X Games Aspen 2025 - Day 1 Highlights

Bringing the heat to Aspen! Despite freezing temperatures on Buttermilk Mountain, Monster Energy riders cranked up the temperature and stoked the sold-out crowd on day one of X Games Aspen 2025.

When all was said and done, the team claimed a total of three medals (1 gold and 2 bronze) across three contest events in the 24^th edition of Winter X Games at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado.

The medal run started with 26-year-old Alex Hall from Park City, Utah, claiming his second career gold in Men’s Ski Knuckle Huck. The ultra-competitive Women’s Snowboard Big Air saw 23-year-old Zoi Sadowski-Synnott from Wānaka, New Zealand, take the bronze medal. Rounding out day one, 26-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Murakami, Japan, claimed the bronze medal in the Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe competition.

Here’s how it all went down for the team at X Games Aspen 2025 on Thursday:

MEN’S SKI KNUCKLE HUCK: ALEX HALL SHUTS DOWN COMPETITION WITH NEVER-BEEN-DONE TRICKS

WHAT WAS THAT TRICK? Prepare for the unexpected when the world’s top skiers get to ‘hucking’ their most creative tricks over the Big Air ramp’s roll-over, also called the ‘knuckle’. Then again, nobody watching Men’s Ski Knuckle Huck expected Alex Hall to unleash a swift body slide on attempt one! Some called it a “turtle slide”, analyst Tom Wallisch named it a Polish donut… Whatever it was, the move catapulted Hall to the top of the leaderboard.

Riding with no ski poles in true street style, Hall cemented his victory by unveiling a never-been-landed in competition switch tail-butter cork 540 pullback 360 for his second Knuckle Huck gold.

“I didn’t really know what I was going to do! I was just going to figure it out along the way and have fun out there! Doing it more for yourself and less for other people has been my strategy these past couple years,” said Monster Energy’s Hall upon claiming the Knuckle Huck win in Aspen 2025.

SECOND TIME’S THE CHARM: Hall is only the second skier in event history to win Knuckle Huck for a second time at X Games. In this rare club, he joins his teammate, 26-year-old Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, who has also earned two Knuckle Huck gold medals.

Hall now owns 12 X Games medals (6 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze). He also has more shots at gold medals in Men’s Ski Big Air, Slopestyle, and Street Style. Big weekend for A-Hall!

PACIFICO WOMEN’S SNOWBOARD BIG AIR: ZOI SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT RETURNS TO THE PODIUM

THE COMEBACK IS REAL! After missing X Games Aspen 2024 with a broken ankle, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott stormed back to claim bronze in an absolutely insane Women’s Big Air final! The level of riding? Fierce! The progression was off the charts with every rider throwing down 1440s and never-been-done tricks that had the crowd going absolutely wild.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: Sadowski-Synnott strategically finessed her way into the top four riders in the new playoff format. When it came time to throw down in the final, the Kiwi ripper posted her highest-scoring trick of the night: A backside triple cork 1440 truckdriver grab earned Sadowski-Synnott 92.66 points and the bronze medal in an epic showdown. Great to see her back on the podium!

Sadowski-Synnott now owns 10 X Games medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) and isn’t done yet: catch her throwing down in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle on Friday!

MONSTER ENERGY MEN’S SNOWBOARD SUPERPIPE: AYUMU HIRANO STORMS INTO THIRD PLACE

ENDING THE NIGHT ON A HIGH NOTE: A big first day in Aspen ended with a showdown of halfpipe legends in Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe. The level of riding escalated quickly in an elite field featuring multiple X Games gold medalists, Crystal Globe winners, and Olympic champions, Ayumu Hirano.

BATTLING ADVERSITY: Most riders would hang up their boots for the night after suffering one of the heaviest slams of the contest. But not Hirano! After crashing hard on his first attempt in the final, the multiple gold medalist bounced back with a flawless run to claim a podium spot: Cab double cork 1440 Weddle, frontside 1260 tuck-knee frontside grab, backside 900 Weddle, frontside double cork 1440 tailgrab and a spectacular switch backside alley-oop double rodeo on the final wall earned Hirano 92.33 points and the bronze medal. 

Hirano now owns 5 X Games medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze). He has also earned one Olympic gold medal (Beijing 2022) and two silver medals (Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018) in the discipline.

Stay tuned for more X Games Aspen 2025! X Games is live for two more full days of competitions, available to watch your way globally across XGames.com, YouTube, Twitch, and in the US on ESPN, ABC, and exclusive digital live stream on The Roku Channel.