What was your expression when you first heard that the Moto X Big Air competition was going to make a run in the Winter X Games? It really shouldn't have been too much of a shock. Motorcycles in general have made the transitions and adaptations to every genre of two and four wheeled sports: motorcycles are in the country's largest stadiums, on the ovals, in the arenas on the road courses, in the speedways, on the lakes and now in the mountains. It all makes perfect sense.

The Moto X Big Air competition will invade ESPN's Winter X Games for the third year at the end of the month. And like the Freestyle and Big Air of Summer X, it's taking over the mountain, but why? Maybe it is the fans' fascination with something that they can't just go out and do at their leisure. Sure anyone with a few extra dollars and a friend with a ramp can buy a bike and break their neck. But Freestyle is a specialized and sensationalized sport. It's not motocross where the whole family can go to Wednesday night practice and ride. "Joe Somebody" doesn't just jump on the freestyle course and do it.

Mike Jones high on snow at last years X Games.

The best part of FMX is that, like racing and other competitions, someone is going to win, but unlike racing and other competitions, there's always a good chance that the winner is going to use something nobody has ever seen before to get the victory. And whether it's snow, dirt or even metal ramps and wooden landings, it doesn't really matter. The excitement of FMX is so readily accessible to the fans that nobody really questions the sport's validity or where they jump. The concept is easy to grasp, the intensity doesn't stop and the sport has yet to stop progressing, even in the snow. Just don't slip on the ice…

Summer and Winter X Moto X play by play announcer, Cameron Steele, concurs. "The bottom line is, wherever you can ride a dirt bike you should have a go on it. I think all the events in Winter X are killer sports, but the disadvantage that the snowboarders have is once those Moto X guys start those motors up, you know the energy is going to be ramped all the way around just because of the sound of the dirt bike."

"I thought it was cool," said Jerry Bernardo, Steele's partner in the booth. "I didn't see right through it or anything, but the fans in general thought Moto X was so cool already and that it made it much easier to transfer to snow. I think we (X Games personnel/staff) are all in agreement that Moto X boosts the overall ratings of the show."

In the first two years, the event has favored the veteran riders and new tricks, the latter being the most ironic. To win major freestyle events these days, it takes innovation, but think about how difficult it is to break that out in the snow. Mike Jones and his brand new "Kiss of Death" won the first Gold in 2001 and Metal Mulisha front man, Brian Deegan used the fresh "Mandatory Suicide" to go Gold last year.

Gold medalist at Winter X Games VI - Mr. Brian Deegan.

The backlflip was all the rage last summer and it's no secret that 2002 Summer X double Gold Medallist Mike Metzger is practicing a "frozen" backflip for Winter X in Aspen, CO, the annual site of the Games.

"I really don't know what to expect," he said. "I'm learning to do backflips on the ice jump. Actually it's snow, then they water and freeze it. By the time X Games get here, I'll know how to do a back flip, ice to ice. Doing backflips are not easy. Travis (Pastrana) has said how easy they are. They're not. He takes stuff like that for granted. He's been riding motorcycles his entire life. Not everyone can go out there and flip a bike upside down and bring it back and I don't want people thinking that."

The "King of the Two Wheel Deal" will make his first appearance at the Winter X Games. Even a the new addition to his family, Myrie Fritz Metzger, who burst out of the gate on December 21, 2002 will not keep him out of this year's event.

"Usually about this time my body hurts and I don't like the cold," he said laughing. "This year I'm just going to deal with it. Just throw it at me and I'll deal. I'm going because I owe it to the fans, my sponsors, and myself. This is freestyle motocross, this is what it's all about, you know what I'm saying?"

We know what you're saying. But a backflip in the snow? What about the rest of the routine. Riders wearing long johns, jackets and thick gloves. With below freezing temps is Moto X in the winter more difficult?

"I think it's more difficult for sure," Steele said. "It's so gnarly. And for me the anticipation is intense. Whenever I'm standing there, I get nervous and there are so many butterflies. That's how I know that our sport is so cool. I see it everyday and I still am so pumped. I don't stand there and think, 'Oh man, I'm over this.' The anticipation is there for the backflip and maybe five different guys backflipping: Deegan, Adams, Wyatt, who knows, maybe someone will come in with a totally new trick and beat them all."

Progression is inevitable. As rider after rider continues to unveil new arsenal in the Winter X Big Air competition, the event itself will most likely take on new challenges and parts.

"I believe that we will see bigger courses at Winter," Steele said, agreeing. "I would like to see the dirt bikes race back up the snowboard course. Some people might think it's kind of corny but it's something different. It would be technical and kind of crazy especially if you had some jumps in there. I think soon we'll see, maybe not this year, but in the future, multiple hit courses and maybe ramps depending on the use of the screws."

What the heck? Maybe we could get more use out of the Sno-cross course by letting the FMX guys tear up the track. Now what would we call that? Snoto-cross? Why not? They've already taken over a good portion of the mountain…

Who's it going to be? The following riders have qualified for the Winter X Big Air competition in Aspen:

- Brian Deegan
- Mike Metzger
- Kenny Bartram
- Dayne Kinnaird
- Ronnie Renner
- Doug Parsons
- Caleb Wyatt
- Nate Adams
- Drake McElroy
- Tommy Clowers
- Beau Bamberg
- Mike Jones