CHALLENGE ASPEN ATHLETES AND OTHER TOP ADAPTIVE SKIERS GO HEAD TO HEAD IN WINTER X GAMES 14

Mono Skier X to Air Live on ESPN Sunday, January 31, 2010

Snowmass Village, Colo. (January 22, 2010) – Two athletes who train and race with Challenge Aspen’s competition team, Kevin Bramble and Scott Meyer, will compete with nine other skiers in the Mono Skier X event at the Winter X Games 14. Bramble is a two-time Paralympic downhill gold medalist, as well as the downhill winner at the 2004 Disabled Alpine Skiing World Championships. Meyer is currently also a member of the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team. Challenge Aspen team member Sam Ferguson, who won silver in Mono Skier X at Winter X Games 13, will unfortunately miss this year’s event after breaking his femur in December.

Challenge Aspen’s director of competition, Kevin Jardine, is the main man behind Mono Skier X. He has volunteered his time to recruit the athletes, develop the rules, assist with course design and manage the event since its inclusion in the Winter X Games in 2005. Mono Skier X became a full medal event in 2007, and it is the only locally organized X Games competition.

The format is similar to Skier X, but with four athletes racing at a time instead of six. The mono-ski athletes use practically the same course, a fast and furious combination of huge jumps, banked turns, rollers and gaps.

Mono Skier X offers the largest purse in adaptive skiing. Event qualifying will be on Saturday, January 30, with the event final Sunday, from 1:30-2:45 p.m. The finals will be aired live on ESPN. Last year's broadcast, which shared air time with the skiing slopestyle, drew some 1.3 million viewers.