‘Fourpeat’ gold for Shaun White in superpipe, Scotty Lago fights through broken jaw for silver

 

Kelsey Serwa (in yellow) is crashing, but she's also winning in women's skicross.

Talk about a Winter X Games event loaded with story lines: Shaun White looking for redemption after failing (for the first time) to qualify for the slopestyle finals. Scotty Lago competing in his fourth (fourth!) event with a broken jaw that was wired shut. In the end, the guy with the long red hair got the win, but Lago’s amazing story continued with a strong second. Read more.

Earlier in the day the skicross finals for men and women left bodies strewn along the course, some of them even those who won and medaled. American John Teller won the men’s event and Canadian Kelsey Serwa won the women’s event. But read about that finish.

DAY THREE

The repeat just wasn’t meant to be for Bobby Brown, who was unable to defend his titles in ski slopestyle and big air. Not that he didn’t try, fighting through a painful back injury to place fourth in slopestyle and take silver in big air. In Women’s superpipe, Kelly Clark became the first woman to complete a 1080 in competition, winning the gold. It was a bad night for defending champ Gretchen Bleiler. For a complete roundup of Saturday action, check out the coverage in the Denver Post.

Action to look for today: Women’s slopestyle snowboard finals (12:30 p.m. EST), men’s snocross final (3:15 p.m. EST), men’s snowboard slopestyle finals (3:45 p.m. EST) and snowboard superpipe finals featuring Shaun White at 8:30 p.m. EST).

DAY TWO

Remember the name: Torin Yater-Wallace. The Aspen 15-year-old became the youngest winner of a Winter X medal when he stunned the field to earn silver in ski superpipe, only being edged out by Kevin Rolland of France on his final run. Read more, including where Simon Dumont finished.

You want more surprises: Shaun White failed to make it out of prelims in snowboard slopestyle. Afterward, he remained positive in comments to the press, but he has never failed to advance in this event and medaled in 8 of the past 9. Read more.

Today is  a HUGE day of competition, with skicross and snocross finals as well as the finals in ski slopestyle (12:30 p.m. EST) and big air (10:30 p.m. EST). Those are always great events, but this year the amplitude’s even higher as Bobby Brown looks to defend his gold medals in both events.

DAY ONE

A number of gold medals  were awarded on Day One: Sarah Burke in women’s ski halfpipe, Kaya Turski in women’s ski slopestyle, Daniel Bodin in snowmobile freestyle. But the big news had to be the return to competition (for the first time since the Winter Olympics) of Shaun White, who smoked the field in snowboard halfpipe prelims. And what’s with that leather jacket and tight pants? Complete day one results and video here, plus a Friday schedule. And here’s a cool video from ESPN about how White flies so high.

The Winter X Games are in their 10th year of competition in Aspen. Come back here for updates throughout the competition. Some more details:

• Who’s there? Better to ask who ISN’T? X Games represent the high holidays of winter extreme sports, so expect to see Shaun White (at his first competition of the season), Louie Vito (a two-time Dew Tour winner already, “Big Air” Bobby Brown, Gretchen Bleiler, Kelly Clark, Torah Bright, Jossi Wells, Simon Dumont … the list goes on.
• Read more: Speaking of the big names, check out these great stories in the Denver Post about White and Brown.
• What’s new? The games may be celebrating its 15th anniversary, but it will feature one new event and one discipline returns with a new format. Learn more.

• Competition schedule: Planning on being there? Here’s how to find your favorite event. Superpipe competition (read:  Shaun White) starts at 7 p.m. Thursday.
• TV schedule: Here’s when you can watch from the comfort of your couch.
• Streaming: ESPN plans to stream 34 hours of competition. Here’s where to look while you pretend to work.
• ESPN Blog: No surprise the sports network would have a great blog about the event. Keep up here.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Snowboarders make Day 2 of Denver Big Air a soaring success

Stefan Falkeis flies to fourth in Denver Big Air

It could be said that Denver sports fans didn’t know what to make of Denver Big Air in the weeks leading up to the event. But on Tuesday (the first night of competition) a packed house at Civic Center Park roared its approval as skiers flew through the air all night. Read the story in the Denver Post.  The snowboard competition on Wednesday night might have been an even bigger success as Rocco Van Straten flew to victory. Read more.

Other blog posts to check out:

• X Games begin today in Aspen. We have the event and broadcast schedule, plus much more. Check it out.
• It’s Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month in January. Find a lesson deal near you.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Video winner No. 2: Jumping (high) for joy in Utah

It’s time to announce our second winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet Nathan Balli of Salt Lake City, Utah. He served up a video with lots of great tracking shots of jumps, including one where the cameraman FLIPS. Yikes.

In his own words: “I have been skiing now for the last 22 years. I am 25 currently, a student finishing up school in Digital Media at the University of Utah. I have been super fortunate to grow up in and around the mountains here in Utah. I ski everywhere from Park City Mountain Resort to the backcountry with a little bit of touring. I love filming with our group of friends and getting out and enjoying nature. If everyone could ski every day the world would be a better place.” (AMEN, we say to that!)

For his efforts, Nate gets a great pair of Swany Gloves! Have a video that you’d like to enter. Here’s how.

Other great stories to check out:

• Denver Big Air competition takes place Tuesday and Wednesday (Jan. 25-26).
• It’s Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month in January. Find a lesson deal near you.
• The X Games are Jan. 27-30 in Aspen. We have the event schedule, broadcast schedule and more.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Gutsy Bobby Brown wins slopestyle at Dew Tour; Vonn, Bode, Mancuso rocking the World Cup

Louie Vito won again on the Dew Tour.

On Sunday in slopestyle skiing “Big Air” Bobby Brown was both brilliant and gutsy at the Dew Tour. After being sent to the hospital by a training injury on Friday and then taking a bad fall in his first run Sunday, he rallied for the victory. Here’s how. In snowboard slopestyle, Torstein Horgmo also became a two-time Dew Tour winner this season.

And Louie Vito is THE MAN in the halfpipe at the Dew Tour. The snowboarder stamped himself as the man to beat at next weekend’s Winter X Games in Aspen with his second straight Dew Tour win in the halfpipe. Kelly Clark made history by winning the women’s halfpipe competition with the highest score ever. Read more.

WORLD CUP

Bode Miller showed there’s plenty of speed left in his tank when he claimed second on Saturday at the notorious Hahnenkam downhill in Kitzbuehl, Austria. Find out who beat Miller. Miller’s high finish comes a day after he finished a strong 10th in a Super G on Friday.

Lindsay Vonn’s flawless run won the Super G on Friday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. On Saturday Vonn (third) and Julia Mancuso(second) both reached the podium in the downhill, but overall points lead Maria Riesch shows why she’s on top by taking first. Read more. But Vonn wasn’t done: on Sunday she won another Super G, edging out Riesch even though the American was skiing on a painfully swollen knee. Read more.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Swany’s Best: Denver Big Air, Dew Tour, Cowboy Downhill and our first video contest winner

Bobby Brown is a favorite in slopestyle this weekend at Dew Tour and next weekend at X Games.

It’s been a good week on the blog, but next week promises to be even better. So here’s a look at the best of this week and the great things to come next week.

• It was a lost weekend for the U.S. in World Cup skiing, but this weekend might better for Lindsey Vonn.
• Mike Alcott of Durango, the season’s first winner in our Outdoor Adventure Video Contest , delivers plenty of crashes and entertainment. Amazing sledding. Watch and enter.
• Forget the pros. The best action in any ski race all year takes place in the Cowboy Downhill at Steamboat. Need proof? Watch this video.

And then there’s fun coming in the NEXT week:

• The Dew Tour in Vermont this weekend’s shaping up as a red-hot X-Games preview.
• Denver Big Air on Jan. 25-26 will deliver some amazing, flying athletes in the Mile High City. Now THAT’S high.
• The Snow Show, the largest gathering of snow retailers and manufacturers, barrels into Denver Jan. 27-30. Coming to the show? Better read our Denver Guide to restaurants, bars and much more.
• We’re not done yet: the Winter X Games take over Aspen for the 10th straight year

Hang on tight, it’s going to be one hell of a ride!

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Denver Big Air ready to fly today downtown

A crew member preps the ramp for today's Denver Big Air competition. (Denver Post)

Denver is ready for takeoff. Denver Big Air, that is, which begins two days of competition with Ski Big Air at 6 p.m. today (doors at 3:30 p.m., practice at 5 p.m.). Get a feel for the event with this great story and video from the Denver Post. Want to see what it looks like from a rider’s perspective. Check out this helmet-cam view.

Snow started flying in Denver last Wednesday, but not all of it was from Mother Nature. A crew from Copper Mountain had set up camp in Civic Center Park for the next four days to make snow for the 10-story ramp that will be used for Denver Big Air. Read the Denver Post story.

What’s this giant (10-story tall) setup going to look like? Check out this awesome graphic from the Post and read their story about the roots of this event. There has been  one sour noted sounded: event organizers learned that Tom Wallisch, Freeskier magazine’s skier of the year, would not be able to compete because of an injury sustained recently in training. More. But there are a number of talented competitors ready to step up. Meet them.

Denver Big Air presented by Sprint will be held on Jan. 25-26 in the heart of downtown at Civic Center Park. Recently they built the 10-story high ramp that will be used in the competition. Check out this video.  Two great concerts have been announced: Switchfoot (day one)and One Republic (day two). Get more details on how to see the shows.

Day one competition will feature skiers; on day two snowboarders will rule the hill. Want to buy tickets? (one-day and all-session passes available, as well as VIP tickets) Look at this cool rendering of the jump and the seat locations. Get daily updates on theirFacebook page.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Vito, Dumont, Horgmo, Brown some of the stars at Dew Tour in Killington this weekend

Bobby Brown will be in Killington for this weekend's Dew Tour event.

What figures to be one of the most exciting periods of the year for winter extreme sports is just about to start in Killington, Vt. Prelims in the Winter Dew Tour start Friday with finals on Saturday and Sunday.

While some athletes might stay away as they focus on the Winter X Games the following weekend, the field is still loaded with the likes of Louie Vito, Mason Aguirre, Queralt Castellet, Simon Dumont, Jossi Wells, Bobby Brown and Andreas Hatveit. And you never know what OTHER wild cards might show up. The schedule features snowboard and ski superpipe finals on Saturday with slopestyle finals on Sunday.  See the schedule.

Can’t be there? Then watch it on NBC from 4:30-6 p.m. (EST) Saturday and 4-6 p.m. (EST) on Sunday.

But that’s not all. As noted, the following weekend sees the Winter X Games invade Aspen. Look here for details. But before that, extreme sports fans should consider a stop in the Mile High City to see Denver Big Air on Tuesday and Wednesday (Jan. 25-26). Skiers and boarders will be launching themselves off a 10-story tower and down a 44% ramp during competition. Now THAT’S big!

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventures. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and enter ourOutdoors Adventures Video Contest.

Yeehaw! The Cowboy Downhill rides ’em down the slippery slopes of Steamboat

There are great ski races and then there is the Cowboy Downhill. The annual race in Steamboat is one of the most entertaining sights of any ski season. Rodeo cowboys, in their hats and western wear, compete in events that combine the likes of roping and ski racing. But it’s not just for grins: These cowboys COMPETE!

The latest edition went off on Tuesday with the usual collection of thrills, spills and smiles. Check out this slideshow and watch the wild video of the race, which includes commentary from Olympic Gold medalist and longtime Steamboat ski icon Billy Kidd.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventures. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and enter ourOutdoors Adventures Video Contest.

We have our first winner in the second annual Outdoor Adventure Video Contest

The second year of the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest has brought more entries than the first, but one thing hasn’t changed: People are sending us GREAT videos of their outdoor adventures.

We still have room for MORE ENTRIES (here’s how), but starting today we will begin to reveal winners on a weekly basis. And since we like to start with a bang, we’ll begin with the winner of our monthly prize, Mike Alcott of Durango, Colo.  The video, which earned Mike a new helmet cam, features changing seasons, powder skiing (and crashing) and some of the wildest sledding you’ll ever see.

Mike says: “I am an aspiring photographer/videographer/editor.  I love to explore my surroundings here in southwest Colorado and love to document everything I can, as sharing memories of good times is one of my favorite things!  I am most satisfied when getting barreled in snow.  I am lucky enough to have an amazing crew of buddies here in the southwest that love to shred and get wild!  And lastly, my motivation comes from the phrase is “I Know You Can Do It”……..we live by it.”

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of out door adventures. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and enter our Outdoors Adventures Video Contest.

Lost weekend on the World Cup ski circuit

Americans didn’t have a lot to show for the weekend in World Cup ski events.

Bode Miller on a training run in Wengen, Switzerland.

On the men’s side, the best news was a strong eighth-place finish on Saturday for Bode Miller in the renowned World Cup downhill event in Wengen, Switzerland. Austrian Klaus Kroell won the race that saw the three top pure downhillers from the U.S. (Andrew Weibrecht, Marco Sullivan, Steven Nyman) sit out due to injuries. Story.

Sunday’s slalom was no better, with Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic winning to maintain his lead in the overall standings. Miller and Ted Ligety did not get out of the first round. Story.

On the women’s side the World Cup Weekend was LITERALLY lost to unseasonably warm temperatures in Maribor, Slovenia, which forced the cancellation of Saturday’s GS and Sunday’s slalom. Read the story for when the races might be made up. Next up for Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso and the gang: a downhill and Super G this weekend (Jan. 22-23) in Cortina d’ Ampezzo, Italy.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.