Aspen's Own: Alex Ferreira Is Headed Home for the X Games

When Alex Ferreira was eleven and growing up in Aspen, he begged his father for a new pair of skis; his father said no. But Ferreira pleaded his case until finally, his father challenged him to a mogul skiing competition. Although he failed to complete a trick on his first attempt, he landed it on his second.

“I finish the run, he meets me at the bottom, we go straight to the ski store and he buys me the new skis and it was kind of like, oh, I can do this and I really like it and I can get rewarded for it, too,” Ferreira recalls. “So it was kind of a pinnacle moment where I thought, yep, this is 100 percent what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life.”

Since then, Ferreira has become one of the most accomplished freestyle skiers competing in halfpipe events, winning silver and bronze medals in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Last year, Ferreira won all seven events on the Dew Tour, becoming the first halfpipe skier to achieve a perfect season. “It's never been done before in our sport and it's rarely been done in other sports before, so it was huge,” Ferreira says. “Honestly, I think about it now and it's mind-boggling.”

He's continued his dominance this season. In December, he won the halfpipe competition in the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain and placed second in China's Secret Garden World Cup. And now he's headed for the X Games, where he's already won seven medals, including three gold.

Ferreira grew up with the X Games, admiring the athletes' style, language and performances on the slopes.

“The X Games would come to town and our parents would let us out of school early, and if they didn't let us out of school, we would sneak out of school just to get a glimpse of some of these athletes and watch their training schedules, their competition, everything,” Ferreira recalls. “We fell in love. We were enamored as kids.”

And he's still enamored, watching recent moves with interest. ESPN sold the X Games to MSP Sports Capital in 2022; Jeremy Bloom, whom he counts as a friend, is now the CEO. “I think Jeremy at the helm is honestly our saving grace,” Ferreira says. “He is a really good businessman. He's an awesome entrepreneur. He's a great person and he sees visions long before they are enacted out. So I think he's going to be our messiah, if you will. He's definitely going to help us get to the next level, which is great. We need Jeremy.”

Even if the X Games move from its longtime home of Aspen, as has been rumored, Ferreira is optimistic.

“The world is constant change always and forever will be,” he says. “I do feel sad that if X Games has to move, this will be a part of X Games history. but I guess I'm just thankful for the times that we did get in Aspen, and the awesome experience that all of the athletes had when coming to Aspen — which is my hometown, so I think that's pretty cool.”

The 2025 Winter X Games will take be back in Aspen, at Buttermilk Mountain, January 23-25. Find out more at Xgames.com.