Winter X Games Confirms Atheletes

The Winter X Games Europe will welcome 150 athletes competing in eight events -- Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard SuperPipe and Slopestyle -- over three days. The confirmed athlete list is constantly being updated and is subject to change. Gold medal winners from 2010 Winter X Games Europe receive automatic invites to compete, this should be a very competitive field.

Slopestyle - Men
Athlete Name	Country
Ulrik Badertscher	NOR
Mikkel Bang	NOR
Gjermund Braten	NOR
Marko Grilc	SLO
Chas Guldemond	USA
Christian Haller	SUI
Halldor Helgason	ISL
Torstein Horgmo	NOR
Sage Kostenburg	USA
Mark McMorris	CAN
Aleksander Ostren	TBD
Peetu Piiroinen	FIN
Stale Sandbech	NOR
Seppe Smits	TBD
Sebastien Toutant	CAN
Eric Willett	USA

Slopestyle - Women
Athlete Name	Country
Jamie Anderson	USA
Sina Candrian	SUI
Jenny Jones	GBR
Cheryl Maas	NED
Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas	NOR
Enni Rukajarvi	FIN
Charlotte van Gils	NED

SuperPipe - Men
Athlete Name	Country
Greg Bretz	USA
Mathieu Crepel	FRA
Christian Haller	SUI
Ilkka-Eemeli Laari	FIN
Matt Ladley	USA
Markus Malin	FIN
Luke Mitrani	USA
Peetu Piiroinen	FIN
Iouri Podladtchikov	SUI
Stale Sandbech	NOR
Louie Vito	USA

SuperPipe - Women
Athlete Name	Country
Gretchen Bleiler	USA
Torah Bright	AUS
Queralt Castellet	ESP
Kelly Clark	USA
Kaitlyn Farrington	USA
Elena Hight	USA
Kjersti Oestgaard Buass	NOR
Sophie Rodriguez	FRA
Hannah Teter	USA

Seaun White does it "AGAIN' for the fourth time!

After his first run in Sunday night's Snowboard SuperPipe final, Shaun White found himself in an unusual position: second place. His Olympic podium mate, Scotty Lago, had just thrown a massive run that began with a cab double cork 1080 and set the height bar higher than anyone else in the field. White, the last rider to go due to his first-place qualifying position, landed near the flat bottom following his third-to-last hit and struggled through the final two hits of his run with diminished speed.

After failing to qualify for the Slopestyle final on Saturday in his return to that event after a year hiatus, it was starting to not look good for White

On his second run, Lago crashed, leaving a chance for White "I saw Lago destroying it and figured it was all or nothing at that point," White said. I knew I needed to stick the best run I had, and I went for it."

His second run began with a backside air nearly 20 feet out of the pipe and he built on it from there: double cork stalefish 1080 to cab double cork 1080 to front stalefish 5 to double McTwist 1260 to backside alley oop rodeo. (Wow that's a mouth full!)

This is the first time White has thrown the double McTwist (I have a sudden urge for a Big Mac, and a McFlurry) 1260 since his victory lap in the Olympics. The Olympics was the first place he'd thrown the double McTwist around from a 1080 to a 1260. The run earned him a 97.33 -- an identical score to his winning run last year and tied for the highest score in Winter X Games history.

Asked how it felt to be back on top after his Slopestyle style set back, White said, "I knew I wasn't holding the biggest cards, but after living and learning, I was so fired up coming into pipe. I did my thing, and it built me up again."

Life Cycles wins Best Film at X Dance

Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

(Courtesy of By Megan Michelson ESPN)

The X Dance Film Festival wrapped up Tuesday night in Park City, Utah. Life Cycles, a film about mountain bike culture, cleaned up at the awards ceremony, earning a standing ovation and winning Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Director to Ryan Gibb.

This is the first time a mountain bike film has won Best Film at X Dance. "Life Cycles had beautiful cinematography, with slow motion shots of guys riding in wilderness where you could see the seasons changing behind," says Ann Wycoff, co-founder of X Dance. "It really became a piece of art and then you had this incredible narrative about life and cycling and the cycles of life. It had real depth to it."
Launched in 2001, X Dance, an action sports film festival, happens at the same time each year as Utah's Sundance Film Festival. The film screenings took place at The Depot in Salt Lake City this year, the first time shows haven't been in Park City. But Tuesday night's awards ceremony, complete with a concert by Ozomatli, was at Park City's Harry O's.

Presenters at the awards ceremony included Wiley Miller, Jeremy Nobis, Erin Comstock and Fuzzy Hall. The award for Emerging Filmmaker went to Claire Gorman who made First Love, which also won Best Documentary. Among the other awards handed out Tuesday night: Best Editing went to Windsurfing Movie II, Original Score went to Dream Result, Best Soundtrack went to Look on the Bright Side, Best Short to Solo, Best Biography to Like a Lion.

Voleurz's Look on the Bright Side won Core film, Halo Effect won Best Adventure film, and Best Story went to Stoked and Broke.

Big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones won Athlete of the Year, and over 400 people showed up for the screening of his film Deeper. During the awards there were clips shown of skier CR Johnson and surfer Andy Irons, who both passed away in 2010, followed by a moment of silence in remembrance. "Every year we have these moments and it kind of breaks my heart," Wycoff said. "I always look around and think, 'Be careful out there.'"

Freeskier Roz Groenewoud signed with Scott Skis

On Jan. 1, freeskier Roz Groenewoud signed with new sponsor Scott Skis,  for the Winter X Games athlete. She'll be riding with Scott skis, poles, goggles and protection and she joins skier Tom Wallisch on Scott's International pro team as the elite team's first female athlete.

Groenewoud was on Rossignol skis prior to this new deal. The Scott International team currently consists of just two skiers: Groenewoud and Wallisch. But Scott's wintersport team manager Kevin Kruse says they are looking to add more skiers in the future. "We are just taking our time as not to flood the team with a load of skiers," Kruse said. "Having a small team allows us to advertise and grow with them."Groenewoud was an easy choice for the company, Kruse added. "When the time came to add a female skier to our team, Roz was the name that kept coming to mind," Kruse said. "Her huge airs in the pipe and smooth style speak for themselves. She is a great fit for Scott and we are extremely excited to have her as a part of the team." In December, Groenewoud won the first-ever ski halfpipe event at the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo. Last year, she placed second at the European X Games in superpipe and third in pipe at the Winter X Games and she's currently ranked second in the Association of Freeskiing Professionals halfpipe rankings.