Ready for another Winter X Games, snowmobile fans? This is going to be an interesting one: New events, new riders and all-new tricks are all about to be unleashed here in Aspen. It's sure to be another boundary-pushing year for the sport. Before we get going with Wednesday's practice, I wanted to give...

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The first session of freestyle snowmobile practice just wrapped up, and if it's any indication of things to come, we're in for a showdown with more gunslingers than have ever been in the fight for a medal in freestyle.While the course is similar to last year in that it contains four super kicker ramps and one BAR (Big-Ass Ramp), it is definitely an upgrade. The entire freestyle snowmobile area holds a lot more snow and the landings are quite big, allowing riders to focus more on their tricks rather...

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Snowmobile training officially starts today at the X Games venue, but it's been going on for several days off-site.Daniel Bodin, for one, arrived in Colorado over two weeks ago. He's been spending the bulk of his time hitting ramps at the Colorado Sledstyle training facility at Electric Mountain Lodge, located on the Grand Mesa about 2 hours from Aspen. With the goal of taking a medal back to Sweden this year, Bodin has been steadily working on adding more flip variations to his bag of tricks.About...

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Ready for another Winter X Games, snowmobile fans? This is going to be an interesting one: New events, new riders and all-new tricks are all about to be unleashed here in Aspen. It's sure to be another boundary-pushing year for the sport. Before we get going with Wednesday's practice, I wanted to give you a quick preview of each discipline.SnocrossTucker Hibbert is on the verge of making snowmobile racing history yet again this year. Coming into WX14, Hibbert's performance record at X is tied with...

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After five mediocre (or worse) appearances in Winter X Skier X, Switzerland's Andreas Steffen got his due in 2009. Steffen's previous WX Skier X best was an eighth in 2005, and his other three appearances ended with finishes in the low teens. His 2009 finish, though, was worth the wait: he ended the race with a bronze medal. He says that it takes a combination of, "A good base, good skis and some luck," to get on the podium in Skier X. "You need to be fast, too, especially in the gliding sections,"...

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Stian Sivertzen achieved a career highlight by earning bronze in the 2009 Winter X Snowboarder X event. He nearly died just weeks later.After Winter X, the 20-year-old traveled to Cypress, CAN, for an FIS World Cup event held on the 2010 Olympic course. He got the holeshot in his first heat but lost speed and positions. While trying to catch the pack, he overshot a landing, crashed and landed on his chest. Most of the young Norwegian's injuries became apparent once he was in the ambulance. Stian...

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French skier Ted Piccard comes from a family of world-class alpine skiers, but the 31-year-old skiercross racer must battle persistent injuries to accomplish his dream of medaling at Winter X and the Winter Olympics. "I want to win the [Winter] X Games because that's really a race for me," Piccard says. "But the Olympic Games are my destiny. My older brother, Franck, was an Olympic champion in Calgary and it's been itching me. I want to win the Olympics."Piccard has the genetics for success. Growing...

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You might have to excuse Justin Hoyer if he seems overly excited. The 26-year-old sled and dirtbike freestyle specialist from Ellsworth, Wisc., had the best stable of sled tricks in the early days of the snowmobile freestyle movement (2003-04). But after two years of disappointment at Winter X, Hoyer finally harnessed his substantial talent in 2009 and claimed the silver medal. It seemed like a long time coming.With a large arsenal of difficult tricks first learned on his dirtbike, Hoyer was a medal...

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Twenty three-year-old Tyler Walker owns two of the three gold medals that have been awarded at Mono Skier X (2007 and 2009), and one of the three silvers (2008). His success in adaptive racing has kept the New Hampshire native plenty busy -- he's skiing the World Cup circuit, Winter X, and, barring injury, will compete in the Paralympics. But that schedule is nothing new for Walker, who had to travel halfway around the world just to get to WX13 last year. He arrived in Aspen from Italy with almost...

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Simon Dumont has brought an unprecedented excitement to Winter X for the past several years. The man goes big. Very big. Dumont aims to please whether blasting 20 feet above the SuperPipe deck or stoking the crowd with double frontflips.Though he now has seven total Winter X medals, Dumont's WX career started modestly back in 2002 when he finished 16th in Slopestyle. A year later, Dumont's "put-me-in-coach" attitude promoted him off the alternate list and into the SuperPipe comp. While he lacked...

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