Longville, MN (January 27, 2015) – Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado has been the host of the Winter X Games since 2002. For 2015, four different snowmobile events were on the roster. 10x Winter X medallist, Levi LaVallee was to compete in all four, the only athlete in the Winter X Games to be in 4 different disciplines.
Speed and Style kicked things off Thursday night in Aspen. LaVallee, who was the reigning gold medallist in Speed and Style was digging for another gold. With huge air and perfect extensions LaVallee earned his way up to the semi-final round, when a tough crash caused LaVallee to finish Day One of X Games with a notable 4th place.
On Friday, LaVallee was looking for redemption in the Long Jump competition. The reigning gold medallist in Long Jump was looking to keep his title and with excellent practice, LaVallee’s gold looked promising. Just before the event was to go live, LaVallee was lining up to hit the ramp one last time and as he approached the ramp his sled bogged down and his motor gave out just as he approached the ramp. LaVallee rode the snowmobile off the ramp and flat landed onto the hard packed, icy front side of the landing. LaVallee did seek medical attention and was diagnosed with two bruised heels. LaVallee withdrew from the rest of the competitions and announced in the booth the rest of the weekend. With LaVallee out, Pallin was in! Kyle Pallin made is Long Jump debut by taking over teammate, LaVallee’s place. Pallin served Levi and Team LaVallee proud, by making his way to the semi final round and finishing with an impressive 4th place finish!
The much anticipated, Hillcross, was back at Winter X, an event that LaVallee had won gold at back in 2004. With LaVallee out, Jake Scott was on-deck as an alternate to replace LaVallee. Although Scott was excited and anxious to try his luck in Hillcross, all riders were present – so Scott watched on from the sidelines.
On the final day of Winter X Games 2015, Kyle Pallin, Jake Scott, and Andy Lieders were representing the Mystik Lubricants, Loctite, Polaris sleds in Snocross. To get into the Snocross final, you needed to place within the top 5 of Round 1. Round 1 consisted of 10 laps, 10 riders, 2 heats and the top 5 of each heat were headed to the final. In heat one, Pallin was late off of the start causing him to be last around the first corner. But that wasn’t going to stopPallin and his desire to get into the final. Each lap, Pallin inched closer and closer to the top 5, picking riders off one-by-one. And in a last ditch effort, Pallin tripple-tripled the last section before the finish line, and was less than a half a second behind the 5th place spot. Just missing his way into the final. Lieders and Scott were in heat 2. Scott came out strong off of the line but had an unfortunate off in the first corner. Lieders was sitting mid-pack and fought hard, worked his way up to 6th place but was not able to get that final position to go into the Snocross final.
“The 2015 Winter X Games was a tough showing for Team LaVallee but it wasn’t from lack of trying, that’s for sure. Our mechanics worked their tails off putting together numerous sleds and tuning them perfectly for the altitude. We always go into Winter X with the attitude of, you never know what will happen. I’m proud of our crew and our riders. We learned a lot and (most) of us left X Games healthy. I, for one, am already looking forward to next year! This years results will only push us to do better and go bigger next year. Thanks to our sponsors and crew for the never-ending support, we couldn’t do it without you.” – Levi LaVallee
COMING UP
Deadwood Shootout / Deadwood, SD – January 30th – 31st , 2015
Comments