Vermont’s Forehand takes gold in snow-covered men’s ski big air

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.

“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. 

“I’m hyped to do it,” he said. “First time I landed it.”

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. 

“I’m very confident going into it,” he said. “I’m stoked for Milan, it’s going to be fun.”