Mark the X spot -- live

ESPN, ABC

January 22, 2004|Globe Correspondent

Live from Aspen, it's the X Games. ESPN and ABC will host 15 hours of the Winter X Games VIII -- the first time the competition is beamed live -- Saturday through Tuesday.

The Games are chock full of world-class skiers, riders, motorcyclists, and snowmobilers, including a heavy dose of New Englanders.

Among the snowboarding women are top-notch riders from the region such as Olympic gold-medal winner Kelly Clark (Mount Snow, Vt.), US Grand Prix leader Hannah Teter (Belmont, Vt.), World Cup gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton, Vt.), X Games vet Jaime MacLeod (Bradford, N.H.), and Olympian Tricia Byrnes (New Canaan, Conn.). On the men's side, qualified riders include Olympic gold winner Ross Powers (Stratton, Vt.), Aidan Payson (Bethel, Maine), Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, Maine), Ben Jacobellis (Bondville, Vt.), Thomas Parsons (Bethel, Maine), and Elijah Teter (Belmont, Vt.).

Simon Dumont of Bethel, Maine, will compete in two skiing events: slopestyle and superpipe. T.J. Guila of Colchester, Vt., and Hatfield's Dave Wickles will give it full throttle in the snowmobile races.

Sixteen-year-old Shaun White of Carlsbad, Calif., returns to defend his superpipe and slopestyle snowboarding titles. Tara Dakides of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., who sat out last year's Games because of an injury, is back.

A blast from the past: Shaun Palmer, who has the most golds of any Winter X athlete with 6, gives it another go in Skier X and Snowboarder X. He retired from the Games two years ago, but is back for more.

Dream Weaver

Olympian Patrick Weaver skied to victory Monday in the 15-kilometer Geschmossel Classical Ski Race at Bretton Woods. He finished in 46 minutes 16 seconds, winning by more than four minutes. Among the women, Kathy Maddock of Wilton, N.H., placed first with a time of 57:01 . . . Hundreds of skiers are expected Sunday for the 28th annual Jackson Jaunt, a 10K race at the Jackson (N.H.) Ski Touring Foundation . . . Vermont's Jan. 31 Banknorth Craftsbury Marathon already has reached its limit of 1,000 skiers . . . The first 400 skiers and riders at Attitash Bear Peak tomorrow pay $7.50 for a lift ticket on Founder's Day, celebrating the 39 years of the Bartlett, N.H., ski area. Lift tickets were that much when the mountain opened in 1965 . . . It's all about freeing those heels this weekend at Sunday River during the Maine Telemark Festival. There's even a clinic to win over snowboarders. The All Mountain Telemark Championships takes place Saturday on the bumps of Tempest.

It's a festival