Heavy snowfall on Friday night made for less than ideal conditions for the young men striving to harness gravity at X Games Aspen.
But that didn’t stop Vermont’s Mac Forehand, 24, from completing three inverts and spinning six times, taking off backward and landing backward, to clinch his second X Games gold medal in men’s ski big air.
“It went perfect, honestly,” Forehand said. “I was pretty upset during training. The speed was horrible, all of us are going slow, and the snow was coming down like crazy. I knew it was only going to get worse.”
But he credited his wax tech and a good window to help him get the speed for his switch triple cork 2160 — the third time he’s ever completed the trick — while flying over the 75-foot X Games gap jump.
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“I knew I could do it,” he said. “It’s one of those feel-good tricks — when you do it perfectly, it feels perfect. So, I don’t know, it just, it all worked out for me.”
New Zealand’s Luca Harrington, 21, took home the silver medal, his second X Games medal in the event and fourth total, with a switch triple cork 1980 — taking off backward, completing three inverts and spinning five-and-a-half times. He added an “esco grab,” grabbing the edge of his ski with both hands, while completing the trick.
“I’m the only one in the world to do it — first time I’ve done it in competition,” Harrington said of the trick. “So I’m so proud of myself for getting it done, and putting it down out there especially in these conditions.”
Canada’s Dylan Deschamps, 23, took the bronze with a quadruple cork 1800, completing four inverts and five spins.
The men’s ski big air podium, from left, Canada’s Dylan Deschamps (bronze), Vermont’s Mac Forehand (gold), and New Zealand’s Luca Harrington (silver) at X Games Aspen on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Buttermilk Ski Area.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
“I’m hyped to do it,” he said. “First time I landed it.”
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Norway’s Tormod Frostad, 23, took fourth, fellow Norwegian Birk Ruud, 25, fifth, Finland’s Elias Syrja, 27, sixth, New Hampshire’s Hunter Henderson, 23, seventh, Montana’s Konnor Ralph, 22, eighth, and New Zealand’s Ben Barclay, 23, ninth.
Thirteen-time X Games medalist Alex Hall, from Park City, did not compete to focus on the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, according to X Games public relations, where he will compete in big air and slopestyle.
Friday night’s three big air medalists will also compete in ski big air at the upcoming Olympics, which span from Feb. 6-22, something the skiers had on the front of their minds when competing.
“Honestly, all we could think about is getting hurt,” Forehand said. “But I can’t miss X Games. It’s the best event of the year.”
He said this big air win, along with a recent slopestyle gold medal at Aspen’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix Olympic qualifier — held in Snowmass — have “helped a lot” heading into the Olympics.
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“I’m very confident going into it,” he said. “I’m stoked for Milan, it’s going to be fun.”
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (Aging Untold) — For 10 days, the Champlain Valley Fair, a county fair in Vermont, becomes its own little town with thousands of people, hot afternoons and the occasional emergency.
Charlene Phelps, 74, runs the fair’s emergency response team.
“We have a lot of seniors that come and people don’t drink enough water,” Phelps said.
The team handles sprains, bee stings, heat exhaustion and whatever comes through.
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“I like taking care of people, I like helping people,” Phelps said.
Living out a childhood dream
It’s also a childhood dream.
Phelps wanted to be a nurse, but college wasn’t possible, so she found another route into care and has been showing up year after year at the fair.
Aging Untold expert Amy O’Rourke said living out your purpose can improve mental and spiritual well-being.
“When you tap into that, you’re tapping in on a place that’s a risk, that’s a challenge that inevitably creates growth inside you, gives you confidence so that if you’re in another situation you can build on that,” O’Rourke said. “Or, if you’re in an everyday situation where you’re a little anxious, it’ll help create stabilization in that place as well.”
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Saving lives at the fair
Sometimes it’s bigger than a bandage.
“Over on there near the swings way over there is Gustovo, and we saved his life,” Phelps said.
Gustovo had gone into cardiac arrest at the fair a few years ago.
“I mean he was gone,” Phelps said.
Now he’s back and working the rides.
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“Came for my hug, Gustovo,” Phelps said.
O’Rourke said stories like this are also why some people keep working past retirement age. Purpose isn’t a number, it’s a role.
“I’ve seen a 92-year-old still working as a nurse’s aid. I’ve seen people in my neighborhood chilling out and loving it,” O’Rourke said. “So, I think it’s being really self-aware of what you need and making sure that you’re getting those needs met.”
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A plan by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to make all of the state’s lottery games, including scratch-off tickets, available on a person’s phone never got off the ground at the Statehouse this year.
Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight told lawmakers in January that the plan was a way to modernize the lottery “because you need to keep pace with technology — you need to meet your players where they are.”
Fifteen states have created a “digital” lottery system, and many have discovered there’s a distinct market of people who don’t buy lottery tickets at retail outlets but will do so on their phones, according to Knight. “We’re trying to ensure the future of the Vermont Lottery, ” the commissioner said.
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But state lawmakers have not been persuaded.
Vergennes Rep. Matt Birong, the Democratic chair of the House government operations committee, said members of the panel felt this year was not the time to move forward with this plan, especially given the recent legalization of sports betting.
“It is digitizing a current system and after moving forward with the sports wagering — people just wanted to take their time with it — so my committee decided to tap the brakes on further testimony.”
The administration estimated that the plan would have raised roughly $5 million a year for the state’s education fund after two years of implementation.
The prospect of that additional revenue is appealing to lawmakers, and Birong said they may reconsider the plan next year.
