Turcotte earns vindication at X-Games, cements position among action-sports greats

Turcotte travelled to Aspen in search of vindication, noting his performance at the 2020 Games – he crashed on both of his snowmobile freestyle runs — had been festering.

The sport was nixed from the X-Games schedule after that year’s event.

“The news of it not returning in 2021 was devastating,” Turcotte said. “It was such a large part of my life and who I am.”

Turcotte started a snowmobile riding clinic business in Revelstoke, honed in on his motocross career in the summer, nurtured relationships with sponsors and expanded his reach on social media.

“I just tried to stay on my snowmobile as much as possible and that was a blessing in disguise,” he said. “I Iearned a lot about myself, about business and just tried to help keep the sport healthy and alive.”

Snowmobiling was reinstated in time for the 2026 X-Games and Turcotte received an invite in September.

“In November, I actually broke four of my ribs, got a hematoma on my femur and was kind of just brought to the question of, ‘Is this going to happen this year?’” Turcotte said.

He got back on his sled with the help of Dr. Robyn Stanley and Greg Kozoris of Acceleration Kozoris Strength and Conditioning.

The next hurdle to overcome was mental. Turcotte turns 38 on Thursday.

“Absolutely, there’s always the question of, you know, do I still got it?” Turcotte said. “But I put my heart and soul into the sport. Everything that I’ve ever done just goes back into being the best man on a snowmobile. For sure, there are some kids that are up-and-coming and they’re swinging hard. I just had to rely on experience.”

Riders had two, 75-second runs to impress judges with their best acrobatic tricks, jumps and stunts in the freestyle event on Friday.

Turcotte scored 93.33 on his first run, the mark holding up to put him atop the podium.

He showed restraint on his second run following the injuries of two of his competitors.

“There are certainly some tricks that I was hoping to maybe add to my second run, but mentally it’s tough to go from being prepared to go and do battle to being worried about your bud,” Turcotte said. “We decided to just do enough and come back next year.”

Turcotte won silver on Sunday in the speed-and-style competition, which was hampered by poor weather conditions and 56-kilometre-per-hour wind gusts.

His X-Games legend is growing.

Turcotte won gold in snow bike best trick in 2020 and gold in snowmobile freestyle and snowmobile speed and style in 2018.

In 2019, he bagged silver in snowmobile freestyle and snow bike best trick. He won silver in snowmobile best trick in 2017, silver in snocross in 2008 and bronze in snowmobile freestyle in 2016.

“It’s wild to think that, in a matter of a couple days of competition, you can set yourself up in a career,” Turcotte said. “I’ve been busting my ass – my my freaking butt off – for decades now. I’m just trying to do as much as I can to support my family, support myself and represent my sponsors.”

Action sports are his full-time gig in large part because of his accomplishments at the X-Games.

“It’s nice to not have to be sitting in an excavator seat in the summer to make it so that I can ride sleds in the winter,” Turcotte said. “And it’s nice to have a couple extra pieces of hardware.”

by Marty Hastings

Turcotte earns vindication at X-Games, cements position among action-sports greats

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