Sixth Annual Event To Take Place Martin Luther King Day Weekend
Jan. 17-20, 2002

ESPN’s Winter X Games, the signature winter action sports event, will be held in Aspen, Colorado, January 17-20, 2002, it was announced today by George Bodenheimer, ESPN President, and Patrick O’Donnell, President and CEO of Aspen Skiing Company. Under the terms of a two-year agreement, the Winter X Games will be held in Aspen, Colorado in 2002 and 2003. The Winter X Games feature the talents of more than 350 of the world’s best athletes competing in snowboarding, snowmobile snocross, moto x and skiing. The event will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports January 31-February 2, 2002.

Mad Mike Jones kisses death at 2001 Winter X in Mount Snow.

The January dates mark a return to Martin Luther King Day Weekend for the Winter X Games, which for the last two years were held at Mount Snow, Vt. the first weekend in February. “Aspen is one of the world’s most well-known resort destinations,” said Bodenheimer. “It is a wonderfully unique opportunity to bring our cutting-edge Winter X Games to Aspen’s world-class venues. We look forward to working with the Aspen Skiing Company to bring global attention to this great resort during our event.” O’Donnell commented: “The entire community is tremendously excited about the ESPN Winter X Games coming to Aspen. There is no ski town in North America better suited to hosting these games. We are looking forward to the energy and enthusiasm that ESPN and these incredible athletes will bring to our town. We think it’s going to be a great party.”

Aspen Skiing Company operates the four mountains in the Aspen/Snowmass area - Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk - as well as the award-winning Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen. This season Aspen will also host five World Cup ski races, the Audi 24 Hours of Aspen endurance ski race and Spring Jam.

Tara Dakides, Barrett Christy and Jenna Murano took the stage after winning medals in the Women's Snowboarding Big Air.

In addition to domestic coverage, the Winter X Games will be distributed worldwide through ESPN International to more than 20 million viewers in more than 140 countries and territories. ESPN, the worldwide leader in action sports, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995. The Winter X Games, EXPN 2Day, Tony Hawk’s Gigantic Skatepark Tour, the Action Sports & Music Awards and the X Trials events are just some of the original action sports programming currently shown on ESPN and ESPN2. The seventh-annual X Games will take place in Philadelphia, August 17-22, 2001.

Further information including specific events, schedules and competitors will be forthcoming and available at EXPN.com.

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