Athlete Profile

Red Gerard’s X Games Redemption

By Colin Bane

Red Gerard’s long wait for X Games glory finally ended...

....at XG Aspen 2024. After eight largely frustrating years, Gerard logged three great scores on his way to Slopestyle gold.

“The word ‘relief’ comes to mind,” Red says. “I’m really hoping to lock in another one.”

Though he’d won just about everything else in snowboarding -- 2018 Olympic gold, four World Cups, two Dew Tour titles, a US Open -- an X Games victory had proved elusive. His heavily hyped X Games debut in 2017 disappointed (14th), and his XG resume since featured three 4th-place finishes that were starting to drive him crazy. Even the bronze medal he nabbed in 2020 (his lone podium before 2024) bummed him out: Red saw it as one tiny bobble that kept him from gold.

Gerard says there were years when he disagreed with the X Games judges, years he blamed himself, years he left Aspen cursing and years he began believing that maybe he’d been cursed. “I’d been to so many X Games where I totally felt like I had the run and it just didn't work out my way,” Red says. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster, for sure.”

When the scores came in at Aspen 2024 and Red realized he’d won, he unleashed a resounding “F**k yeah!” for the ages.

“It’ll definitely be different, coming back as the defending gold medalist,” Red says. X Games Aspen 2025, look out!

Red’s Rep

Image ©Joshua Duplechian/X Games

Red is known as a snowboarder’s snowboarder. Good-natured vibes, sleepy style, a big mountain ace and a seemingly casual approach to competition. The latter, he says, is mostly a front, as his f-bomb reaction to finally winning X Games laid bare.

“When I was younger and missing podiums, I didn’t think of myself as the most competitive person; I was happy with making the final and getting fourth or fifth place,” the now 24-year-old says. “Once I started getting podiums, that feeling just got more addicting. And once I got to experience the euphoria of winning a contest, I really wanted to get back to that state. I think that’s kept me in contests over the years even as I feel the pull to do more backcountry riding and filming.”

Gerard says he was humbled at the fall 2024 training camp in Stubai, Austria, when multiple riders flashed 2160s he won’t match. Still, he thinks he has the full-run chops to fend them off in Slopestyle.

“There are riders with tricks I don’t have,” Red allows. “But at the end of the day, can they put them in a full run? X Games last year was a good reminder that putting together a slopestyle run with seven of the hardest tricks I have can win. And it’s still something I love to do.”

A Friendly Rival

Red’s X Games Aspen 2024 gold was well-deserved: He stomped all three runs, improved incrementally in each and logged the top two scores of the contest. The victory prevented Mark McMorris from earning an X Games threepeat.

It was a big moment for Gerard and McMorris, who are also close friends. Red says they shared a place in Aspen and spent the week trading intel about the course and what they’d seen in practice.

“That was Mark’s first contest since the Beijing Olympics after dealing with some injuries and surgeries,” Gerard says. “I was just absolutely in awe and amazed by him coming back like that. You can never count Mark out.”

McMorris rode well, ultimately falling just one point short. That didn’t stop him from being happy for Red, shouting “Yeah, Reggie!” and patting the gold medalist on the head. It looked like a moment between good friends, or even brothers. Red says he saw it that way, too.

Later, in his gold medal interview, Gerard shouted out Mark as “the best snowboarder in the world.” McMorris’ 23 X Games medals (11 of them gold) make it hard to disagree.

“To have that moment with Mark made the win even more special,” Red says. “In the last couple years, we’ve started to push each other quite a bit in the way that only tight homies can push each other, which has been really cool. I know we’re both looking forward to the rematch.”

Red’s Relatives

The Gerard clan rolls deep. Red’s super-supportive parents Jen and Conrad Gerard and a squadron of siblings -- sisters Tieghan and Asher, brothers Malachi (Red’s longtime filmer), Trevor, Creighton, Brendan and Oslo -- have been a big part of his success story.

“The whole gang will be there to see me try to defend this gold medal,” Red says. “My mom just told me they got a house in Aspen for the week.”

X Games has been telling the story of Red’s rise from the backyard terrain park at his parents’ place in Silverthorne, Colorado, since he was in his mid-teens. “The family dynamic has definitely changed a lot -- like, not all of us still live in the parents’ home -- and those relationships have matured in good ways,” Gerard explains. “A lot of my brothers are having kids and getting married and stuff, and that brings a whole new family aspect to it. It’s different than when I was 16, but it’s new and cool to have some even younger ones in the family...I couldn’t ask for a better cheering squad in my corner.”

Fellow X Games champ Hailey Langland also will be cheering for Red. The pair have been dating for years and live together in Oceanside, California. A knee injury will keep Hailey from competing at XG Aspen 2025, but she’ll still be working: Hailey’s making her debut as an X Games commentator, serving as analyst for the women’s Snowboard disciplines.

“I’m really excited for her,” Red says. “I think she understands women’s competitive snowboarding better than anyone, and it’ll be very cool for her to share that perspective. She’s the best possible person for the job.”

And Red will be out to show he’s still the best possible person for the job when XG Aspen 2025 Slopestyle is held on Saturday, January 25th.

Red Gerard Bio Blast