ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Shaun White's next trick might carry more risk than the flips and twists he pulled off for decades inside all those halfpipes he used to dominate. This time, it's about making magic — and money — for the generation of snowboarders who looked up to him for all those years.
This week in Aspen marks the debut of The Snow League — a $1.6 million, four-stop halfpipe tour dreamed up by White and backed by deep-pocketed sports investors.
If successful, it will bring order to snowboarding's otherwise confusing competition schedule and usher in a new age for a sport that, for generations, held a wary view of riding for medals and money.
“I want to make it so you can have a decent season on the tour and make a great living, that’s the goal,” said White, expressing what seems obvious for almost any pro sport but hasn't always been so clear-cut in the world of halfpipe.
“I'd like to see a pathway," he said. "In traditional sports, it’s like, you start as an amateur, then you play high school, and then go to college and get into the pros. For this, I want the same.”
The world's most famous rider takes on a new role
White kicked off action Friday with an exhibition run through the halfpipe. His last official trip is now more than three years in the rearview mirror, when he capped off his fifth Olympics with an emotional farewell at the 2022 Beijing Games.
With the next Winter Olympics less than a year away — the first time since 2002 they won't include the sport's biggest star — it's clear the 38-year-old's three gold medals don't fully speak to the impact he's had on snowboarding, both on and off the mountain.
His appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2006 was the opening salvo on a mission to portray snowboarders as more than stoner kids in baggy pants taking over resorts.
“It was giving attention to the sport and making it feel more professional,” White said. “Like, every time I showed up on a talk show, I'm in a suit. I'm trying to carry a professionalism that would hopefully resonate within the sport.”
Being the best has little to do with being a ‘world champion’
Not everyone went along for that ride.
A moment that stuck with White — and in a way led to what went down Friday on a sun-splashed halfpipe dug into the same mountain as the Winter X Games he once dominated — came when he was 16.
“I had an undefeated season — halfpipe, slopestyle, rail jam, big air, everything,” he said. “I got to the end of the season and an interviewer said ‘Great season, but how does it feel to not be the world champion?’ I wasn't upset, but it was a clear picture of how disconnected all the events are."
Aside from the Olympics turning into the sport's centerpiece, not much else changed in the ensuing 22 years.
Great riders span the globe, but rarely convene at the same time. There are crystal globes awarded for the best snowboarders over a World Cup season, but that circuit has never been considered the most prestigious in an ecosphere filled with the Dew Tour, X Games, Burton U.S. Open and other stops.
White's league is trying to solve one problem, by linking with other circuits to offer qualifying points for the Olympics — a move that gives riders incentive to participate.
The other is the $1.6 million prize pool for Season One — “a starting point,” White calls it. The Snow League will pay out $50,000 first prizes for both men and women, along with a $50,000 prize for the champion of the four-event series that, in its inaugural run, will spread over 13 months, ending in March 2026.
More notable might be the $5,000 appearance fees for every athlete, along with a guaranteed $2,500 minimum win for the eight riders who make the final. By comparison, eighth place at a World Cup event in Switzerland last month was worth about $800.
“We put a lot of time and effort and obviously, we’re all professional athletes,” said Maddie Mastro, the best American rider this side of Chloe Kim and among the favorites in Saturday's final. “It’s not as casual as some might think. We’re working our butts off to make this our career, make this our life, and it’s nice to have more support and feel valued."
White's model puts new spin on ‘progression’ in the halfpipe
The word “progression” infiltrates snowboarding's world of flips and spins on a daily basis.
The ethos of pushing the envelope might be best encapsulated by Ayumu Hirano, the 26-year-old Japanese superstar whose “triple cork” — three head-over-heels flips — won the Beijing Olympics and redefined what was possible on a halfpipe.
Among White's biggest coups as he put together his league was to get Hirano to sign on. The Snow League will add halfpipe skiing at its next event, in China in December, and if White can close a deal to bring Olympic champion Eileen Gu onto that circuit, he'll have arguably the biggest star in action sports.
“The fact it’s run by Shaun would generate huge interest in his events,” Hirano said. “And because of this, many snowboarders will improve their performances and encourage more young athletes in the future.”
Hirano also gave a nod to a new competition template White is introducing with the goal of rethinking a judged sport that is difficult for non-experts to understand.
In the finals, riders will be placed into brackets for four rounds of one-on-one showdowns. Each round will be best of three, and riders must enter the halfpipe from opposite sides for the first two rounds. (It's harder to recognize on a snowboard, but it's the equivalent of skiing in forward for one run and backward on the next.)
The format lends a new element of strategy to the proceedings — what do you do if your opponent goes first and lands a killer run? — and forces riders, who often spend a season perfecting their two or three most comfortable routines, to imagine new ways of heading down the halfpipe.
“I wouldn't view it as a stresser, but it's definitely something different,” Mastro said. “It probably will be a challenge tomorrow.”
A trip out of the comfort zone for White and the rest of snowboarding
White has spent a career trying to lift both himself and his sport out of their comfort zones.
Though he is no stranger to business — he's had apparel lines and even another snowboarding/music tour, Air & Style — this one holds extra weight. White is putting his name behind a concept that could change the sport or, if things don't go well, fade into obscurity and leave snowboarding fractured.
As with every risk he's taken on the halfpipe, White knows there's no going in halfway when making a move that feels like all-or-nothing.
“Having that clear path for the next generation is great,” he said. “It'll give people the confidence to lean into this sport, and give them a place to perform, and to me, that's what's so exciting.”
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
Eddie Pells, The Associated Press
