Wednesday, February 1, 2012 9:03am PST

Jack Mitrani behind the scenes at Winter X Games

By: Heather Hendricks

"I'm double fisting over here at the North Face tent... Wapow!"

Jack Mitrani is a man of many hats. Whether he's a acting as a fierce competitor, or a funny comedian, this Frend is always entertaining to watch.

During the X Games, Jack cruised around and made behind- the scenes edits of what really goes down at Buttermilk Mountain. Check out these hilarious videos of Jtown getting into the thick of things at X.

No X Games experience is complete without a visit to sponsor village--a lollapalooza of frothing fans lined up for pro autographs and product giveaways. Jack Mitrani sends Big Dan into the beating heart of Winter X to score some swag. Wapow!



In the final episode from Winter X Games, Jack Mitrani shares some of his personal highlights from the week, including the glory of parking lot attendant Mudflap, teaching hip-hop artist Nas to snowboard, and filming his brother's second-place-qualifier, Luke Mitrani, practice run. Congratulations to all the competing athletes, the medalists, and to the ESPN X Games for an epic event; we'll be back.

Channels: Snow

Tags: None

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 5:18pm PST

Think Thank drops trailer for "Mind The Video Man"

By: Lindsay Fraka

Words: Think Thank

The official trailer for Think Thank's 9th video "Mind The Video Man". Starring: Jesse Burtner, Scott Stevens, Ted Borland, Chris Beresford, Sean Black, Sam Hulbert and welcoming to the Think Thank family; Curtis Woodman, Ryan Paul, Nial Romanek, Brandon Hammid, Kyle Lopiccolo, Brandon Reis, Jaeger Bailey and more. Song is "Lamb and the Lion" by The Mae Shi off the album Hlllyh.

"Mind The Video Man" explores progressive freestyle snowboarding with those in the vanguard and those about to make their mark, while asking the question, "What's happening with the snowboard video, where is it going next and how will that impact our culture." Follow the video man and his crew as they push the limits of possibility and progression through creativity in an attempt to create something of meaning that will stand the new media onslaught and the test of time. Mind the video, man.

Sunday, January 29, 2012 9:17pm PST

Snowboarder Shaun White makes X Games history with perfect superpipe run, five-peat

By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

Action sports icon Shaun White closed out the 2012 Winter X Games on Sunday night by winning a fifth consecutive gold medal in the Snowboard Superpipe competition--and by registering a first-ever perfect score of 100 in the marquee event. "It's unreal. I've been wanting that 100 forever," White told ESPN's Tina Dixon, during an interview at the bottom of the superpipe on Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colo. (Video shows White's perfect run.)


White posted the perfect score on what amounted to a victory lap, having already earned a 94.00 on his first of three runs Sunday night. As the last rider, and with nobody having topped 94.00, White dropped into the U-shaped pipe and unleashed what announcers described as the best run in the history of superpipe riding.

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(Freeskier Bobby Brown, in 2010 at the Ski Big-Air competition, becamethe first Winter X Games athlete to register a perfect score.)

White's run included a series of new-age tricks that his peers simply are incapable of stringing together: a backside air, front-side double-cork 1080, a cab double-cork 1080, a front-side stalefish 540, a double McTwist 1260, and a front-side double-cork 1260.

Those numbers represent degrees of rotation and the descriptions represent White's pre-launch stance and variations (flips and board grabs) of the tricks he performed while soaring high above the superpipe's 22-foot walls.

White, 25, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was asked by Dixon how he expects to improve on a score of 100. The red-headed athlete thought for a second and quipped,

"There's always next year."

 

Sunday, January 29, 2012 8:46pm PST

Heath Frisby lands first ever front flip on a snowmobile during X Games

By: Nate Hoppes

27-year-old Heath Frisby landed the first ever front flip of a snowmobile at the Winter X Games in Aspen Sunday evening during the Snowmobile Best Trick competition.



Frisby pulled what most people thought was impossible to do on a snowmobile earning himself a gold medal. Frisby who won Snowmobile Best Trick in 2010, now has a total of seven Winter X Games medals.

Frisby first knew the trick was possible after he witnessed Australian freestyle motocross rider Jackson "Jacko" Strong frontflip his way to gold in the Moto X Best Trick competition at X Games 17 in 2011.

"This has been everything to me really," an emotional Frisby said. "My whole family and friends have been behind me. I set a goal for myself and I always told myself I can't do two things at once but if I focus on one thing I can do it. It feels great."

Frisby overcame unsettling nerves after watching fellow competitor and friend Justin Hoyer unsuccessfully attempt a double back flip in the previous run. Hoyer appeared to badly injure his shoulder but the extent of his injuries are still unknown.

Crowd favorite Colten Moore followed up his gold in Snowmobile Freestyle with an Indie-Ruler Flip and a silver medal. Joe Parson earned the bronze with a trick he deemed the "gator wrestler."

Channels: SnowMotoOutdoor

Tags: None

Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:45pm PST

Men's superpipe eliminations plagued with falls at Winter X Games 16

By: Heather Hendricks

Sixteen of the world's best superpipe riders laced up their boots and set out to do work today in Aspen's famed 22' superpipe. The men's snowboard pipe eliminations kicked off this afternoon under sunny skies and warm temps on the last day of Winter X Games 16.

The goal for every rider was to put down at least one solid run that would earn them enough points to move unto tonight's highly anticipated final. That proved difficult for many as today's eliminations were plagued with uncharacteristic falls from some of snowboarding's best. Danny Davis, who looked strong throughout practice, fell on both of his runs ruining his chance for finals. This is the sixth time in a row DD has failed to make finals at X. Also missing out on the chance to compete under the lights were Scotty Lago, Jack Mitrani, Kazu Kokubu, Steve Fisher, Peetu Piiroinen, and Kohei Kudo.

While many of these top guys were unable to put it down, Shaun White was on fire and easily took the top spot with his first run. White pulled out of Friday's slopestyle competition citing an ankle injury, but it didn't seem to affect his riding today. When asked about how he was feeling, White said he was much better and noted that he tied his boots extra tight for today's event. That must have been a heck of a lace-job because White stomped a run that included a huge backside air, and two perfect 1080's which earned him an 88.66. That's actually a relatively low score for White, so look for him to amp up his tricks and intensity in tonight's finals.

Rumors around Aspen are that both Shaun White and Iouri Podladtchikov may be unleashing new, never-before-seen tricks, which means tonight's final is going to be one of the most progressive to date. It's gonna go off in Aspen.

See who made the cut. Top 8 are locking into finals.