X Games is turning skiing and snowboarding into a team sport. The organization has announced the four general managers who will build the inaugural rosters for its new MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Season, which begins in January 2027. The format already ran once: XGL’s inaugural Summer Season wrapped with XC New York edging XC Tokyo for the title in New Orleans, and the four winter clubs now follow the same blueprint for skiing and snowboarding.
Four clubs will compete in the first season — XC Golden State, XC New York, XC Park City and newly announced XC Whistler. Each general manager will select 10 skiers and snowboarders in the league’s inaugural draft on September 16 in Los Angeles. Rather than competing solely as individual athletes, the skiers and snowboarders will represent their clubs throughout the season, earning points for their teams. The club that finishes with the most points will be crowned X Games League Winter Champion.
The four people tasked with building these first four teams are some interesting names from across the ski and snowboard world:
- Jonny Moseley — XC Golden State
- Dave Sypniewski — XC New York
- Sharalee “Haze” Hazen — XC Park City
- Ryan Stutt — XC Whistler
Their first major task comes September 16 in Los Angeles, when each GM will select a 10-athlete roster during the inaugural XGL Winter Draft. For the first time in X Games history, athletes will compete as members of clubs throughout an entire season rather than simply arriving at individual events to compete for medals. “For the first time in X Games history, someone has to build a championship roster, not just produce a championship run,” X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said. “That makes the GM role incredibly important. Jonny, Dave, Haze and Ryan each bring deep credibility with athletes, real roots in these sports and a different point of view on how to build a winning club.”
Olympic Champion Jonny Moseley Leads Golden State
Few names have deeper roots in the evolution of modern freeskiing than Jonny Moseley. The Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion became one of the defining skiers of his generation with his groundbreaking performance at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. He later became the first skier to win medals at both the Olympics and X Games.
Now, the 1998 Olympic champion will trade the competition venue for the front office as GM of XC Golden State. Moseley grew up skiing in Northern California and Lake Tahoe, giving him a natural connection to the club’s territory. “Growing up in Northern California, I saw firsthand how the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe helped shape skiing and snowboarding,” Moseley said. “It’s where I learned to ski, where I competed, and where my passion for the sport began.”
Moseley will oversee Golden State’s roster construction and athlete strategy as the club attempts to build a championship team from scratch.
XC New York Brings Snowboarding Experience
XC New York will be led by longtime action sports executive Dave Sypniewski, who has spent much of his career working at the intersection of athletes, brands and snowboarding culture. His résumé includes work with Thrasher, Burton and Boost Mobile, where he helped develop athlete opportunities, partnerships and events.
Sypniewski will also have an experienced sounding board in Barrett Christy Cummins, an 11-time X Games medalist, U.S. Olympian and U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame inductee, who will serve as a special adviser.
The club enters the Winter League with momentum from its Summer counterpart, which won the inaugural XGL championship in New Orleans. “Success won’t come from one superstar,” Sypniewski said. “It’ll come from putting together a club with the right mix of talent, versatility and competitive mindset.”
Haze Takes Over Park City
Sharalee “Haze” Hazen will lead XC Park City after serving as general manager of XC Los Angeles during the XGL’s inaugural Summer Season. Hazen has built her career around athlete marketing, experiential sports and creating new opportunities for action sports athletes. She also co-created The Uninvited Invitational, an event designed to provide new opportunities and platforms for female athletes.
Her focus in Park City will extend beyond simply assembling a competitive roster. “Our goal is to create an environment where athletes feel supported, authentic stories emerge naturally and XC Park City becomes a team people connect with on and off the snow,” Hazen said.
Whistler Gets Its Club
The addition of XC Whistler completes the four-team Winter League lineup and gives one of North America’s most influential ski and snowboard destinations a team of its own. The club will be led by Canadian action sports media executive Ryan Stutt, who has spent more than two decades documenting and shaping Canadian ski and snowboard culture.
Stutt founded Forecast Ski and King Snow, two prominent Canadian winter sports media outlets, and most recently produced and co-directed the award-winning documentary Our Kind of Chaos, which explored Whistler’s influential Whiskey snowboard film series.
He will now attempt to turn that cultural influence into a competitive advantage. “Whistler represents the pinnacle of ski and snowboard culture,” Stutt said. “The expectation here is excellence, and that’s exactly how we’ll approach the X Games League.”
The First Winter Draft
The four GMs will meet in Los Angeles on September 16 for the XGL Winter Draft, selecting 10 athletes each from a pool of the world’s top skiers and snowboarders. The draft will determine the inaugural rosters for all four Winter Clubs.
The move represents another major expansion for X Games, which is attempting to move beyond its traditional event-based model and create a season-long league around action sports. The inaugural XGL Summer Season attracted 18.3 million U.S. television viewers across ABC and ESPN, an increase of 78.5% compared with 2025. Now, X Games is taking the concept to the snow.
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Winter Season begins in January 2027 in Aspen, with additional stops and dates still to be announced.
And before the first athlete drops into competition, four general managers have one very important job: build a team capable of winning it all.
