Olympic Fishing at the X Games
Jan. 25, 2007— -- Remember the good old days, when the Winter X Games was the antithesis of the Winter Olympics? Times have changed. The X's have been systematically looted over the past three O's, and one discipline after another has either fallen or ascended—it depends on who you ask. In 1998, snowboard pipe made its Winter Olympic debut. By 2006, boardercross had joined the fray. And just a few weeks ago, it was announced that skiercross will debut in Vancouver, 2010. It's practically inevitable that the pilfering will continue, so the obvious question is: what's next? The less obvious question is: are all these Xs going O a good thing or not?
Until the Olympics goes moto, the frontrunners will be ski pipe (because there's already a pipe venue at the Games) and snowboard slopestyle (because the kids love them some snowboarding). Five-time X Games gold medalist Tanner Hall has an opinion: "Skiing's the sh*t." But Tanner's been around long enough to know it not that simple. "[Pipe getting in] is up to a bunch of 50-year-old people who don't really enjoy what we do. I can't control what happens, but I'll tell you this: if skiing halfpipe was let in, we'd be the dominant sport at the Olympics."
Hall is hoping for the discipline to make the cut for 2010. To that end, skiing's governing body, International Ski Federation (FIS), has been busy sanctioning ski pipe events in the U.S. and Europe, as well as holding a World Championship last year. But the International Olympic Committee's inclusion process is glacial at best and FIS has made it clear that no one should be holding their breath until Vancouver. But there were similar rumblings with snowboard halfpipe before the event was fast-tracked for 1998. The enormous success of the 2002 Olympic halfpipe led to a similar fast track for boardercross last year. "It would make sense," says Olympic boardercross champion Seth Wescott about ski pipe. "I was surprised to see it wasn't added along with skiercross. I assume there's still a possibility."
While skiers and snowboarders alike seem to generally support the idea of Olympic pipe skiing, snowboarders are less unified in their opinion of whether or not slopestyle should make the leap. "I think they should both be in there," says Olympic halfpipe silver medalist Danny Kass. "It would be hard to pull off in terms of courses and what to expect, but people all over the world are crying out for more snowboarding. I think people in the States are getting tired of seeing people in those speed suits."
But slopestyle—the essence of what every kid does when he or she heads to the hill on a board—inspires a purist streak in more than one snowboarder. "There is way too much politics and stupid crap that you have to do so you can go there," says German slopestyle rider Silvia Mittermueller. "You should be in a big contest because you're a good rider, not because you kissed [FIS] ass. [FIS] doesn't even get a pipe run yet and that's just three or four hits, this side to that side. If you don't get that, how in the world could you understand slopestyle?"
"Slopestyle is hard to watch as a viewer," says Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler, "because you can't see the whole course. And the guys who ride slopestyle are more into the other aspects of the sport; filming, going into the backcountry. They're not necessarily as focused on the Olympics, whereas the skiers tend to be a little more hungry for it."
Plenty of snowboarders remember that halfpipe's initial Olympic experience wasn't all Shaun White and Blue. But the progress that's been made since then means there's at least some precedent for whatever comes next. "It wasn't good for the sport," says Andy Finch about the old days. "The snowboarders were fighting it and the Olympic officials weren't listening to what needed to be done. They've both come around, though. Snowboarders are warming up to the whole thing. It's moving forward."
Forward to slopestyle? Forward to ski pipe? Forward to both? "Both are cool," says US Snowboard Team head coach Peter Foley. "I hope we see both in 2014." Don't bet against it.