4 Canadians to watch at the Winter X Games
McMorris, Turski, Parrot, O'Brien among medal contenders in Aspen
Beginning on Thursday, the world's best extreme sports athletes will descend on Aspen, Colo., to compete in the Winter X Games.
The annual event features various competitions in skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
Before some of its disciplines were added to the Olympics, the Winter X Games was the biggest stage for extreme sports athletes. Snowboard cross and ski superpipe are among those additions, while Big Air snowboarding will make its debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The 21st edition of the Winter X Games will feature veteran Canadian Olympians while giving a sneak peek at some fresh faces who may compete for the podium next year.
Here's a look at some Canadians to keep an eye on in Aspen.
Mark McMorris
The 23-year-old made quite the entrance in his Winter X Games debut, winning gold in 2012 in the men's Big Air and slopestyle snowboarding events.
That year McMorris became the first snowboarder to land a Triple Cork 1440 (that's four rotations and three off-axis flips) in Big Air competition, and the first snowboarder to win two gold medals in one Winter X Games since Shaun White.
The Regina native has won nine career Winter X Games medals and earned Olympic bronze in the inaugural slopestyle competition at Sochi, less than a month after fracturing a rib while competing in the same event at the Winter X Games.
Kaya Turski
The Montreal native is considered one of the best female slopestyle skiers in Winter X Games history. Turski has won the event eight times, highlighted by a record score of 96.66 in the 2010 event.
The 28-year-old has struggled with injuries in recent years, having torn both of her ACLs.
She headed into Sochi 2014 as one of the favourites fresh off another Winter X Games crown, having accomplished the feat only five months after an experimental surgery to repair a torn left ACL allowed her to compete.
Turski failed to make it out of the qualification round in Sochi as she battled a virus and separated shoulder suffered in training.
After taking a couple of years off, the Canadian returned to action at last month's Dew Tour event, capturing third place.
Max Parrot
McMorris isn't the only Canadian to watch in the men's Big Air and slopestyle snowboarding competitions.
Parrot is another threat, having won two of the last three Big Air competitions at Aspen and a pair of Winter X Games medals in slopestyle.
He's the second snowboarder, after McMorris, to win Big Air and slopestyle gold at the same Winter X Games, doing so in 2014.
The Bromont, Que., native finished fifth in slopestyle at Sochi 2014 after scoring the highest in qualifications.
Parrot won last weekend's World Cup event in Switzerland after landing a backside triple cork 1620 — a jump featuring four and a half rotations while flipping off-axis three times. It was the same trick he debuted in 2014 to win his first X Games Big Air gold.
Spencer O'Brien
The 28-year-old from Courtenay, B.C., is the defending champion in the women's snowboard slopestyle event. O'Brien has been competing at the Winter X Games since 2007 and this was her first career Winter X Games gold medal.
She competed for Canada in the event at Sochi 2014, finishing in 12th place.
O'Brien will also be competing in the Big Air competition, which returned at the 2016 Winter X Games in Oslo, Norway after a 16-year absence.
The Canadian finished fourth and will look to build on that in Aspen as she prepares for its Olympic debut next year in Pyeongchang.