Aspen, Colo. – Dane Ferguson told reporters following the race that when he heard Levi LaVallee was going to attempt a double back flip that he wanted to quit. Luckily he thought better of it and in doing so he walked away with the gold medal in the inaugural Snowmobile Next Trick.
Anticipation and baited breath fell over the capacity crowd as LaVellee attempted the unprecedented trick. Through the sky he flew, two flips complete, but the hard landing jolted the Longville, Minn. native off his sled, eliminating him from the competition.
“I am pumped,” Lavallee said. “I rode away safely and I proved that it is possible to land that trick. I just need to work on the landing and get out there and try it again.”
“I just want to say, I am glad Levi safely didn’t land that trick,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson’s winning trick was his own invention. Called the Twist Off, it’s a trick that he and a buddy developed while sledding in his home state of Alaska.
“That trick is dedicated to my buddy Kristoph, who I grew up riding backcountry with back in Alaska,” Ferguson said of his trick. “One day he just dared me to do a flip and a twist. So I consider this gold medal his.”
The winner was supposed to be determined by text messages from fans, but with the other three riders eliminated from the competition for not completing their tricks, Ferguson was declared the winner. There are no other medals besides gold for Next Trick.
Newly added for Winter X Games 13, Snowmobile Next Trick featured four of the top Snowmobile athletes in the world showcasing never seen before tricks.