Winter X Games Aspen 2020

MAX PARROT: X Games Xplained - Snowboard Big Air | World of X Games

Max Parrot is the most successful Big Air athlete in X Games Snowboard history, with 8 gold and 13 medals overall. After earning XG Aspen 2020 gold and XG Norway 2020 silver, Max is coming into the 2021 season with a renewed perspective, evidenced by his Xplained segment. Here, Max runs through his thoughts on his 2020 runs from X Games Aspen. From spills to pulls, Max covers everything!

ZEB POWELL: X Games Xplained - Knuckle Huck | World of X Games

Last year at X Games, Zeb Powell came out swinging with heart-shaped sunglasses and amazed the crowd with his cat-like reflexes, boundless energy and unique approach to Snowboard Knuckle Huck. In the end, Zeb walked away with the Golden Knuckle for 2020 and expanded the realm of possibilities for what can be done on a snowboard. Here, Zeb reviews his Aspen 2020 runs, his thought processes while riding and what it takes to win Knuckle Huck while also having fun.

BEST OF SNOWBOARD KNUCKLE HUCK 2020 | World of X Games

Rewind to January 2020, when we could be in a crowd and toilet paper was not a valued commodity: In the fan-favorite Wendy’s Knuckle Huck, X Games Aspen 2020 rookie Zeb Powell brought the style to the knuckle in both his rose-tinted glasses and snowboard style. Jumping to the top of the rankings after his coffin slide 360 method, no other rider could match his style. He also threw a cab 270 butter 630 out into a Cab 270 butter on the knuckle to pretzel 540 out and a backside 270 nosepress to Cab 630. Take a look back at the comp here!

Marcus Kleveland THE COMEBACK | X Games Aspen 2020

Marcus Kleveland exploded onto the X Games scene at Aspen 2017. The precocious 17-year-old took a surprise Slopestyle gold and added silver in Big Air. He followed it up at XG Aspen 2018 with another Slopestyle gold and Big Air silver, then picked up a third silver medal in Big Air at XG Norway 2018.

Among the most whimsical, creative, playful riders snowboarding has ever seen, Marcus was starting to seem unstoppable. And then…disaster in December 2018.

“I was practicing on a transfer rail at Dew Tour that I wanted to flip out of, so I was coming in with a lot of speed, f---ed up on the takeoff, came off of the side of the rail before the transfer and just kneecapped straight into the other rail,” Marcus says of his accident. “I stood up and rode for like 10 meters, trying to pretend it was okay, then collapsed. I was on the ground, screaming so bad.”

One year after the accident, he’s sharing carnage from Dr. Tom Hackett’s operating room at the famed Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. It’s truly gruesome, if you’re into that sort of thing.

“My right kneecap was shattered into like six or seven big pieces and a bunch of little shards,” Marcus says now. He had reconstructive surgery on the knee the same night, then spent the next 11 months rehabbing, including a three-month stint where he was living in Oslo to work with physical therapists at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center. “When I first got my knee brace off, I couldn’t bend my knee even one degree. It was completely straight, and it hurt.”

He had a second surgery in November 2019 to remove some of the scar tissue and hardware from his knee, which helped. “When they put my knee back together, they left a lot of stuff in there,” Kleveland explains. “We went back in and removed some of it from in front of the kneecap. It felt a lot better after that, for sure.”

X Games Aspen 2020 was Kleveland’s first competition since the injury. And though only the gold medal was awarded, Marcus Kleveland finished 2nd in the rankings. Kleveland did have an argument for trick of the comp with both his Run 2 and Run 3 passes (Nollie backside 1080, Cab 720 press to inverted Cab 540 hand drag). However, those weren’t enough to leapfrog Zeb Powell. It seems like his Run 4 540 to 1080 attempt may have been, but he couldn’t quite land it.

“I was so bummed I missed the first Knuckle Huck!” Kleveland said following the 2019 debut. But having him back for X Games Aspen 2020 made the second Knuckle Huck event that much more real. Yes, we’re seeing real time progression, and yes, we have Marcus Kleveland to thank for it.

Look for Marcus Kleveland to be competing in X Games Norway, March 7-8.

Darcy Sharpe AS GOOD AS IT GETS | X Games Aspen 2020

Darcy Sharpe was nearly speechless in his gold medal interview at X Games Aspen 2020, managing only “I’m ridiculously happy” through tears of joy as he claimed his first gold medal and added to the family cache: his sister Cassie Sharpe owns 2 gold from Ski SuperPipe.

Darcy Sharpe’s gold also adds to Canada’s national stockpile in Men’s SBD Slopestyle: Canada has 9 gold, one shy of the USA’s record 10 titles in the discipline.

Americans dominated Men’s SBD Slopestyle in its early years, winning 10 gold between 1997-2009. Shaun White won 5 of those, but his Aspen 2009 win was the last time an American has topped the podium.

Four riders from the deep Canadian contingent -- all of whom are competing at XG Aspen 2020 -- have now won 9 of the last 12 Slopestyle gold:

Mark McMorris: 5 (Aspen 2019, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012)
Sebastien Toutant: 2 (Aspen 2013, 2011)
Max Parrot: 1 (Aspen 2014)
Darcy Sharpe: 1 (Aspen 2020)

Scotty James HIGHLIGHT REEL | X Games Aspen 2020

Scotty James took his second consecutive X Games Snowboard SuperPipe gold at X Games Aspen 2020 and continued an astounding streak of major contest wins that dates back to December 2018: He has now won 10 in a row -- every contest he has competed in across events including X Games (twice!), Burton U.S. Open, Dew Tour and the FIS World Cup circuit.

He said he’s a fan of the new format, with ranking based on overall impression instead of the traditional best of 3 scored runs format. “It was an amazing night. The variety was really cool and it definitely tested me,” he said in his gold medal interview.

James now owns the second-most gold in the history of the discipline (3), behind Shaun White (8). James also has the second-most medals (5), also behind Shaun (10).

James is just the third man to take back-to-back wins in the discipline: Shaun White won 6 in a row between 2008-2013; Danny Davis did it at Aspen 2014 and 2015.

Jamie Anderson HIGHLIGHT REEL | X Games Aspen 2020

Jamie Anderson, the most decorated woman in X Games history, won her 6th Slopestyle gold medal on Saturday at X Games Aspen 2020, breaking her tie with Shaun White and Mark McMorris for most Slopestyle gold. McMorris competed in Slopestyle later in the day but failed to medal (7th was his worst Slopestyle finish in 12 starts), leaving Anderson to own the most slopestyle gold record outright.

Anderson also extended her Slopestyle podium-perfection mark: she now owns 15 medals -- 6 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze -- from her 15 Slopestyle starts, dating all the way back to Aspen 2006. As analyst Craig McMorris put it during the broadcast: “That’s some Hall of Fame numbers right there.”

Here’s what got Anderson into the proverbial "Hall of Fame."

Mark McMorris HIGHLIGHT REEL | X Games Aspen 2020

Though Max Parrot came out on top of The Real Cost Snowboard Big Air at X Games Aspen 2020, judges said it was an incredibly close contest between him and Mark McMorris for the top two spots. Analyst (and Mark’s brother) Craig McMorris broke down the comparative analysis in the broadcast, puzzling out what the judges might be thinking before the final rankings were confirmed: “Mark has landed 5 jumps, Max has landed 4. Mark spun 4 ways, Max spun 3, Max has more 1620s, Mark has more landed jumps. What do you do?”

After a bit of deliberation about exactly that calculus, the judges sided with Parrot.

But the silver medal was still a win for McMorris in one respect: his 18th career medal brings him even with Shaun White’s longstanding record for most medals from X Games winter disciplines. White has been the king of that hill since 2008. McMorris is scheduled to compete at more X Games comps in 2020. It seems likely that he’ll own this record outright within the next two months.

McMorris’ 18 medals come from 24 winter starts (that’s 75 percent of his starts). Shaun’s 18 have come from 27 winter starts (66.6 percent of his winter starts). Clearly, the sky is the limit for Mark McMorris in 2020.

Zoi Sadowski Synnott Wins Women's Rookie of the Year—2020 Snowboarder Awards

CONGRATS ZOI! Following up a bronze medal-winning performance at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, in 2019 New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott unleashed what could easily be described as the gold standard rookie year. At her first showing at X Games Aspen in January, she cemented her proclivity for excelling under pressure by taking home silver in big air and gold in slope. In February, she bested the field at the World Championships. In March, she stood on top of the slopestyle podium at snowboarding’s favorite contest, the Burton US Open. And then she headed back home just in time to graduate from high school. In short, Zoi exploded onto the scene and won everything in 2019. And her peers took notice. 2016 Women’s ROTY. Jamie Anderson was more than impressed, stating, “Zoi is an absolute badass! Good results, good riding, and a lot more to come from that!” 2017 Women’s ROTY, Kimmy Fasani agrees. “Zoi is leading the charge for the next generation,” commented Kimmy. “She has sick style and strong, progressive riding.” Many of the voters in this year’s Rider of the Year Awards specifically noted Zoi’s style and deep bag of tricks. Mark McMorris, 2016 Men’s ROTY and contest veteran, added, “She does everything so proper.” While Sage Kotsenburg said, “Zoi has an INSANE switch back nine.” Zoi’s prowess made waves far beyond the contest circuit with riders of all stripes taking notice of her breakout season. Mayor of the Wasatch, Griffin Siebert said, “Zoi is on a whole other level when it comes to board control and style. Really enjoy watching her compete.” Travis Rice noted that “Zoi Dominated some of the biggest events in snowboarding!” With an ever-growing bag of tricks, a consistent landing gear, and now a high school diploma, Zoi is poised to increase her trove of medals in the coming seasons, though we’re sure that the podium is only the start for her.

Marcus Kleveland HIGHLIGHT REEL | X Games Aspen 2020

The second installment of X Games Wendy’s Snowboard Knuckle Huck will go down in history as an all-time X Games highlight and the most whimsically entertaining event in snowboarding. The consensus among fans is that Aspen 2020 Snowboard Knuckle Huck was one of the best contests ever.

Though only the gold medal was awarded, Marcus Kleveland finished 2nd in the rankings. His playful knuckle tricks on Instagram helped inspire the debut of this discipline at XG Aspen 2019, but a shattered right kneecap one month prior forced him to miss it. Gold medal or no, X Games is blessed by his return, and his runs in Knuckle Huck were worth collecting for YouTube.

Because this event basically happened because of Marcus Kleveland’s influence, we decided to assemble his contributions to Knuckle Huck here. He may not have walked away with the golden knuckles, but he’s the people’s champ of hucking the knuckle. Thanks for the inspiration Marcus!