn\u2019t pretty as he didn\u2019t even make big air finals. But I\u2019m psyched for Max Parrot, who missed last year because he had cancer. Great comeback story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Snowboard Superpipe<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Maddie Mastro<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Queralt Castellet<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This one hurts. I pretty much guaranteed Maddie Mastro would win, and I\u2019m sure most people probably agreed. Unfortunately, she went all in on her double crippler and I think that got into her head. She finished dead last in the finals in what might have been the most disappointing result of any athlete at X Games last week. She\u2019s young and will be back toward the top soon enough. It was great to see Castellet win, though. Her first X Games came way back in 2010, and this was her first gold. Gives us 30-somethings hope.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Women\u2019s Ski Slopestyle<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Kelly Sildaru<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Kelly Sildaru<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This was another no-brainer. Sildaru had the best three runs in this event last year, including a 99, and therefore should have won all three medals in my opinion. She rolled to another gold this year, her fourth straight in slopestyle (she missed 2018 because of injury). Only 17, Sildaru already has five X Games gold medals and nine medals total. There was a lot of talk this week about McMorris and maybe Anderson beating Shaun White\u2019s all-time Winter X Games medal record of 18, but it would only be temporary. Sildaru might pass all of them by the time her career is over, which won\u2019t be for a while.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Men\u2019s Ski Superpipe<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Projected winner: Alex Ferreira<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Actual winner: Alex Ferreira<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Yes, I picked Alex Ferreira to win. Although, with Aaron Blunck coming in second, I pretty much nailed this one as I led my ATW story saying Blunck was my choice before swapping to Ferreira at the end. Alex was always my choice, by the way. You think I was going to pick against the hometown hero? That\u2019s absurd. Hopefully you watched this contest, as it was epic, with both Blunck and Ferreira throwing down 1440s on their final runs. Ferreira edged Blunck on the final run of the weekend to repeat as X Games champion.<\/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\/sports\/colbert-owning-up-to-my-x-games-aspen-predictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert, left, interviews Estonian freeskier Kelly Sildaru during X Games Aspen 2020 at Buttermilk Ski Area. (Photo by Anna Stonehouse)Anna Stonehouse\/courtesy photo The X Games sign atop Buttermilk Ski Area during X Games Aspen 2020. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times The Buttermilk superpipe under the lights [&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-2453895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 18:25:25","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\/2453895","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=2453895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}