So, what's it really like when Winter X Games athletes race Jeep® Wrangler Rubicons up and down a snow-covered mountain?

“Dude, that was a riot!” exclaimed Mike Metzger, freestyle motocross superstar and X Games gold medalist, as he brought his Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to a skidding stop after blasting down the slopes of Buttermilk Mountain last Friday.

It was all part of Jeep Adventure Comp, a first-of-its-kind, two-day event prior to the ESPN Winter X Games VIII .   Metzger was among an all-star group of athletes from every spectrum of the highly popular Winter X Games in an on-hill racing competition featuring the  Jeep Wrangler Rubicon in a timed race up Buttermilk Mountain.

Bringing home top honors in the four divisions -- and, more importantly, $1,000 each from the Jeep Brand to their favorite charity -- were snowboard superpipe star Keir Dillon (Boarding for Breast Cancer); former snocross gold medalist Tucker Hibbert (Clayton Foundation) ; women’s snowboard slopestyle competitor Marisa Funiciello (Boarding for Breast Cancer) and, in the media division, ESPN announcer Cameron Steele (Aspen Community Foundation).

“We knew that everyone would get a kick out of this,” said Jeff Bell, Vice President Jeep/Chrysler.  “And the proof came in the ‘wow’ reactions of the athletes.  They just charged up and down Buttermilk Mountain in the new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon -- full force -- and loved it.”

“That was so cool of Jeep to put this together for us,” said snocross racer Blair Morgan, another Winter X Games multi-gold medalist.  “It’s great to see one of the X Games sponsors put an event together like this for us.  That was a lot of fun and I’ll definitely look forward to doing it again next year.”

Jeep – in cooperation with Aspen/Snowmass -- had  Jeep Wrangler Rubicons for athletes and media to race up and down Buttermilk Mountain in a timed charity event. 

Beginning with a steep hill climb, snowboarders, skiers, dirt bike jumpers, snowmobile racers and others all hammered the pedal and put the Wrangler Rubicons through their paces.  They raced up the face of a steep ski hill, then back down through a windy slalom course that tested the abilities of the athletes.  "The superior suspension of the rugged Wrangler Rubicon withstood every challenge, " said Bell.

“We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the X Games," said Bell, "and this year we decided to do more to complement our relationship with the Winter X Games that would also showcase the synergy between the Jeep product and the amazing athletes here in Aspen.  We feel with the legendary Jeep vehicles we have a product that plays right into the lifestyles of these athletes.  And it was fun for us to see what a great time everybody had with the inaugural Jeep Adventure Comp.”

“Dude, I can’t believe we got to do this…this is so rad,” said snowboard superpipe competitor Tommy Czeschin.  His buddy Andy Finch, also a superpipe competitor, was in full agreement.  “We were haulin’. What was my time?,” said Finch. Noteworthy: Finch, who finished third overall in the men’s board sports category, may have finished higher had he not showed up to race in sandals!  Overall the event was a great success, according to all participants.