Aspen Snowmass Events

Balloon Festival 2009 kicked off this morning in Snowmass Village. More info at http://www.stayaspensnowmass.com/p-balloon-festival.php Balloon Festival 2009 Snowmass Village Balloon Festival 2009 Snowmass Village #2 Come see the golden aspen leaves this fall in beautiful Colorado. Call 888.649.5982 or check http://stayaspensnowmass.com/p-last-minute-specials.php for lodging specials and packages. Photos by Russ Potter

Smiling faces on Government trail: Kevin and Claire from Worcester, MA enjoying a break somewhere between Snowmass & Aspen The trail crew has been busy preparing for the Mountain States Cup biking races at Snowmass next week. I sampled part of the trail network today and had a blast. The eight mile ride from Snowmass Ski area to Buttermilk, then Aspen was in great shape and I saw just a handful of people on it. With plenty of last minute specials available, get the bike out, and Blast the Mass.

The Food and Wine Festival in Aspen has recently released one of its most coveted events to the public: Best New Chefs. Now attendees to the event in Aspen have the opportunity to sample signature dishes from the 10 best acclaimed chefs from around the world. This also provides an opportunity for attendees to mingle, drink wine, and meet these chefs in person.

TJ Schiller came to the Skiing Slopestyle Men's event as an alternate and left as the gold medal winner. He had a relatively basic combination of moves that were performed with steady skill and as the rest of the competitors struggled to complete the competition with changing snow conditions none could finish with a complete package good enough to unseat Schiller.

Schiller claimed the title on his first run that included a technically sound 270 on and off the rail, a switch 900, an alley-oop right 900 and a switch 1080.

"Last year I blew out my knee and it was a long road to recovery. To win the X Games is the ultimate comeback," the native of Vernon, BC, Canada said. "To come in as an alternate and to stand here as the winner is great, I am so stoked,"

Tucker Hibbert on his monster Arctic Cat sled DOMINATED all 20 laps of the snowcross....lapping several of the competitors.

Hibbert started fast and finished the same way, securing his third-consecutive gold medal in SnoCross winning by 36 seconds over Robbie Malinoski.

Tucker Hibbert XGames

"I have good people," a victorious Hibbert said. "I have a good team and when you have that you get good results."

The win was his eighth Winter X Games medal, but Hibbert says the ultimate reward is seeing hard work pay off.

A jubilant Jenny Jones could hardly believe what she had just accomplished in the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle.

The pride of Great Britain trailed Spencer O'Brien going into the final run and knew she had to do something big to steal the top spot. And Jones did just that, sticking a front-side 720 off the money booter final ramp to steal the victory and the gold medal from O'Brien 90.00 to 87.66.

Wome's X Games slopestyle Final

"On my last run I knew what I had wasn't enough, so I had to lay down the 720," Jones said.

"Jenny rode super well," O'Brien said of the gold medalist. "I think we had a really good back and forth there with our final runs. She totally deserved it."

The morning snow gave way to some light rain showers Saturday afternoon making for a slow and slushy Snowboarder X track. But the conditions didn't seem to affect Lindsey Jacobellis, who won her second-consecutive gold medal in the event.

"This one feels great," Jacobellis said of her victory.

Credit: Eric Lars Bakke/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Jacobellis surged ahead early and pulled away from the competition with a final time of 110.619. Helene Olafsen grabbed the silver with a time of 113.266 and Sandra Frei's 113.505 awarded her the bronze.

A wet-heavy snow fell throughout the day on Buttermilk Mountain, slowing down most of the SuperPipe competitors, but not Sarah Burke as she grabbed her third consecutive gold medal in the Women's Skiing SuperPipe final.

Burke trailed the competition through two runs, but nailed her final run of a 900 to a huge straight air to a 540 to a right-side 540 and closed out the run with a 720 edging out the silver medalist Jen Hudak 93.33 to 92.66.

"Going into my last run I was like, ‘come on Sarah you can do this, it is your day,'" an excited Burke said following the race. "It all came together and right before I dropped in a bunch of kids at the top said, ‘I love you Sarah.' It was so cool."

The man, the myth, the legend, Shaun White has dominated another event to secure the top spot at X Games in Snowboard Slopestyle

Shaun White is not accustomed to leading off an event, but after qualifying last -- that is exactly what he did.

The unusual event may have been just the motivation he needed as he came away with Snowboard Slopestyle Men's title and a Winter X Games record eighth career gold medal.

"It was unreal," an excited White said following the race. "I missed out on a gold medal the past two years, so to win it was awesome."

Men's Skiing Superpipe qualifiers announced:

1. Tanner Hall / 90.00 / Bib 305 / Kalispell, Mont.

2. Xavier Bertoni / 87.66/ Bib 333 / La Clusaz, France

3. Justin Dorey / 83.00 / Bib 334 / Vernon, BC, Canada

4. Kevin Rolland / 80.00 / Bib 348 / La Plagne, France

5. Duncan Adams / 76.33 / Bib 332 / Breckenridge, Colo.

6. Simon Dumont / 76.33 / Bib 303 / Bethel, Maine

7. Colby West / 75.00 / Bib 315 / Breckenridge, Colo.

8. AJ Kemppainen / 70.00 / Bib 338 / Kuusamo, Finland

9. Matt Margetts / 67.66 / Bib 339 / Vernon, BC, Canada

10. Byron Wells / 66.66 / Bib 345 / Wanaka, New Zealand

11. Taylor Seaton / 63.33 / Bib 344 / Vail, Colo.

12. Mike Riddle / 61.33 / Bib 343 / Sherwood Park, AB, Canada