Words& photos by Jeff Schmuck

Well, it's time of year again. The biggest winter action sports event of them all, X Games, officially kicks off tomorrow in Aspen, Colorado, so in an effort to get you stoked for the epic week to come, here's a little preview of what to expect...

Practice has been in full swing for the past two days in slopestyle, halfpipe and big air, and to help wet everyone's whistles for the big show, the hosts with the most, Aspen/Snowmass, have released two killer videos of McRae Williams and Matt Walker sessioning the next level slopestyle course, along with a preview of big air, and will be releasing a video on superpipe practice soon (so be sure to stay tuned)...

http://vimeo.com/57974967

http://vimeo.com/58083761

Also, our friends at Freeskier have dropped two well-rounded and photo-filled updates on what went down during yesterday's slopestyle and superpipe practice sessions, so be sure to check them out by clicking here for slopestyle and here for superpipe.

And just so you're in the know, here's a look at the full list of invited skiers who will be competing in X Games this week (which is of course subject to change), followed by the competition schedule and when and where you can watch it all go down on TV...

X Games Invited Athletes

Men's Superpipe

Aaron Blunck

Noah Bowman

Simon Dumont

Alex Ferreira

Tanner Hall

Gus Kenworthy

Thomas Krief

Matt Margetts

Tucker Perkins

Joffrey Pollet-Villard

Mike Riddle

Kevin Rolland

Benoit Valentin

Byron Wells

David Wise

Torin Yater-Wallace

*Note that Justin Dorey was unfortunately forced to pull out of X Games earlier this week due to a shoulder injury that requires surgery.

Women's Superpipe

Maddie Bowman

Anais Caradeux

Annalisa Drew

Roz Groenewoud

Megan Gunning

Keltie Hansen

Jen Hudak

Brita Sigourney

Men's Slopestyle

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand

Alex Bellemare

Bobby Brown

Sammy Carlson

Joss Christensen

Nick Goepper

Henrik Harlaut

Andreas Håtveit

Russ Henshaw

PK Hunder

Gus Kenworthy

Noah Morrison

Alex Schlopy

Tom Wallisch

Matt Walker

James Woods

Women's Slopestyle

Ashley Battersby

Tiril Christiansen

Jamie Crane-Mauzy

Keri Herman

Dara Howell

Anna Segal

Yuki Tsubota

Kaya Turski

Big Air

Elias Ambuhl

Bobby Brown

Vincent Gagnier

Russ Henshaw

Henrik Harlaut

Gus Kenworthy

Kai Mahler

Alex Schlopy

Tom Wallisch

Jossi Wells

Competition & TV Schedule

Thursday, January 24th

Men's Ski Superpipe Elimination – 12:30pm - 2pm EST – ESPN3

Friday, January 25th

Men's Ski Slopestyle Elimination – 3pm - 5pm EST – ESPN / WatchESPN / ESPN 3D

Women's Ski Superpipe Final – 8:30pm - 10pm EST – WatchESPN / ESPN 3D

Men's Ski Superpipe Final – 10:30pm - 12:30am EST – ESPN / WatchESPN / ESPN 3D

Saturday, January 26th

Ski Big Air – 9pm - 11pm EST – ESPN / WatchESPN / ESPN 3D

Sunday, January 27th

Women's & Men's Ski Slopestyle Final – 2pm - 6pm EST – ESPN / WatchESPN / ESPN 3D

Stay tuned to Newschoolers for daily coverage on X Games throughout the week, which will be highlighted by our Behind The Scenes video coverage on the event presented by Aspen/Snowmass (which will feature Jeff Schmuck as the host and the infamous Evan Heath behind the lens), and if you happen to be in Aspen for X Games or will be tuning in at home, be sure to share any and all content you see in the News so we as a community can enjoy the best coverage of the best event in the world from a variety of sources. For more information on X Games, visit xgames.com.