X Games Aspen 2026: Kyle Saxton

All right, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, we are here. We are live at X Games in Aspen, Colorado. We have recorded a handful of interview style podcasts with some of the athletes. We're going to post these as soon as we can. We're sitting here at the table, we're going to chop these up and get these out as soon as possible, just so that it's current and relevant to X Games.

So it'll be a little bit out of our normal schedule of every two weeks. I think you guys are going to like this better. One thing we ask is just have a little patience. There is literally a concert stage right there, and there's people on the loudspeaker all day. Some of the episodes we had to start, stop, start, stop. Some of them we just pushed through. So there's going to be a little bit of background noise. We'll try and clean it up as best as we can, but just have a little patience, sit back and enjoy a few of these athlete episodes here at X Games.

State your name. What do you do? You're not snowmobiling. Where you from?

Bigfork, Montana. I'm an electrician in the summertime and ride snowmobiles in the winter. I have Ride Fast Company, so I sell some sled parts in the fall, and it's kind of my program.

Nice. You let yourself off work to come here this weekend?

Absolutely.

Love it, dude. Mentally, it sounds like a lot of these guys got the notification in the December time frame, which isn't that long ago.

Yeah, super quick.

Where you at mentally with all this?

It's been a grind. I got invited to come out and help set up originally. I was like, heck yeah, I'll come out, be a part of it, see what it's all about. So I knew I was going to be here and involved in the setup, but I had no idea I'd be competing.

Uh-huh.

So that kind of took me off guard.

So did that part come later, or was it like, hey, won't you come and...

Oh, it was a little bit later. I heard a little talk about X Games at Hay Days, and then I talked to Joe on the phone and he invited me to come out and help set up. And then, what was it, it wasn't long ago that I got the invite. A month ago or something.

Heck yeah. So when you got the invite, did it hit you right then and there, like, oh, I'm actually going to be competing there now too?

I've been getting a bunch of employee emails from X Games for setup and stuff. So I was going through my emails one morning and that one came up. I'm looking at it and it says invitation, or whatever it said on it, and it had my name on it. It took a good second for it to set in. I was like, what?

So that was super cool. It was something that caught me way off guard, and I'm super stoked to be doing it. I feel very fortunate for the opportunity.

What do people not see behind the scenes of what you've had to do to get yourself here? I've seen a couple things that you've done, but...

Yeah, I've been on a grind. I pretty much got all my work done by Christmas. All my Ride Fast stuff, construction, electrical stuff, was all wrapped up by Christmas. Then I went up to Revelstoke for a quick trip, got engaged, and came back home.

I got a new '24 race sled that has the fuel injected 600. My other sled is a 2020 carbureted 600. So I pulled the fuel injected one out, the '24, put in the '20, got that ripping, rode a couple days, and then pulled my first flip. Got that done with, and then went to work on the 9R build.

I took the 9R motor out of last year's mountain sled, threw a fresh top end in it, and custom fabricated motor mounts, everything to get it to fit. I had to roll the pipe a bit, custom airbox. There was a lot of brackets, fabrication, a lot of late nights getting that done while trying to train and get ready.

Sheesh.

And then finally got everything done. I went to Willie Elam's, I think it's his parents-in-law's place, in Challis, Idaho, and rode with him and Cody for a few days.

Like recently, right?

Yep. And now we're here.

Now we're here. Sheesh, man. How'd that first backflip feel?

It was good. I've been visualizing it a lot, and I spent some time in a foam pit a couple years ago with a BMX bike, just practicing my pulls. And then 270s. I have a few straight flips in the backcountry. So I have a little bit of experience with it, but it's all a mental game, right?

It's just building up that confidence. I felt ready. I told Kyla, "I'm feeling good tonight. Record every hit." I had a few hits and I was like, all right, I just got to commit and do it. Do what I've been visualizing. And it worked out. So that was super cool.

Then I pulled up and did two more. So I did three the first night, then did seven the next day, and then I did a bunch in Idaho.

Heck yeah.

But still, I just learned it like two weeks ago. Then I took it to snow in practice last night, and another couple today. So they're feeling good.

Nice, dude. Well, okay. So sleds are back. Obviously, that's why we're here. What does that mean to you to see sleds back after about a five, six year departure? What does that mean to you to have sleds back?

I think it's huge, because there's no competitions or anything in snowmobiling, especially backcountry. That's kind of my main thing. But it's crazy that it's back. It's good. I'm stoked for it. I think it does a lot for the snowmobiling community. It brings it to a worldwide stage. It brings snowmobiling in front of an audience that normally wouldn't see it.

Exactly.

And it's such a small niche sport. I think this kind of stuff really helps the sport.

Gets more eyeballs.

More eyeballs. Yep. 100%.

Nice, dude. So when it's go time out there and you're on, what is the line that you're willing to cross?

I want to keep it fun. I don't want to go past what I feel comfortable with.

Yeah.

But that being said, I've learned a lot of tricks at freestyle shows, just because you're riding with everyone, vibes are high, everything's ripping. So you never know. I might be feeling some new stuff. I've been playing with some new stuff.

On the fly, huh?

Yeah. You never know. But my main goal is to go out there, have fun, enjoy the event, and not stress myself out too much with my first year at X Games.

Exactly. Right before you get ready to hit a run tomorrow, what's going on in your head? What are you telling yourself?

I think to keep the stress down, it's just another show. We're just out here.

What you've done before.

Riding with the boys, ripping tricks. I think just keep it fun and enjoy it. Obviously go hard, because we're at X Games in front of the world, but keep it fun. Don't stress yourself out too much, and enjoy it.

Awesome. Love it. Okay, so when this weekend's over and people are looking back, whether they were here in person or watching you online or on TV, what do you want them to remember about what Kyle Saxton did here at X Games?

I want to make sure I'm fully extended on my stuff. I want good extension, everything to look nice and clean. I want a good clean run. I don't have a ton of the flip tricks. There's a ton of guys here with a ton of flip tricks. So if I can keep my run super clean and super good looking, I'd be super stoked on that.

Heck yeah. Out of everyone you're competing against this weekend, who are you most nervous to compete against? When you're stacking yourself up against that person, who is it?

There's a handful of guys with big tricks. I learned to flip two weeks ago, and I'm coming in against people that have been doing it for years.

Right.

Years of experience with these big flip tricks. So, I don't know.

Just everyone, huh?

Yeah.

Well, great, Kyle. Super stoked to see you here. I'm stoked to be here and get to see it in person tomorrow, and it's literally right on the other side of this tent here. So we'll have a great time cheering you on, and hope for the best, dude. Be safe out there, buddy. Great seeing you.

Thank you.