Notably, this stop of the U.S. Grand Prix, which apparently replaces the event usually held at Mammoth Mountain, is being held the week after the X Games—most likely on exactly the same venues.

This invites the question: Will this event basically be a duplicate of the X Games, but in FIS format? If that’s the case, that’s cause for celebration:

• The X Games only includes curated lists of invited athletes. The World Cup format includes a qualifying round, allowing many more competitors to participate.
• The constantly shifting X Games judging criteria is, at best, controversial. The standardized FIS judging system will, hopefully, provide more consistent results.
• Competitors usually ride better the longer that they get to ride a course. If X Games competitors get the chance for a do-over on the same venues, the chances are high that they’ll put down better runs. We’ve seen this in the pipe contests in Calgary, so the same thing could happen this winter in Aspen.

US. Grand Prix Aspen livestream

We’ll keep you updated here about livestream options for the World Cup events in Aspen as soon as we know more.