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but they are skatepark heroes among the youth subculture that flocks to this annual event held in different locations around the U.S., but mainly in Los Angeles and Aspen. The Colorado event is the winter version, with skiers and snowboarders thrilling the crowds with aerial acrobats. Skinny guys in baggy pants show their youth was not wasted when fooling around with a board in the local park. Organizers are constantly introducing new mutant endeavours such as Ultracross, a ski and snowboard relay race, and Snowmobile Snowcross, described as Nascar on snow. Two hundred-fifty athletes take part, including several dozen Olympians, and crowds of up to 130,000 spectators form 2-hour queues around the block for the 3-day events. An event village is created where an X Fest takes place, showcasing the participants to the background of live rock music and interactive video games. Though it may look as though the athletes are having all the fun, the fans, in watching all the tricks and stunts, experience their own adrenaline rush.

The first event took place in 1995 and has grown exponentially since. Some initial experiments included bungee jumping and shovel racing but it soon became apparent that it was the core sports of biking and boarding that excited the crowds and got the most from its participants. Owned, operated, and promoted by the sports channel ESPN, the X Games has proved a masterly exercise in marketing, with high octane sponsors attracted by the young, predominantly male audience and their potential spending power for accessories and video games. Such clever promotion is evident when another well known biker, Danny Way, launched himself over the Great Wall of China and it is all too obvious in the amount of video clips of X Game tricks frequently downloaded by the YouTube generation.

Initially spurned by the sporting establishment, extreme sport is losing its counterculture swagger and is slowly being accepted into the fold as a genuine sport. The success of BMX riders in the Beijing Olympics is evidence of this. Much of this approval can be put down to the X Games showcasing this new generation of G-force gymnasts and what they can do with a chopper. The BMX Superpark is one of the most popular arenas used during the summer event. The smooth, dune shaped court has domed walls, extreme curves, ramps, and pits. Riders skoot about the assault course with practiced ease, sliding along high wall edges, spinning over ramps, and flipping in the air with an audacious confidence that says the future of sport is here and it is extreme. —CO’M

www.espn.go.com.

When to go: Summer games Aug; winter games Jan/Feb.

Los Angeles, Aspen, or Denver.

Aspen: $$$ Limelight Lodge, 355 S. Monarch St., Aspen, CO 81611 ( 1/970/925-3025;www.limelightlodge.com). $$ Hotel Durant, 122 E. Durant, Aspen, CO 81611 ( 1/970/925-8500;www.durantaspen.com). Los Angeles: $$$ Omni Los Angeles at California Plaza, 251 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 ( 1/213/617-3300;www.omnihotels.com). $$$ Elan Hotel Modern, 8435 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048 ( 1/323/658-6663;www.elanhotel.com).

Note: The X Games are scheduled in Aspen until 2012.

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Motocross Grand Prix

The Mud Gauntlet

Donington Park, Leicestershire, England

Mud caked riders roar through pits of dirt leaving rooster tails of clay in their wake. They race along a track that resembles a World War I trench, disappearing into dark hollows before emerging in full flight over a hillock and crashing down onto the snaking dirt track that veers sharply around a pond of muddy water. The distinctive sound of powerful four-stroke engines buzzes in the ears of the 130,000 spectators that line the route of this famous race track in the English midlands. They have come to see teenage riders from around the world endure a bone crushing gauntlet known as the Motocross Grand Prix. Experiencing the spectacular event is a thrill for riders and on-lookers alike.

The word motocross is an amalgamation of two words—motorbike and cross country. Once known as scrambling, motocross has become a phenomenally