ESPN Snowmobiling

T. Mutrie

Only one thing is certain: The world of freestyle snowmobiling as we know it is about to be turned on its head. (Rider: D. Bodin.)

First off, if you're reading this and it's Tuesday morning or later, get your sled-savvy arse over to my X Games Snowmobiling Blog. I will be in Aspen all week giving you the latest and greatest from ground zero.

Now. It's too bad Winter X isn't in Vegas because if it was this is what an oddsmakers' notebook might reveal:

Dane Ferguson will not be wearing a jock strap. Well, he might be, but he won't be otherwise naked. This will be a minor disappointment for some given Ferguson's comment to ESPN Action Sports last week: "I'll ride buck f'ing naked in my jockstrap unless someone pays me to wear their sh--." Then a funny thing happened. Someone actually paid Ferguson to wear their sh--.

Double backflip? Catch a tiger by its toe—as a measure of a feat, that's how a snowmobile double backflip ranks according to one sled aficionado. And it's hard to say at this point whether the trick will come to fruition. The latest: Dane Ferguson's hopes to attempt it have been unofficially shelved (chronic sled problems), while another competitor—Levi LaVallee, just recently added to the now 4-man Next Trick Contest—is reputed to have the makings of just such a trick in his quiver. Will it happen? Yes. And we'll even go further: The guy(s) who pull(s) it off will have four letters in his first name.

Freestyle showdown. Heath Frisby was one of the few guys who wasn't rushing around learning a backflip back in the days before freestyle's debut, at WX '07—because Frisby already had it. Frisby will earn his first gold medal here at some point; few followers of the sport disagree with that. Daniel Bodin, the lone Scandinavian (Sweden) representative this year, is "due" to claim his own gold too, just like Frisby. He has all the tricks and flip variations and, again like Frisby, he's indisputably one of the sport's supreme arbiters of style. Joe Parsons' steely focus delivered two medals in his rookie WX campaign last year, and Justin Hoyer is back for a third time but, in a first for him, he is healthy this year. Former champs Levi LaVallee ('08) and Chris Burandt ('07) are also in the mix and know what it takes to win. Sam Rogers (no hand lander backflip?), Paul Thacker and Dane Ferguson (highest comfort-levels with the flip in the field) and Jeff Mullin (solid, driven but still recovering from a broken leg) round out the field. Bet on this much: Fans will be entreated to the craziest freestyle showdown this earth has ever seen. Who wins? As Bodin told ESPN Sunday, "I think Heath, Parsons or Hoyer. Or me; hopefully me." We concur, mostly, and it's Red Bull's all around: 1st Bodin. 2nd Frisby. 3rd LaVallee.

Speed & Style is LaVallee's for the taking, just like last year. He has all the tricks, he's the fastest rider and he has a knack for rising to the occasion at WX. This is a great event for freestyle riders to prepare for their big event at the close of the weekend, but former/current racers have the clear advantage here. Still, with the head to head format, you can advance and win simply by not losing. Bobble or wreck and you will lose. Got it? Right. Snocrossers sweep: 1st LaVallee. 2nd Parsons. 3rd Thacker.

There is no such thing as a foregone conclusion in racing. Or is there? Tucker Hibbert's current reign of dominance has been likened to "RC"—Ricky Carmichael—"when he swept the outdoors" by one insider. Hibbert is 6-for-6 on the National tour this season and there appears to be no stopping him. LaVallee wins the race for 2nd with Ross Martin in 3rd.

Next Trick is the big question. LaVallee, Parsons, Ferguson and Jimmy "Blaze" Fejes make up the contestants—with fans text voting the winner (no second or third place to be awarded). Tricks aside, what if fans end up voting for one of those French delicacies known as carnage? We could definitely see that happening considering the gravitas and mystic of the double backflip. At the same time, the fabled trickster Jimmy Blaze has been keeping a low profile (unusual), training hard (also unusual), we hear, and hasn't disclosed what trick he is working on. Ferguson's "back up" is even hard to put into words—a quarterpipe-ish corner hit with flip and spin—so we'll use some of Ferguson's own words to help describe it: "Odds of wadding are pretty good. ... I've broken my leg landing it before." Winner? Ferguson. Hedged bet: LaVallee, if he has the double backflip. Ferguson's appraisal: "Levi's so f-ing talented and he's got such a great team, so I say good f-ing luck, wear lots of pads and go for it. He's a dialed rider and he wouldn't f-ing try it unless he had it. Also, I wonder if he'd share some mechanical information and maybe let me borrow his sled after X Games?"

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