Bridging the Gap

I spent my Sunday night in front of the boob tube, watching the final day of action at the Winter X Games. Although the biggest story of the day was the final score nail-biter that found Shaun White being dethroned in the Superpipe by Steve Fisher, I noticed something even bigger--the crowd. The eleventh running of the games brought over 76,000 spectators to Aspen to freeze their buns off as they watched the action slopeside. It was the event's best attendance to date. White's recent Olympic Gold Medal and escalating celebrity are obvious catalysts for the growth, but whatever the cause, this is a sign of good things to come. Adventure sports are finally starting to get some of the mainstream respect they deserve. In a time when arenas are struggling to fill seats, I see a bridging of the gap between famous and fringe. Maybe sports fans are looking for a new alternative--tired of greedy, overpaid basketball players or a National Hockey League that loves the game so much that it cancels an entire season because the dollars aren't right. Maybe it's because the snowsports industry has embraced a sense of urbanization and finally started to remove its stuffy, cost-prohibitive stigma. Either way it's great to see these adventure athletes getting the cred they deserve.

-Jedd Ferris

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