Aspen, CO – On a night filled with freeskiing’s biggest stars, Park City, Utah’s Alex Schlopy stole the spotlight and the Winter X Games Big Air skiing gold Saturday in Aspen. Bobby Brown, of Breckenridge, Colo., took the silver and slopestyle champion Sammy Carlson of Hood River, Ore., grabbed bronze.nSchlopy ignored the hype surrounding Brown’s attempt at a repeat Big Air gold and the prospective debut of the triple cork in competition, unleashing a double cork 1620, a trick that involves three and a half inverted rotations.

The Park City native won gold in his first ever X Games appearance, announcing his arrival onto the freeskiing scene. Schlopy’s mark on the freeskiing circuit was only a matter of time – skiing is in his blood with mom Holly Flanders a two-time Olympian and three-time World Cup downhill winner and cousin Erik Schlopy a three-time Olympian and U.S. Alpine Ski Team alum. Previous to Winter X, Schlopy finished fifth in the Dew Tour in 2010 and won the Vermont Freeskiing Open in 2007.

Brown, who had missed the slopestyle podium by one position earlier in the day, looked poised to retain his Big Air crown, finishing second in the qualifying round. In the end however he was unable to overcome the rookie, who had his tricks dialed all night.

The all-American podium hopes to carry their success into the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships next week in the slopestyle competition. The event will be held at Park City Mountain Resort, in Park City, Utah, on Feb. 3.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Winter X Games
Aspen, CO – Jan. 29, 2011
Big Air

1. Alex Schlopy, Park City, UT, 92
2. Bobby Brown, Breckenridge, CO, 89
3. Sammy Carlson, Hood River, OR, 87