Professional snowsport athletes excited for new competition formats proposed by X Games and Shaun White

It has long been known that snowboard and freeski athletes competing on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) competition circuit have not always enjoyed the atmosphere of the contests.

Whether it be the judging or the rigid nature of the competitions, many professional-level riders and skiers spend the whole season looking forward to non-FIS competitions, like the Winter X Games in Aspen or the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain Resort, because of the laid-back, fun fluidity these competitions provide.

Athletes have often begrudgingly suited up for FIS competitions, but that may change in the future with the emergence of two, new action sports leagues over the last week.

On June 13, X Games announced a new format for action sports featuring year-round competitions and cross-discipline teams. A few days later on June 17, three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White unveiled his own plans for an action sports league, starting The Snow League, which will focus on snowboard and freeski halfpipe competitions.

Each league has vowed to bring new innovative formats that not only excite the athletes competing, but those invested in the sport as well. Following the announcement of the two leagues, professional snowsport athletes were quick to post their own reactions to the news, including professional freeskier Nick Goepper of Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

“Any innovation or new events in the competitive arena for skiing and snowboarding is really, really great,” Goepper said to the Summit Daily News in an interview. “It adds a lot of vitality, diversity and economic opportunities for the sponsors and the athletes.”

Similar to Goepper, 2024 X Games gold medalist and Silverthorne local Red Gerard can’t wait to see what the new leagues bring to the table.

“I think it is completely awesome,” Gerard said. “I think the more eyes you can get on a competitive scene like snowboarding the more fun it is to watch.” 

In many ways, Goepper, Gerard and other pro skiers and riders are unsatisfied with the current structure and rigidity FIS competitions provide. Goepper and Gerard both argue that unlike Olympic and World Cup competitions, the new leagues are being proposed by individuals with the athlete’s opinions and well-being in mind. 

“It feels like it is coming from within our own community, if that makes sense,” Goepper said. “With the Olympic movement and the Olympic events like the World Cup and all of that stuff, it sort of felt like we were being added on to a number of different sports that already had deep rooted legacy and Olympic tradition.”

“Honestly, in my opinion, not having FIS run any of it is good,” Gerard said. “I think especially a league that is run by snowboarders as well and not just ski racers — FIS is all ski racing — I think it could be a really good thing. I am a massive fan of it.”

With the promise of fresh competition formats like head-to head showdowns or teams to root for throughout the season, Goepper is hopeful that the proposed leagues will allow snowboarding and skiing to get back to its true roots.

“Skiing, surfing, skating — these action sports were created and really pioneered in the 80’s and 90’s because of the rigidity of these other mainstream traditional sports that these young kids didn’t want to be a part of anymore,” Goepper said. 

Gerard has been pushing for new, exciting competition formats for the last couple of years, ultimately helping develop the Dew Tour’s annual super streetstyle competition at the base of Copper that pins individual skiers and riders against one another on a series of rail and jump features.

“You don’t need this massive course to make people excited about watching snowboarding,” Gerard said. “Golfers will go play any course and you are excited to watch them swing a golf club and I think it is the same with snowboarding. It doesn’t have to be this massive course that takes a lot of work to build. … People are going to be excited to watch it no matter what.”

Another huge aspect that professional athletes hope the leagues bring to the forefront is fairly compensating competitors for putting their bodies on the line by hucking feet out of an icy halfpipe or off a massive jump.

For Goepper it is not necessarily about the prize money the leagues provide, but more about having a major platform to display his freeskiing skills to heavily invested fans

“The prize money is honestly kind of secondary,” Goepper said. “If you have a platform to show off your skills, you can do whatever you want with that. You can gain followers on social media and get sponsorship deals. Earn way more money than any prize money can ever pay out.”

Ultimately, Goepper knows that skiing and snowboarding will probably never pay the amount of money that mainstream sports like golf and football do, but if more people can become interested in the sport via the X Games League or The Snow League then there will be more monetary opportunities for the athletes. 

“If somebody is providing a platform for us to showcase our hard work and the stuff that we love to do, I think that is the most important part,” Goepper said. “The Snow League and the X Games League are really going to help in doing that.”

“I think the more contests the better,” Gerard said. “Shaun White, whether you are a supporter or not, he made our sport big. I think him starting a league and X Games starting a league only brings more people and more attention to it which is awesome in snowboarding.”

With still a lot unknown about the X Games League and The Snow League, Goepper and Gerard think the two entities will find the most success by investing in the featured athletes and continuing to restructure the current status-quo for competitions.

“I think it is a delicate balance between innovation and tradition,” Goepper said. “It is a combination of figuring out how to do new things and how to create new formats and courses, but also not discouraging the athletes too much from what they are trained to do. I have nothing, but faith and excitement for the future of these leagues in the next few years.”

“I think they are already doing a good job of it by making it year round,” Gerard said. “The way I am looking at it right now, is that it is the new PGA and LIV Golf where they are the new LIV Golf and there is just a year-round contest. Right now we are so steady with (FIS) contests only being in January and December. I like how they are spreading it out.”

The Snow League is slated to launch in early 2025 with the X Games League debuting in 2026.

This story is from Summit Daily.