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The 2012 Winter X Games will return to Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, CO, for an 11th straight year when the events take place Jan. 26-29. The four-day affair could mark the last time this area will be used since ESPN has opened bidding for the 2013 games. Aspen and ESPN are negotiating to renew the contract, but there isn't much news yet on that front.
The Winter X Games began in 1997 and took place in Big Bear Lake, CA, before spending the next two years at Crested Butte, CO. Mountain Snow, VT, then hosted in 2000 and 2001 before Buttermilk Mountain, CO, began its string of 11-straight Games. An agreement in 2006 kept the Games there through 2010 and that was extended for two additional years in 2009.
For more information on Buttermilk Mountain, visit Aspensnowmass.com. And let's get ready for Shaun White to take on the superpipe as well as the many other X Gamers to compete in this year's festivities.