The X Games ski cross course is unlike anything else in the world.
Racers six abreast race down the course, tackling turns and kickers twice the size of World Cup circuits. The finishing jump is 80 feet high, accentuated by a two-storey tall lip.
And Canmore’s Tristan Tafel is primed for the challenge.
The Canadian National Team ski cross racer qualified for the X Games with a string of top 20 results on the World Cup, missing only just qualifying heat since the beginning of the season. The new kid on Canada’s World Cup team, he was on the bubble for getting into the X Games, but solidified his selection with a strong January.
“The course will be like nothing I’ve skied in my life. I’ll do my best to adapt to it and figure out the terrain as best I can.”
The X Games revolutionized extreme sports, bringing it to larger audiences. Tafel said his fans should be able to watch him compete in the qualifiers in Aspen, Colorado on Jan. 27 and hopefully in the finals on Jan. 29.
Talking with teammates who’ve competed at X Games before, Tafel said the course is big, but definitely doable.
“It’s built perfectly. It’s a higher speed course, but it flows together nicely, so it doesn’t feel like you’re skiing that big of a course,” he said.
This year’s course sounds even more difficult than the last. Racers will begin from a start gate suspended 14 feet above the snow where they will fight for top position before challenging 13-foot banked turns. The finish line this year will offer three options, as riders can take a 50-, 65- or 80-foot jump to end their run.
Tafel said he’ll post headcam videos from his races on the contour.com website.
Last year, Canadian Kelsey Serwa won gold in the women’s X Games event, however, she’ll miss this year’s event after a crash in Alpe d’Huez, France last week.
The X Games will also pay tribute to skier Sarah Burke, who died after a serious crash last week. The accident shook the freestyle community, members of which have spoken highly of her legacy. Burke pushed for women’s events to be included in the X Games.
Tafel met Burke last year, and said she’s affected the sport in such a positive manner.
“She was well spoken and touched the freestyle ski community. The reason women have a chance to compete at the Olympics and X Games is her,” Tafel said.
Such accidents do affect extreme athletes, and Tafel was no different.
“It makes me realize I’m going into something that’s extremely dangerous, but it gives me so much joy and happiness. I would rather do this for a little while and live than do a desk job and not be alive,” Tafel said.
Risk is normal with his profession, however, Tafel said it’s calculated.
“It’s not an uncalculated risk. If there’s a course I don’t think I can do, I’ll pull out.”
