X Games

The Winter X Games are held in January or February and the Summer X Games are usually held in August. Participants compete to win bronze, silver and gold medals, and prize money.

The competition often features new tricks such as Tony Hawk's "900" in skateboarding, and Travis Pastrana's double backflip in Motocross. Concurrent with competition is the "X Fest" sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions and interactive elements.

The location of the Winter X Games is in Aspen, Colorado through 2010, while the location for the Summer X Games is in Los Angeles through 2009. The X Games also has international competitions and demos around the world that are held at varying times throughout the year.

The games are shown live on ESPN and ABC television.


Events
Current summer sports
Freestyle BMX
Vert
Parks
Big Air
Street
SuperPark

MotoX
Best Trick
Speed & Style
Step Up
Supermoto
Supercross

Skateboarding
Vert
Street
Big Air
SuperPark

Rallying

Current winter sports


Snocross at the 2007 Winter X Games

Skiing
Skier X
Men's
Women's

Slopestyle
SuperPipe
Men's
Women's


Snowboarding
Big Air
Monoskier X
Slopestyle
Men's
Women's

Snowboarder X
Men's
Women's

SuperPipe
Men's
Women's

Best Trick

Snowmobiling
Snocross
Freestyle


Defunct sports
Summer X Games events

X-Venture (Adventure Race)
BMX Freestyle
Flatland
Downhill BMX
Vert Doubles
Dirt Jumping

Surfing
Men-Team USA vs. The World (Introduced in X Games 13)

Aggressive In-Line
Vert
Men's
Women's

Downhill
Men's
Women's

Street
Men's
Women's

Vert Triples

Bungee jumping
Skateboard
Vert Doubles
Best Trick
Vert Best Trick
Downhill

Wakeboarding
Men's
Women's

Barefoot Jumping
Sportclimbing
Difficulty
Men's
Women's

Speed
Men's
Women's

Bouldering
Men's
Women's


Skysurfing
Street Luge
Dual
Mass
Super Mass


Winter X Games events

Moto X
Best Trick (men's only)

Snow BMX Racing
Dual Downhill
Men's
Women's

Dual Speed
Men's
Women's


Snowboarding
Big Air
Men's
Women's


Skiboarding
Slopestyle

Ice Climbing
Difficulty
Men's
Women's

Speed
Men's
Women's


Snowmobiling
Hill-cross

Super-Modified Shovel Racing

Overview
The Winter X Games is, as described by EXPN (2008), a competition compiled of the greatest winter action sport athletes from around the world, all competing for medals (gold, silver, bronze) and prize money on an annual basis.The competition contains day and evening events including skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. The first Winter X Games took place at Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California in 1997.

The following two years, the Games were held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. The two years following that, the Games were held in Mount Snow, Vermont.

And since 2002 the Winter X Games have been held at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, and according to ESPN they will continue to be held there through 2010.
Popular participants
Some of the star participants who have participated in The Winter X Games:
Shaun White – American snowboarder/skateboarder. White's official website states that White is sometimes referred to as the "Flying Tomato" because of his shaggy red hair.

Olympic official website, for his silver medals in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics. The punk-image Kass has a signature move known as the "Kassaroll" (backside rodeo), an extremely difficult trick.
Sarah Burke – Canadian freestyle skier who has been recognized by ESPN numerous times, including 2001 Female Skier of the Year and 2007 Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
Tanner Hall – American free skier who has continued to outperform at the Winter X Games.Hall won Best North American Free Skier in 2006 and he holds the record for Winter X Games gold medals with seven.

Economics
The Winter X Games gained media exposure due to their big name sponsors and star-studded athletes. However, their marketing ideas add to that because of the number of fans who attend the actual events.

This creates a broad approach on marketing towards that certain demographic, which is why the Winter X Games' marketing and economic outlook is so “out of the box”.According to EXPN (2008); The Winter X Games inaugural year, 1997, was televised to 198 countries and 38,000 spectators attended the actual four day event. But just two years later, a record attendance of 83,500 people attended the Winter X Games’ east coast debut.

Some activities include scheduled autograph signings, giveaways for spectators, climbing walls, video game experiences, and the chance to try new and upcoming products that are presented by sponsors.
Snowskate Park
The Snowskate Park is an actual layout provided by the Winter X Games sponsors in order to provide real-life interaction for all spectators. The schedule usually includes: Open Park for the Public, Invitational Practices, Special Kids Events, Experienced Snowskate Sessions, and Competitive Sledding.
Musical performances
Throughout the Winter X Games, live music line-ups are prepared in order to give fans the non-stop action that they came to see.

Some performing music acts are up-and-coming bands/artists that are looking for serious exposure, but well-known talents perform at the Games as well. DJs are a fixed piece of the X Games, you can find them spinning the tracks during each athletes run.
X Games Going “Green”
The X Games has a successful program, X Games Environmentality (XGE),that focuses on reducing waste through recycling and compositing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of alternative fuels.In 2006, nearly 70% of event waste was diverted from Aspen-area landfills to be processed at specialized facilities. The X Games work to beat the record each and every year.

Educational outreach for fans, staff and vendors will include opportunities to contribute to XGE’s efforts.
“Get Caught Recycling”
“Get Caught Recycling” is a program created by the XGE in order to encourage recycling. Again in Vermont in 2001, the Games posted another great fan turnout along with the addition of the Moto X Big Air event.
Publication
Winter X Games VIII in 2004 marked the first time that an X Games event was televised live and also featured coverage by ESPN's flagship news program, Sports Center.

The Games continued to added new events including the Ski Slopestyle event and the Ski SuperPipe event. Also in 2002, ESPN announced the establishment of the X Games Global Championship.

The Global Championship featured two distinct venues hosting competitions in summer and winter action sports simultaneously. The Games were still being held in Aspen and it was in this year that the new events, Moto X Ski, Snowboard, and Snowmobile were introduced.As attendance continued to soar, the Games saw a record-high attendance in Aspen with 69,750 people. The Winter X Games that year were broadcasted on ESPN and ABC along with television, internet, and iPod live streams.

The X Games provide free gifts, snacks, meals, refreshments, and raffles for their volunteers.
History
Summarized from EXPN.com
Summer X Games
1995: Extreme Games - Providence & Newport, Rhode Island & Mount Snow, Vermont (June 24 - July 1, 1995)
198,000 in Attendance

1996: X Games II - Providence & Newport, Rhode Island
200,000 in Attendance

1997: X Games III - San Diego, California (June 20-28, 1997)
221,200 in Attendance

1998: X Games IV - San Diego, California (June, 1998)
233,000 in Attendance

1999: X Games V - Pier 30 & 32, San Francisco, California (June 25 - July 3, 1999)
275,000 in Attendance
After eleven failed attempts, skateboarder Tony Hawk finally lands a 900-degree spin ("the 900"), winning the Best Trick competition.

2000: X Games VI - Pier 30 & 32, San Francisco, California (August 17-22, 2000)
Tommy Clowers wins the first ever Moto-X Step Up event, at a record-breaking height of 35 feet.

2001: X Games VII - First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (August 17-22, 2001)
235,000 in Attendance
Bob Burnquist wins the Skateboard Vert contest with an unbelievable 98, the highest point avg. ever given to any athlete in skateboarding.
Taig Kris wins the Inline Vert event, with the first double backflip in X Games history.
Danny Harf lands a 900-degree spin in wakeboarding.

2002: X Games Eight - First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (August 15-19, 2002)
Mat Hoffman lands the no handed 900-degree spin.
Mike Metzger landed the first back flip in Moto-X Freestyle X Games History over an 80 foot gap.

He fell from 40'+ in the air and landed on his backside and back on the flat. Suffered a fractured wrist, bruised lung and liver, whiplash, ruptured spleen, and a concussion.
Ricky Carmichael wins the first ever MotoX Racing Circuit.
Mat Hoffman returns to competition in BMX Big Air.
Simon Tabron does an X Games first, doing back-to-back 900s in BMX Vert.

2008: X Games 14 - Los Angeles, California (July 31 – August 3, 2008 )
Danny Way clips his shins on the lip of the quarterpipe after a 20+ foot fall during the Big Air comp, which the commentators refer to as the "second worst fall ever at the X Games" (the first being Jake Brown's the year prior).

The event was held in two locations, the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (where 7 of the events, including In-line skating, Skateboarding, BMX and Freestyle Motocross, were held), as well as in Whistler, British Columbia (where the Superpipe events for Snowboarding and skiing took place).
The final team results were:

It was also here at the Global Championships where Jamie Bestwick performed the first ever Tailwhip Flair in the BMX Vert event.

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