1) For those people who might live under a rock, what are the X Games?

The X Games is an event that collects some of the world’s best extreme athletes in one place to compete in a series of events ranging from big air trick contests to mono skier crosses. The best athletes on snow come here every year to push their individual snowsport further, and as a result you get to see a lot of very different and very talented athletes all crammed together on one mountain. I’m in the athlete lounge right now, sitting across from the French Olympic team (competing in skier cross and wearing tight pink uniforms) and next to two girls getting ready to go out for halfpipe practice (wearing super baggy white ponchos).

2) I bet they don’t get many writers…

Hahaha – I don’t think so. I had to leave my corduroy blazer at home just so that I could fit in.

3) Which event are you participating in?

It’s called the Mono X, which is basically a skier cross for monoskis. You have a gated course that you and three other competitors must navigate at the same time in a race to the bottom of the hill. In between those gates, you have a series of features ranging from big air jumps (80 ft+ for the final), road gaps, step ups, step downs, and woopity woos. It’s pretty funny the names they give some of these features. It’s like they’re trying to take the edge of the insanity of the whole thing.

4) How much time goes into designing and building your monoski?

I started working on my gear back in August after a year’s hiatus. The design process, which I worked on in conjunction with a local R&D company, took about three months in which we stress-tested every other monoski on the market to find out their individual weak points for high-impact scenarios (something you get a lot of in the Mono X). After that, we went in fabrication mode, which was finished by December. By the second week of December I was working on custom valving the suspension (which is just a Fox Float shock taken from the front end of a snowmobile) with another Montana local. We put on the finishing touches about two weeks ago. All told – countless hours and thousands of dollars. And totally worth it. It’s called “Ullr”.

5) What kind of role does advertising play in the X Games?

In a lot of ways, X Games is the most widely publicized winter event in world (with exclusion of the Olympics every four years), and as a result, advertising plays a huge role in almost every aspect of the games. Almost every athlete here has a sponsor ranging from local support to having Yahoo! rent you a mansion on the mountain (well played, Shaun White). Everybody is beholden to somebody, so you end up seeing a lot of logos and free stuff floating around. It’s fun, but definitely nice to get back to the real world after a week of this.

6) You must be scared shitless before you race. How do you calm your nerves?

I just keep moving. When I’m at the hill, I’m trying to get in as many laps as I can just to keep my body warm and my head focused on skiing. I start playing head games with myself if I stay still for too long, so I just try always stay in motion.

7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve had happen during an X Games competition?

I think I’ll be able to give you a good answer by the end of the week. The course has been dramatically stepped up this year in terms of difficulties. Just inspecting it yesterday, the nerves amongst the other competitors was palpable. Also – there are no “optional” jumps, so I get the impression that the real crazy stuff is heading this way…

Kevin Connolly is the author of Double Take. You can watch him compete in the X Games this Sunday on ESPN.