Extreme Aspen: Skico embraces X games, youth culture.

• Author: Graham, Sandy
• Position: Brief Article

AT FIRST GLANCE, ASPEN'S HOSTING of the Winter X Games -- with its legions of crazy snowboarders, snowmobilers and extreme skiers -- seems as incongruous as putting a Harley Davidson rally in Cherry Hills Village.

After all, until last spring, Aspen Skiing Co. banned snowboarders from the decorous slopes of Aspen Mountain, one of the four ski resorts it operates in the Roaring Fork Valley.

But SkiCo, as the locals call it, embraced the chance to host the Winter X Games, slated for Jan. 17-20 -- and not just for the economic boost during an uncertain winter. Ski industry executives throughout Colorado hope the games, with their youthful audience, will help entice new blood to an aging sport.

"Aspen wants to get to that demographic," said Gina Kroft, who helped lure the 1998 and 1999 Winter X Games to Ciested Butte.

Let's get this straight. Aspen, the playground of the rich and famous (and not necessarily young), wants knuckle-draggers in baggy pants, and motorcycle riders who stud their tires and perform jumps like the "Kiss of Death" and the "Superman Seat Grab"?

"That's exactly why they're sponsoring this," said Kroft, Crested Butte director of special events. "They want people to know, hey, this is a real town with real people."

"We'd like to see some of that youth and vitality in our community," agreed Susan Hecht, marketing and public relations manager of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association

The X Games bring a "demographic we have to attract to Colorado and Aspen," David Perry, president of Colorado Ski Country USA, told the Aspen Chamber Resort Association's annual luncheon a few months ago. As aging babyboomers trade in their skis for golf clubs, the ski industry must focus on the 14- to 26-year-old crowd, he said.

The Winter X Games seem a natural vehicle for that draw. The X (for "extreme") Games are the creation of ESPN, the cable sports network, and are targeted primarily to kids and young adults, ages 8 to 22, said Scott Hanley, ESPN director of sports and competition. The summer version features daredevil skateboarding, rollerblading, dirt biking and motocross. The winter games also put motorcycles on snow; as well as featuring a variety of on-the-edge ski and snowboard contests -- such as "big air" skiing where contestants vie to perform the wildest mid-air trick and still land on their feet.

While ESPN has never done a formal economic impact study of its Winter X Games, Hanley estimates the event and its weeks of preparation...