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Buttermilk Mountain is situated in Aspen, Colorado. Colorado is known for its slopes by skiers and snowboarders world wide. It was no surprise that ESPN will host the Winter X Games in the Rocky Mountain state. When we say global, we mean GLOBAL! From the shores of Trinidad all the way to Buttermilk Mountain, where the base elevation is 7,870 feet above the oceans, the summit is a hearty 9,900 feet up there.

So we packed our warm clothes and it was off to Aspen to bring you the action. TJJ arrived on the morning of Saturday 27th. The action was well on the way. We got there around 10 am and people were just rolling in. Entrance to the event was free, that’s always a plus. The snow covered mountain was a beautiful site in the morning sun. The venue was buzzing with activity. It was well set out. There were various booths from Mountain Dew to Play Station3 and even the Navy was getting in on the action, keeping the masses occupied. There were lots of stuff to be won. So we had to indulge, from jerseys to complimentary pizza rolls, we had a couple of those. When we were out of room it was up to take in some slope side action. The women’s slope style was almost over, the last few were amazing. The pictures speak for themselves, how do they do it? This was followed by the men’s slope style, this was equally incredible, this bunch really took action sports to a next level.

After standing around in awe for a while, we realized it was about that time, lunch. So we jumped on the shuttle heading to down town Aspen, not knowing what to expect. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the town and the exploration began. It didn’t take us to long to find food in the small town, Johnny McGuire’s Deli. A round of applause for that meal, it was amazing. So we did a little more exploring, just to check out what the place had to offer. There was a variety of shopping available from the Christian Dior designer outlet to sports stores with tons of snow gear, we grabbed some extra gloves to prepare for the drop in temperature that would come when the sun set.

After getting some more free stuff it was time to head back to the action. Back at the mountain the crowd had almost doubled and there was a buzz in the air. The vibes was nice. It was over to stage side for the prize giving and some other stuff. Stage side was rapper Common who was to appear in concert later that night. Just to spice things up a little and create some hype for the concert there was a dance off on stage, it was hilarious at the least. At least the winner got to take home a Common CD and again, more free stuff. Notice a theme here people. The activity on the slopes was slow, athletes were practicing for the later events, Men’s Super Pipe and Snow Mobile cross finals, this was the event to look forward to we were told. As if jumping 16 feet in the air out of a half pipe was not enough, these dare devils were flipping 400 pound snow mobiles.

We decided to mix with the crowd a little see what the vibes was like. Everyone we spoke to seem very excited, very passionate about the games. The name Shaun White came up a couple times, apparently this guy was amazing. Hard to believe that someone could be amazing in such an amazing bunch. Another thing on the list of things we had to see.

When the Men’s Super Pipe was about to start there was a mad rush to get close to the Pipe. We were sure to get the best spot to bring you all the action we can. One by one the athletes came down the pipe and oooos and aaahhhhs followed every big air. Shaun White was no disappointment, he managed to get bigger air than any other athlete to run the slopes that night, last years defending champ, he blew minds and did it oh so effortlessly. After we got our jaws back up it was over to the event of the day, Snowmobile Cross Final, the event that promised to be thrilling and a sure rush. For the riders at least, we were just spectators. So we found a spot where we could take in most of the action as the athletes raced 18 laps around the course. The race began and the noise from the 8 engines alone gave hints as to what would come next. The racers were hard to follow. They moved around the track going 20 to 25 feet off some jumps. We just had to stand in awe, but of course we got some pretty amazing shots, we are TJJ and that’s what we do best!

This was the last event of the day so it was over to the free concert to take in Common. So it took about an hour to get out of the venue, it was that packed, the security handled the crowd pretty well so it was all good. On to the shuttle and back to down town Aspen for the concert. What a turn out that was. We made it inside just when the rapper came to the stage. The crowd was so thick that we were forced to take in the action from afar. Common really got the crowd going, warmed up a little which was good. The temperature around a miserable -30 degrees Celsius we needed all the warmth we can get.

Boy what a day, sadly it must come to an end. We head back to the hotel with aching feet but all worth it. The event was a success from beginning to end. Incident free and pure nice vibes. We were freezing and tired, but we would do it all again next year. Until next time this is TJJ saying goodbye from Aspen, CO.

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