Fans Say Yes To Big Airs From Travis Rice At Winter X Games 13

(Aspen, CO) January 23, 2009 — Judging from the cheering crowds at the base and the overwhelming 110,000 plus text-message votes, there was no question who was the decisive gold medal victor last night at the Winter X Games 13 Big Air Contest, none other than Quiksilver’s own Travis Rice.

In a four man contest, head-to-head format, each rider taking two runs, the Big Air Contest is decided entirely by fans’ text votes. Travis wowed the crowds and cameras with a few signature tricks, some seen in the recent “That’s It That’s All” film, including a ridiculous Double Backflip Backside 1080. With 92% of the votes in Travis’s favor for his first match-up and 78% in the final, fans said Yes to Travis Rice.

“Last night was double-vindication for me,” said Travis Rice. “Last year I was knocked out by Mikkel in the head-to-head format and by Torstein the year before. It feels really good to come back this year and to go up against both of them and come out on top. Many thanks to everyone who voted for me.”

Earlier in the week, Travis suffered a gnarly fall on the treacherous slopestyle course, leaving many to question if he would be able to pull through the Big Air contest. But from the start of the practice runs, it was apparent that Travis could not be stopped, going huge on every hit and not holding an ounce of effort out.

Today Travis will go up against Shaun White, Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle elimination round for a spot in Saturday’s final.

Check out video of Travis’ Double Backflip Backside 1080 wearing the Quiksilver Everblast jacket at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3853914&categoryid=3850011

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