X Games Tignes: Snowmobile Freestyle Event Cancelled After Caleb Moore’s Death
By Josh Hill
ESPN and X Games have decided to cancel the upcoming Snowmobile Freestyle competition for this March’s X Games Tignes event. The cancellation comes on the heels of the death of Caleb Moore, a freestyle snowmobiler who was killed after crashing his snowmobile during the event back in January at X Games Aspen.
“Our review of snowmobile freestyle continues. In the meantime, we have decided to forego the planned demonstration freestyle event at X Games Tignes,” ESPN said in its statement.
Moore died from injuries he suffered when his 450-pound snowmobile flipped and landed on top of him after he failed to successfully land a trick in the snowmobile freestyle event back in January. Moore was rushed into emergency surgery despite walking off the course seemingly unharmed. He died just days later on January 31.
Fellow snowmobiler and family friend Jackson “Jacko” Strong got together with his corporate sponsors and successfully raised $10,600 for the Moore family to help pay for expenses and try to help ease their pain. Moore’s brother Colten told the Amarillo Globe-News that his brother played a significant role in guiding him on the path to being the man he is today.
“He was always down to help out other people,” said Moore’s younger brother, Colten, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. “Without Caleb, I don’t know what I would have done growing up because he was always there for me … I can pretty much say he taught me everything I know. When we raced together, he pushed me to go faster and made me jump jumps that I wouldn’t have done. Even if I couldn’t do it, he would push me until I could.”
Moore was buried last Thursday in Wheeler, Texas where his family and friends gathered to remember the man they loved who was taken away from them way too soon.