By Brian Gomez

The Gazette (Colorado Spirngs)

ASPEN, Colo. — Caleb Moore releases from the handlebars of a 450-pound snowmobile, 35 feet off the ground, with the possibility of being crushed if his high-flying stunt goes wrong.

“This is awesome!” Moore yelled at the Winter X Games on Buttermilk Mountain, where tricks keep getting bigger, despite the recent death of one of the event’s household names.

The uncontrollable rate of progression hasn’t slowed since Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke was killed this month in a practice crash, and with a chance to shine in prime time on ESPN, nothing about Winter X is dialed back. In fact, the risk level has been raised.

Moore’s younger brother, Colten, overcame a nasty qualifying mishap to win Thursday’s snowmobile freestyle final with a pair of back flips, and when Canadian Mark McMorris won Friday’s snowboard big air, he became the first to execute a triple cork 1,440, a four-rotation jump off an 80-foot ramp. Triple flip 1,260s were common Saturday in skiing big air, and Justin Hoyer is planning a double back flip Sunday in a snowmobile trick contest.

“I don’t think about the danger,” said Caleb Moore, who performed a never-before-seen tandem back flip with his brother last year at Winter X. “I just have fun and try to push it as hard as I can. When fellow athletes get hurt, it kind of brings the reality back to you a little bit. But I would much rather be taken out while doing something I love.”

A four-time Winter X winner, Burke, 29, died Jan. 19 from injuries in a Jan. 10 wipeout in Park City, Utah. She suffered bleeding on her brain after she ripped a vertebral artery in her neck, and a lack of oxygen and blood from a heart attack she had in the pipe caused irreversible damage to her brain. It was the same pipe in which now-retired snowboarder Kevin Pearce endured a traumatic brain injury in 2009, halting his Olympic aspirations.

The halfpipe historically has been safe, with helmets now mandatory for competition and air bags often employed on the sides during training. The walls in Aspen measure 22 feet, an increase of 25 percent over the past five years, however, two-time Olympic medalists Shaun White and Kelly Clark continue extending the limits — Clark winning Friday with a frontside 1,080 and White banking Sunday on his trademark double McTwist 1,260.

White conceded that he might not have advanced to a 1,260 if he hadn’t “kept hitting my face doing a 1,080. I was like, ‘I should just keep going.’ … Once you start on that path, you never really know what it’s going to be.” Clark insists a 22-foot halfpipe is “actually safer than an 18-foot halfpipe. If you were to make an error in an 18-foot pipe, there’s not a lot of transition to land on, and you’re going to end up in the flats pretty quick.”

A drive to pull off the unthinkable hardly has subsided. Snowboarder Pat Moore last year tried to ride a Red Bull-sponsored halfpipe at Copper Mountain that soared to a record 35 feet, and after he hit the lip, he was hospitalized. And McMorris was serious when calling for the big air ramp to grow larger. “I didn’t think the jump was big enough,” he said.

Canadian snowboarder Sebastien Toutant never envisions a ceiling — not in a sport that’s “always going to progress,” he said. “They’re going to build bigger jumps. You’re going to do bigger tricks.” Skier Sammy Carlson said, “All of us are really comfortable doing what we do.” Plus, “you can get hit by a car. You can get hit on a bike,” Canadian skier Kaya Turski said. “Sure, maybe (Winter X) is a little riskier. But this is in our DNA.”

HOODOO — Central Oregon teams swept the Hoodoo classic nordic ski races Saturday afternoon, winning both boys and girls Oregon High School Nordic team and individual titles on a 5,300-meter course at Hoodoo Mountain Resort.

The Summit girls clipped Redmond by one point to win the team event with 18 points. Similarly, the Bend boys also scored 18 points and won by one point over Sisters.

Central Oregon schools Redmond, Bend, Summit and Sisters all participated in the classic cross-country skiing event that included five other Oregon schools.

Amity Calvin of Sisters won the girls race in 20 minutes, 20 seconds. Summit’s Keelin Moehl followed a second later to pace the Storm with a time of 20:21, and teammate Anne Jarvis placed fourth in 21:11. Bend High’s Melissa Hubler placed third and Dakota Steen led the Redmond girls, placing fifth overall in 22:14.

On the boys side, Peter Schwarz led the Lava Bears to a team victory, winning the individual boys race in a time of 18:22. Mason Calmettes led Sisters with a time of 18:54 and a third-place individual finish.

Also on Saturday:

NORDIC SKIING

Brother and sister lead Cougs

WILLAMETTE PASS — Mountain View’s Imran Wolfenden won the boys 5,000-meter freestyle race and his sister Hayati claimed victory in the girls 5K as the Cougars took first in both the boys and girls team standings at the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association event. McKenna Hand added a third-place effort for the Cougar boys while McKenzie Gillespie contributed a seventh-place finish for the Mountain View girls. The Cougar boys scored an event-low 16 points, besting runner-up South Eugene (23 points). Mountain View’s girls squad won their meet with 24 points, topping South Eugene (51 points) and a team from Summit (54).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Lincoln 67

Redmond 62

REDMOND — The Panthers fell to the Cardinals in a Class 6A Special District 1 league game. Redmond tied the game 60-60 with a minute left in the fourth quarter after trailing 42-29 at the half. “We made a great comeback and had phenomenal defense in the second half,” said Panthers coach Jon Corbett. But several missed shots and fouls left Redmond with a five-point loss in the end. Tanner Manselle led Redmond with 18 points, and teammate Trevor Genz added 16 points of his own. Connor Lau contributed eight points for the Panthers. Redmond (9-10 overall, 2-3 SD1) will play at Portland’s Grant High on Tuesday in another Special District 1 contest.

Rogue Valley Adventist 64

Gilchrist 25

GILCHRIST — Trinton Koch led the Grizzles with six points. Gilchrist (3-12 overall, 1-8 Mountain Valley League) hosts Prospect on Tuesday.

Hosanna Christian 59

North Lake 31

SILVER LAKE — Daniel Suitter scored eight points to pace the Cowboy offense in North Lake’s Mountain Valley League defeat. The Cowboys (7-9 overall, 4-5 MVL) are at home Tuesday against Paisley.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hosanna Christian 42

North Lake 22

SILVER LAKE — Lesley Dark scored 14 points, but it was not enough as the Cowgirls fell to 4-5 in Mountain Valley League play. North Lake (9-8 overall) hosts Paisley on Tuesday.

Gilchrist 59

Rogue Valley Adventist 24

GILCHRIST — Ashley James scored 27 points and Brenna Gravitt added 17 points, 10 rebounds and six steals as the Grizzlies rolled in the Mountain Valley League victory. Gilchrist (9-9 overall, 5-4 MVL) hosts Prospect on Tuesday.

Trinity Lutheran 32

Gilchrist JV 15

GILCHRIST — Katie Murphy scored 13 points and recorded five rebounds and four steals in the Saints’ victory over the Grizzlies’ junior varsity squad. Trinity Lutheran of Bend is at Three Rivers Christian in Kelso, Wash., on Friday.

WRESTLING

Buffs win own invite

MADRAS — Four wrestlers claimed individual titles for Madras as the White Buffaloes won their own five-team Madras Invitational. Samuel Flores (113 pounds), Miguel Vasquez (132), Ethan Short (152) and Travis Williams (220) all won their weight classes in leading the Buffs to 185 team points. La Pine finished second with 172 points and Gladstone placed third with 127.5 points. Burns came in fourth with 127 points and Sisters ended the day in fifth with 29 points. The Hawks had five winners at the tournament as Zach Knabe (126 pounds), Deion Mock (145), Garrett Searcy (182), Kyle Contreras (195) and Travis Harrison (285) all won their weight classes. Madras hosts North Marion in a Tri-Valley Conference dual on Thursday, while La Pine is at Summit the same day.

Cougars take third place at South Albany Tournament

ALBANY — Mountain View scored 184 points to finish third among seven teams at the South Albany Tournament. Tualatin won the team title with 212 points, and host South Albany was the runner-up (210.5 points). Three Cougars wrestlers won individual titles: J.T. Ayers (106 pounds), Austin Beebe (182) and Trevor Roberts (195). Mountain View also benefited from runner-up finishes by Wyatt Slaght (113), Tracy Pitcher (120), Mack Amodeo (145) and Brian Chapman (285). The Cougars wrestle in the Civil War at Bend High on Thursday.

ALPINE SKIING

Coug, Storm skiers tops at Bachelor

MOUNT BACHELOR — Mountain View’s Kate Puddy and Summit’s Trevor Olsen won the girls and boys Oregon School Ski Association combined slalom events on Ed’s Garden at Mt. Bachelor ski area. Puddy topped runner-up Jordan Caine of Summit and Sophie von Rohr of Bend High. The Lava Bear girls placed first in the team standings at the event. Olsen bested second-place Jakub Sestak of Bend High and third-place Keenan Seidel, also of Bend High. The Lava Bears’ boys team placed first ahead of Summit in the team standings.