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Frisby lands first snowmobile frontflip

Heath Frisby stuck the first snowmobile frontflip for Winter X Best Trick gold

Originally Published: January 29, 2012
By Colin Bane | XGames.com

ASPEN, Colo. -- Heath Frisby was unfazed after seeing his friend and competitor Justin Hoyer crash spectacularly on a double backflip attempt in the Snowmobile Best Trick competition on Sunday night. Just moments after Hoyer was carried out on a stretcher with right arm and right leg injuries, Frisby made history with the first-ever frontflip on a snowmobile.

"Guys, it's all right, I've been waiting a year to do this," Frisby said after watching a replay of Hoyer's crash and before taking his own run. "I am my own deal. This is a totally different trick and I'm ready."

Frisby managed to keep his plans for Best Trick quiet until arriving in Aspen on Wednesday, but after word of the frontflip got out, he posted YouTube footage of himself completing the rotation into a foam pit during training. He took it easy during the Snowmobile Freestyle competition on Thursday, settling for a fourth-place finish while focusing on the frontflip.

"I set a goal for myself and I've always told myself, 'I can't do two things at once, but if I focus on one thing I can do it,'" Frisby told ESPN.

Mark Kohlman/ESPN"I knew that I trained for this and I knew what to do," Frisby said after landing the frontflip.

He nailed the trick in his first of two runs in the Best Trick final on Sunday, for a nearly perfect score of 96.66, beating out Colten Moore's tsunami Indian flip (89.66) and Joe Parsons' no-footed can-can backflip (88.00).

"This has been everything to me, really," Frisby said, moments after landing the frontflip. "My whole family, everybody, all my friends have been behind me through all this. I know my grandma is watching -- she must have gotten a little chill there. Grandpa, I love you, man. We got it. We got it."

After his double backflip accident, Hoyer left the venue on a stretcher as a precaution and was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital for treatment, according to X Games medical staff. He reportedly called his mom before leaving the venue to tell her he is OK. Hoyer is currently getting X-rays of his right arm and lower left leg.

Asked how he was able to refocus after seeing the horrific crash right before his run, Frisby said, "No one can explain the feeling athletes get. When we go out there it is the worst feeling in your stomach, in your head, everything, and I just knew that I had to stay focused. I knew that I trained for this and I knew what to do."

This is Frisby's second gold medal in SMB Best Trick, following his win in 2010. He now has a total of seven Winter X Games medals.

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