The Winter X Games

With settings like Crested Butte, Aspen, and the Sierra Nevada, the Winter X Games guarantee thrill seekers quite the show year in and year out.

The event, and the X Games overall, were founded by ESPN in response to significant demand for a platform that would give these younger, non-commercially served athletes and sports a forum to showcase their skills, has garnered significant media exposure due to their big name sponsors, top-tier athletes and consistent fan attendance.

The Winter Olympics now has the X Games to thank for the likes of Shaun White and other commercially prominent snowboarders competing in their games.

And the lineup doesn’t end there. With double back-flipping snow mobiles and non-stop action, the X Games boasts a festival atmosphere. That “anything can happen” mentality has been present since the 2002 games, when the entire US Freestyle Snowboard Team arrived to compete two weeks before the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.