Golden again: Aspen’s Alex Ferreira delivers, wins X Games for third time

Alex Ferreira made it three for three this season with a win in the X Games Aspen superpipe on Sunday night, enjoying redemption after a disappointing 2023 contest when he took two hard falls, finished last out of eight competitors and heard critics suggest that maybe it was time to retire.

“It’s the most unbelievable feeling I’ve ever felt,” the Aspen-born skier said in the finish area. “This is the sweetest redemption I’ve ever tasted. I fell both runs really hard last year. I didn’t even know if I was going to continue to compete after that. And to come back, wow, what can you say. I’m out of words I’m so happy.”

New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, who sat out X Games last year after winning it twice the two years prior, took silver in the men’s halfpipe skiing final with a creative new program at Buttermilk Ski Area.

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Oregon’s Hunter Hess won the bronze medal, his first at X Games.

Ferreira, 29, earned X Games gold in 2019 and 2020 but wasn’t able to get his third win until this year. After the wait, it was especially satisfying.

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Ferreira’s best score was 95.33. He upped his first-run score of 93.22 in his third and final run with four-way double cork variations, including two 1620s. He achieved 17.6 feet in amplitude. Ferreira’s final run included a double cork 1620 both ways and the switch double cork 1080 to conclude the victory.

Ferreira’s favorite trick, a switch cork 1080 tail grab, came in the first run. It was a good omen.

“In the air I crossed it. That was a sweet sweet feeling and I knew it was going to be a good contest,” Ferreira said.

The 29-year-old Aspenite is undefeated this season, having won World Cup halfpipe competitions in Secret Garden, China, and Copper Mountain, both in December.

His X Games medal collection now includes three golds, two silver medals and two bronze medals. Ferreira earned an Olympic silver medal in 2018 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2022.

Porteous, the reigning Olympic champion, sat in fifth place entering his final run, which he landed cleanly and was rewarded for his creativity in completing a “carve back.” On his final run, he switched with a zero spin on the first hit and went both ways for the double cork 1620s, resulting in his final score of 92.66 for silver.

Porteous said Sunday night was one of his favorite competitions he’s ever done.

“What I did tonight was fully express myself and did my version of halfpipe skiing and what I love to do. And yeah, paid off,” he said.

“I’m really, really stoked for Alex and Hunter. Those guys have been working so hard and have had incredible seasons. X Games finals. Everybody is putting their body on the line for everything. It’s the one event where you give it your all and whether you end up in the hospital or you end up on the podium. That’s kind of the way it goes.”

Porteus said he was “a little bit jittery” on the first two runs. 

“But I was really enjoying the whole night. I had a smile on my face and (it’s) my version of halfpipe skiing,” he said.

In 2018 in Pyeongchang, Porteous at the age of 16 became the youngest Olympic Games medalist from New Zealand. He won gold in Beijing four years later.

Ferreira dominant all evening

While Ferreira’s lead was never threatened, the silver and bronze medal podium positions changed frequently through the contest. Canada’s Brendan Mackay and Nick Goepper, the Midwestern slopestyle specialist who had never competed in the X Games halfpipe before, also had podium stays. Goepper skied in jeans and pushed a “skiing can be affordable” message.

Last year’s bronze medalist and Colorado Rocky Mountain School graduate, Finland’s Jon Sallinen had a bad crash on his second run, received medical attention but was able to walk away on his own.

Ferriera’s good friend, Dean Travers, said he was ready for this competition day under the lights on Sunday night.

“I don’t think there was an athlete that could be better prepared coming into it than Alex,” Travers said. “We spent the morning together a little bit and he was calm. He was cool. He was collected. He knew he put in the work. He knew he was prepared. And he knew that he could come out here and do what he did.”