Winter X roundup: No White opens door for Finnish rider

Snowboard slopestyle

Eero Ettala of Finland capitalized on the absence of Olympian Shaun White to beat Eric Willett of Breckenridge and Chas Guldemond. Jenny Jones of England defended her title despite a nagging knee injury, with a winning run that included a front-side 720 off the “money booter.” Jamie Anderson placed second, and Janna Meyen-Weatherby was third.

Skiing superpipe

With 2009 silver medalist Tanner Hall sidelined because of knee injuries, Kevin Rolland of France executed a double flip with a mute grab, an alley-oop 360, back-to-back double flairs and a double cork 1,260 for a win over New Zealander Jossi Wells and defending champion Xavier Bertoni of France. “I have never landed three doubles,” Rolland said.

Skiing superpipe high air

Aspen resident Peter Olenick launched 24 feet, 11 inches out of a 567-foot-long, 22-foot-high pipe in jumps during a 30-minute session to win the first Winter X event. Canadian Justin Dorey was the runner-up at 23-9, and Rolland was third at 23-4. “I came out with a vengeance, and I was angry,” Olenick said. “And it seemed to work, so I’m stoked.”

Skier X

The Canadians pulled off a podium sweep, led by Vail resident Chris Del Bosco, who has dual citizenship. Dave Duncan and Brady Leman were less than 0.6 of a second behind. Ophelie David of France won her record fourth straight title, beating Canadian Ashleigh McIvor by 0.15 of a second and Canadian Kelsey Serwa by 0.52 of a second.

Mono skier X

Paralympian Tyler Walker repeated as champion, taking advantage of a broken seat strap by Gregory Peck and a collision between Kevin Connolly and two-time Paralympic gold medalist Chris Devlin-Young. Peck was the runner-up, and Connolly rallied for third. “It was very hard to plan for other people,” Walker said, “so I had to adjust.”

Snowmobile SnoCross

After Levi LaVallee’s snowmobile stalled, Tucker Hibbert marked a 28-second win over Ross Martin for his fourth consecutive title. Canadian Ryan Simons was third, 31 seconds off the pace. “I got an excellent start, and I was able to put it all together,” Hibbert said. “I am grateful for all my races – good and bad. I have learned from them all.”

Snowmobile knock out

LaVallee went speeding down a ramp, then launched his snowmobile 166 feet, 9 inches – 9 feet, 7 inches farther than Kremmling resident Chris Burandt for a win in the inaugural Winter X event. It’s the fourth Winter X gold for LaVallee. Joe Parsons beat Hibbert for bronze. “My machine is a rocket,” LaVallee said. “All I have to do is hold on.”

Adaptive snowmobile SnoCross

Mike Schultz finished in 5 minutes, 18 seconds, topping Jim Wazny by 14 seconds in the inaugural Winter X competition. Doug Henry finished third, 16 seconds off the pace. “I can’t explain it,” Schultz said. “I have been working so hard and for a long time. To come back here and win, I couldn’t be happier.”