How Scotty James’ dream of bringing X Games to Thredbo could come true

Bright ideas like these are a necessity for those in power as attention shifts from Australia’s best-ever Winter Olympics to the next phase and how to retain the athletes who helped keep it in the public mind.

For the uninitiated, the FIS World Cup, organized by the international ski and snowboard federation, is the sport’s official competitive circuit and Olympic qualifying pathway; it also determines world rankings and is held each winter at various ‘stops’ in Europe, Asia and North America.

The X Games, on the other hand, are a privately owned, invitation-only show founded by ESPN (which it sold a few years ago but still airs) with a much greater cultural reach. The Winter X Games have been held almost exclusively in Aspen, Colorado, since 2002, with the exception of a few side events in other countries.

So what will it take to bring it to Thredbo?

For starters, just building a proper halfpipe requires at least $5 million in funding – or at least that’s what it cost a few years ago, according to Snow Australia president Daniel Bosco. It is difficult to achieve something because the ski resorts do not actually own the mountains they are on, but it is not impossible either.

“Anything is possible,” Bosco said.

“I mean, we’ve accomplished more in the last 10 years than anyone could have backed us with probably 10 years ago.

“Someone will bring us a proposal and then we’ll have to get government investment. Trying to build something in national parks is incredibly difficult. Resorts in NSW don’t actually have a development application or control over the whole area; they control a small strip under their own territory.” [ski] elevators. Other than that, when you want to develop something, you have to annex that land, incorporate it into resorts, and then put it into development applications.

“Doing this type of work is a multi-step process. [take] a few years, quite a few years.”

It is the rapidly increasing profile of our winter athletes that could help any proposals for government support to fund winter sports events in Australia.

By all measures – not just the medals won – this was the greatest Winter Olympics in Australian history. Cumulative ratings for Nine, which also owns the imprint, exceeded 14 million viewers, while the Australian Olympic Committee achieved more than 100 million social media views; That’s more than three times the figure for Beijing 2022, which takes place in a much friendlier time frame.

The challenge for those involved in Australian winter sports is to ensure that the public follows these athletes throughout the four-year Olympic cycle and does not forget about them until the next Winter Games in the French Alps in 2030.

“Our Australian winter team has momentum. Once you have momentum you don’t want to waste it,” Australian Olympic Committee president Mark Arbib said.

“Australians have embraced the Winter Games and the joy that the Olympics bring. There is an Australian winter coming and we need to work with Snow Australia to ensure there is green and gold on the snowfields. Our Olympians are the best possible role models and mentors, we need to find ways to further engage them with Inter schools and commercial partners. AOC has recently signed a partnership with the snow resorts, which has played a huge part in the success of the team and the venue to maximize opportunities.

“We now have a real opportunity to make more money for our winter programs, our athletes and our coaches. These games have shown that: [the government] What we’re discussing is that our winter athletes can inspire and unite the nation. We need to continue supporting them.”

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Bosco said another option, in addition to if not an alternative to the X Games, was to bring an FIS World Cup event to Australia and capitalize on the popularity of Chinese superstar Eileen Gu and other Asian athletes.

“We have been talking about hosting World Cup events for decades. Getting the government’s interest in hosting the World Cup is really difficult but definitely possible,” Bosco said. “Because we’re in the same time zone as China, there’s an opportunity there for us to host something with international sponsorship appeal.”

The Winter Olympic Games are broadcast on Nine Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

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