Operation X

With all the excitement surrounding the ESPN Winter X Games and its athletes, it would be easy to forget the blood, sweat, and tears that go into creating the courses' kickers, hits, turns, and features. But that would only be if you didn't know about Snow Park Technologies, the incredible company that designs and builds all that is X Games. I had the privilege to share a Sno-Cat with the man behind the vision and production of Winter X, Snow Park Technologies (SPT) founder and owner Chris "Gunny" Gunnarson.


CF: Tell us about (SPT) and how you came up with the concept for your company.

CG: Mike Binnell--my right-hand man--and I grew up at Snow Summit, California, and we started SPT the second year of the X Games. SPT is more than a company, it's a collection of the people I consider to be the most talented, progressive, and dedicated park and pipe people that exist. Period.

CF: As a world-renowned park designer, where do the X Games rate for you in terms of how big of a project they are and how much you enjoy them?

CG: SPT has been really lucky to be on some really fun, unique, and progressive projects, but the X Games is certainly the biggest and the best of all of them.

CF: After making the X Games courses in Aspen for the last six years, has it gotten easier each year? 

CG: There are always challenges, but it definitely gets easier when you come back to the same resort repeatedly. In year six, we know every little break-over and off-camera fall line there is on this hill. We have become really familiar with the people here and have a great relationship with Aspen. It's ideal for us.



CF: How much snow do you have to make to get this mountain X Games ready?

CG: Millions and millions of gallons of snow goes into these courses.



CF: After so many X Games, do you still get excited for the event to begin?

CG: I love the X Games. It's kind of like coming out and being with a family that you only see one month out of the year. It's really special. It's so much hard work. It's so much coordination. It's so much pre-planning, but it is so much fun too. I love it. I hope I can do it for a long time.



So do we Gunny. So do we.

by Courtney Fisher