One of California’s best-known contributions to ski culture, Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley, will head up the new X Games team based in the state as general manager.
X Games previously announced that as one of its four inaugural X Games League teams, XC Golden State would represent the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe, eventually building a roster to compete this upcoming winter.
The X Games League, a bold reimagination of the X Games’ historical format, borrows from mainstream sports, adding teams and drafts to action sports in a bid to draw more mainstream attention. When it was unveiled, its backers compared it to the format of Formula 1.
Moseley said in a release that growing up in Northern California, he saw firsthand how the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe helped shape skiing and snowboarding.
“It’s where I learned to ski, where I competed, and where my passion for the sport began,” he said. “To come back and lead XC Golden State is incredibly meaningful.”
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Moseley, known for not only his mogul skiing but an against-the-grain attitude that helped usher in a new era for snowsports, took freestyle gold at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics with an innovative mute grab 360. His fourth-place finish at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games may be even more memorable, though. At that event, he threw down the now-famed “dinner roll,” an off-axis 720 that was ahead of its time (the resulting video is one of skiing’s best moments—seriously, give it a watch). An early X Games competitor, he also nabbed a silver medal at the big air event in 1999.
In short, Moseley’s an obvious general manager for an X Games team, particularly one representing California, making for a nice full circle moment.
Alongside Moseley, X Games announced the general managers for the other three confirmed teams.
Park City will be headed up by Sharalee “Haze” Hazen, an “athlete marketing leader” who co-created The Uninvited Invitational, a snowboarding event that girls, women, and non-binary riders. New York will be led by Dave Sypniewski, who’s dedicated his career to growing the business of snowboarding, according to the release. He’s worked with Burton, Thrasher, and Boost Mobile.
X Games also revealed the final, previously unannounced XGL team: XC Whistler managed by Ryan Stutt. Founder of Forecast Ski and King Snow, Stutt “has helped document and shape the culture of Canadian winter sports,” the release said.
The teams will determine their 10-athlete rosters at an upcoming draft in Los Angeles on September 16.
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