Winter X Games XII were held from January 24 to January 27, 2008, in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. They were the 7th consecutive

Winter X Games Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Diffe ...

to be held in Aspen. Television coverage of Winter X Games XII was broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, primarily hosted by

Sal Masekela Selema Mabena Masekela (born August 28, 1971) is an American television host, sports commentator, actor and singer. Life and career Masekela was born in Los Angeles, the son of a Haitian mother and South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela. Masek ...

and

Todd Harris Todd Harris (born June 4, 1970) is an American sports announcer and reporter for NBC Sports, currently focusing in Olympic and extreme sports. A graduate of Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in communications and broadcast journ ...

. Final attendance for the four-day event was 72,500.

Disciplines

Disciplines at the 12th Winter X Games were: *

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

Snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

Snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

Highlights

Skier

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won his third consecutive men's

superpipe A superpipe is a large halfpipe structure used in extreme sports such as snowboarding, freestyle skiing, skateboarding, scooters, freestyle BMX and vert skating. Overview For winter sports, the term ''superpipe'' is used to describe a halfpi ...

gold medal and his seventh X Games gold medal over all, the most of any winter competitor. This record stood alone until the final night of competition, when

Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X ...

tied it with a gold medal in the men's snowboard superpipe and set his own record with 12 career Winter X Games medals.Thomas, Pete. "Shaun White wins snowboard superpipe with top three runs." ''Los Angeles Times'', January 28, 2008. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-xgames28jan28,1,7090531.story Snowmobile Speed and Style was debuted as a new event on the opening night of competition, combining traditional snocross, a timed race, with trick skill. The event was judged, with completion time and freestyle each making up half of the final score.

Levi LaVallee Levi LaVallee (born August 31, 1982) is an American snowmobile racer. He won the Winter X Games VIII HillCross gold medal in 2004. At Winter X Games XII in 2008, LaVallee won gold in the Snowmobile Speed and Style event.Willoughby, Scott. "La ...

won gold. Tucker Hibbert won his third gold medal in

Snocross Snocross (also snowcross) is a racing sport involving racing specialized high performance snowmobiles on natural or artificially-made tracks consisting of tight turns, banked corners, steep jumps and obstacles. Riders race at speed of up to 60 mi ...

and his second consecutive. LaVallee's subsequent gold medal win in the snowmobile freestyle made him only the second Winter X Games competitor to win a gold medal in four different events, after Shaun Palmer. In women's snowboarding, Lindsay Jacobellis regained the gold medal, her fourth, in Women's

Snowboard Cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

, defeating

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

boarder

Tanja Frieden Tanja Frieden (born 6 February 1976, in Bern) is a Swiss snowboarder. She won a gold medal in the inaugural Snowboard Cross competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics. In the Snowboard Cross finals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Frieden was in secon ...

. Frieden defeated Jacobellis at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

after Jacobellis fell near the finish line after attempting a trick. Aspen native

Gretchen Bleiler Gretchen Elisabeth Bleiler (born April 10, 1981) is an American former professional halfpipe snowboarder. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics. Career Born in Toledo, Ohio, Bleiler aspired to compete in the Winter X Games from a very you ...

won the women's superpipe, defeating the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Torah Bright Torah Jane Bright (born 27 December 1986) is an Australian former professional snowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, former Olympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, ...

. The women's superpipe final was ceremonially "fore-run" by the late

Bibian Mentel Bibian Mentel-Spee (27 September 1972 – 29 March 2021) was a Dutch three-fold Winter Paralympics gold-medalist, and five-times world champion para-snowboarding athlete. Mentel won the Paralympic gold medal in the snowboard cross discipline in ...

, an adaptive snowboarder from the Netherlands, who would eventually win multiple Paralympic snowboarding gold medals in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. Big Air events returned to the Winter X Games for the first time in several competitions. There were only four participants in both the skiing and snowboarding big air events. The events were done in a knockout format, with two judges voting and the audience, voting through text messaging, each having equal say as to who advanced to the finals and who won. There were only gold medals awarded for the Big Air events, as they were judged as winner take all competition. On the final day of competition, the weather deteriorated throughout the day The weather likely affected the turnout, with around 4,000 fewer spectators than Winter X Games XI. The ski cross course was affected by weather conditions as the day went on, and there were several major crashes involving top competitors. Lars Lewen, Juha Haukkala, and Karin Huttary all had to be taken to the hospital following injuries; Enak Gavaggio was involved in the same crash as Lewen, but refused transport.

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Daron Rahlves Daron Louis Rahlves (born June 12, 1973) is a former American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and freestyle skiing, freestyle skier. Biography Born in Walnut Creek, California, Walnut Creek, California, and ...

, a three time Olympian, won the gold in the men's event, his first X Games medal.

Errol Kerr Errol Kerr (born April 12, 1986, in Brooklyn, New York) is a downhill skier formerly with the U.S. Ski Team. Kerr is the son of a Jamaican father and an American mother. Kerr started skiing at age four and started racing competitively at age 11. ...

, who had the fastest time of the day in any heat, did not medal.

Sarah Burke Sarah Jean Burke (September 3, 1982 – January 19, 2012) was a Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event. She was a five-time Winter X Games gold medallist, and won the world championship in the halfpipe in 2005. She s ...

defended her gold medal in the women's ski superpipe competition, defeating

ex-snowboarder Mirjam Jaeger.

Results

Skiing

Men's Monoski Cross Men's Ski Big Air Men's Ski Cross Women's Ski Cross Men's Ski Slopestyle Men's Ski SuperPipe Women's Ski SuperPipe

Snowboarding

Men's Snowboard Big Air Men's Snowboard Cross Women's Snowboard Cross Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Men's Snowboard SuperPipe Women's Snowboard SuperPipe

Snowmobiling

Snocross Snowmobile Freestyle Snowmobile Speed and Style "Snowmobile Speed and Style Final Results." EXPN.com, January 26, 2008. http://expn.go.com/expn/winterx/2008/results/story?pageName=wx12_results_snbspeedstylefinal

References

{{X Games navbox Winter X Games 2008 in multi-sport events 2008 in American sports Sports competitions in Colorado Pitkin County, Colorado 2008 in sports in Colorado Winter multi-sport events in the United States International sports competitions hosted by the United States January 2008 sports events in the United States