X Games Aspen notes, Day 3: Gerard beats McMorris for first slopestyle gold
Trevor Brown, Jr./X Games courtesy photo
Red Gerard’s X Games resume didn’t tell of someone who is considered among the greatest at his craft. The 23-year-old Silverthorne snowboarder announced his arrival in a big way in 2018, when he won slopestyle gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
But X Games? Just a mere bronze (2020) to show for his time in seven prior appearances. That monkey is finally off his back as of Sunday after he held off Canada’s Mark McMorris to win slopestyle gold at Buttermilk Ski Area.
“It’s everything. I grew up watching these contests, like X Games and Dew Tour and U.S. Open. To have a gold here means everything to me,” Gerard said after his win. “Just to land three runs, today was perfect. I’m just so happy.”
Gerard and McMorris, who owns the most Winter X Games medals in history, both had nearly flawless runs, but it was Gerard’s 1800 that stood out over McMorris’s 1620 in the end. McMorris had been going for the slopestyle three-peat after winning the event in both 2022 and 2023.
In bronze on Sunday was Norway’s Mons Roisland, a fifth third-place finish at X Games for him. He also has two silvers at X Games, but has never won gold.
Colorado’s Chris Corning was among the competitors, but only finished seventh after landing a modest second run to score 77.66. The top three all scored well into the 90s.
Among those not competing was Norway’s Marcus Kleveland, who sat out due to injury.
Ledeux returns to top of slopestyle podium
Also Sunday was women’s ski slopestyle, won by France’s Tess Ledeux. Ledeux had another monster showing at X Games, as she also won gold in ski big air. She also swept the two events back in 2022.
Swiss star Mathilde Gremaud settled for second in slopestyle on Sunday, her best-run score of 92.33 not quite keeping pace with Ledeux’s 95.33. Switzerland’s Giulia Tanno won bronze with 88.
China’s Eileen Gu, who won halfpipe skiing gold on Saturday, did not compete in slopestyle. She was present to help hand out the medals for the men’s halfpipe skiing contest on Sunday evening.
Murase takes big air snowboard gold
The final event of X Games Aspen 2024 was women’s snowboard big air. That contest went to Japan’s Kokomo Murase, who had an incredible weekend, also winning knuckle huck and earning silver in slopestyle. Those are her first two gold medals from Aspen, although she did win big air gold at X Games Norway in 2018.
Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi, last year’s X Games Aspen big air champion, took home the silver on Sunday, while Austria’s Anna Gasser won bronze. Gasser is the two-time reigning Olympic champion in big air.
Not competing this year were both Tahoe’s Jamie Anderson and New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the unquestioned top two stars in women’s snowboard slopestyle and big air.
Aspen restaurant Boat Tow granted approval for airlock
The 3-1 vote came despite the project conflicting with Aspen’s guidelines for temporary enclosures, which prohibits such temporary structures.
