Tom Wallish Injured and will not compete in WX15

Tom Wallisch will not compete in this week's Winter X Games 15 due to a fracture of his left shoulder blade. Wallisch was a favorite for Winter X slopestyle. He plans to be recovered in time for the next Dew Tour stop.The Salt Lake City resident was a gold-medal favorite in slopestyle and big air. But after conferring with two different orthopedic physicians in Park City, Utah, including the U.S. Ski Team's center of excellence, Wallisch elected to pull out of what would have been his second Winter X Games appearance to avoid further injury.

The 23-year-old suffered the injury while sliding a box at Park City Mountain Resort on Jan. 3. He caught an edge on the box and fell hard to the snow on his left shoulder. "I didn't think much of it because I've broken my collarbone twice [the same left shoulder], and I knew I didn't break that again," said Wallisch by phone. "I just thought it was a bruised shoulder or charley horse or something." In turn, he skied the next day, performing a slew of tricks -- "Only 5s and 7s, no double corks or anything like that," Wallisch assured -- while filming for 4bi9 Media. A week and a half later, with the pain persisting, Wallisch went to the doctor and an X-ray confirmed that he cracked his shoulder blade in half.

"I'm definitely bummed I'm going to miss X Games, but I'm stoked it's not something worse," said Wallisch. Wallisch said he plans to return for the Snowbasin stop of the Winter Dew Tour in mid-February in addition to filming later this winter.