Little brother is undeniably making significant gains on big brother.

And on Saturday night, the two will go head to head on the biggest and brightest stage for snow sports this winter.

Snowboarders from Central Oregon will account for about 17 percent of the halfpipe field this Saturday at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, where Ben and Gabe Ferguson, both of Bend, will compete in a group of 12 invited riders.

Gabe, 16, finished third at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix on Sunday in Mammoth Mountain, California, where Ben, 21, was 24th. At last year’s X Games, Gabe made the finals and placed eighth, while Ben did not reach the finals.

But Gabe still defers to Ben, who narrowly missed a selection to the U.S. Olympic Team in 2014.

“If we both land a run he usually beats me,” said Gabe, reached by phone this week in Aspen. “The only time I really beat him is if he falls.”

Nearly 600 feet long and with 22-foot walls, the X Games halfpipe — referred to as the “SuperPipe” by the X Games — is regarded as one of the best in the world among pro snowriders. The international field includes riders from the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and 18-time Winter X Games medalist Shaun White is not on the start list, but the Fergusons will go up against two-time defending X Games champion Danny Davis.

Davis, 27 and of Truckee, California, is leading a movement within pro snowboarding that is focusing more on style and creativity rather than big-spin technicality, according to xgames.com. The Fergusons are following suit.

“I don’t want to go out there and just train on a trampoline and learn how to flip as many times as I possibly can,” Gabe Ferguson said. “I’d rather have fun snowboarding and learning more of the basic tricks that are still super hard.”

Ben Ferguson says he is trying to “follow in Danny Davis’ footsteps.”

“I think Danny winning the X Games the last two years is important, because it’s changing the way people look at the halfpipe,” Ben said in a video on xgames.com. “It’s not all the yolo flip or the triple cork (highly technical tricks). It’s more style influenced. I think judges are getting tired of the same flipping and spinning in the pipe. And there’s so much you can do in the pipe.”

In halfpipe, riders perform aerial tricks as they snowboard in and out of the pipe. They are judged on execution, variety, difficulty and amplitude.

New this year to the X Games, no qualifying will be staged in the halfpipe competition. Instead, scoring will be a best-of-three-run format among the 12 invited riders.

The Ferguson brothers — who grew up snowboarding together at Mt. Bachelor ski area — can learn from each other as they help to change halfpipe snowboarding and seek X Games medals on Saturday.

“Honestly, it’s been super nice,” Gabe said of having Ben nearby. “I feel like I have an advantage, having someone looking out for me and telling me if I’m doing good or not, and just being supportive. If I end up beating him I’ll be happy, but I always want to see him do good so I don’t really care that bad.”

Ben says it’s “always awesome” having his little brother around, but he downplayed the sibling rivalry aspect of their snowboarding careers.

“We’re buddies, and we just ride together and have fun,” said Ben via phone from Aspen. “I’m super lucky to have a brother who does the same thing I do. I just want to land a run, man. I don’t necessarily care if he beats me. If I do my best and land a sick run, I’ll be stoked either way.”

Saturday’s halfpipe finals start at 5:15 p.m. and are scheduled to be broadcast live starting at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

This will be the third X Games for both Fergusons, so they are not new to the buzz and huge crowds that turn out in Aspen every year for the event under the lights.

“It’s all lit up and there’s just tons of energy,” Ben said. “It’s always an awesome contest. You can hear all the people yelling and there’s all this energy up there. It’s pretty crazy. I guess I’m just not as blown away as I have been in previous years. I’m kind of more used to it. I’m not up there losing my mind because it’s my first X Games and I used to watch that stuff when I was a little kid. I’m a little more used to the pressure and all of that. It’s still a big one. There’s still lots of pressure and everything.”

Some of that pressure, no doubt, comes from having his kid brother on his heels.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com