One year after winning the silver medal at the Winter X Games in halfpipe, Bend snowboarder Ben Ferguson will be back in Aspen, Colorado, later this month to go for the gold this time around. But he also has even bigger goals.

The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, are a little more than a year away, and Ferguson is aiming to make the U.S. Olympic halfpipe team. He just missed out on making the elite squad for the 2014 Sochi Games.

“It’s definitely a priority of mine to make the team,” Ferguson, 21, said in an email to The Bulletin last week from Switzerland, where he was competing in a contest. “Not sure there’s a lot of good American halfpipe riders, but I think I’ve got a good chance at it.”

The X Games — which will likely include many who go on to compete in the Pyeongchang Games — are set for Jan. 26-29. The men’s snowboard halfpipe competition includes 12 invited riders, an international field made up of snowboarders from the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.

Featured in the event are Japan’s Ayumu Hirano — who won the silver medal in Sochi — and American Shaun White, a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Ferguson says it is hard to identify the riders who are currently the best halfpipe snowboarders in the world.

“But Ayumu Hirano is psycho, he goes big and is technical,” Ferguson says. “Shaun is amazing technically as far as amplitude and tricks go, but his style doesn’t do it for me. My homie Chase Josey (of the U.S.) has been slaying recently. But honestly it just comes down to who kills it on the day. It’s kind of anyone’s game right now in the halfpipe.”

Ferguson won the silver medal in the 2016 X Games after the contest was halted following just one run due to slow halfpipe conditions caused by a blizzard. Ben’s younger brother Gabe Ferguson, 17 and also of Bend, finished fifth. Matt Ladley, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, won the gold medal.

Ferguson’s run included two double cork 1080s, during which he flipped twice while rotating three times. He called it one of his best runs ever in the finals of a competition.

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.

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

This will be the fourth X Games for Ferguson, so he is accustomed to the buzz and huge crowds that turn out every year for the televised event staged under the lights at Buttermilk Mountain.

Ferguson no doubt wants to win gold in Aspen, but he claims his goal is simply to “land a good run and have fun.”

“I’m just trying to dial in some old stuff and get better at some tricks I can already do so I can do them in the pipe with confidence while competing,” Ferguson says.

Shortly after the X Games, Ferguson will take part in the Pyeongchang test event in a preview of the Olympic halfpipe competition.

Ferguson is also working on a snowboard film project while competing this season.

“Not sure how it’s going to end up but pretty stoked to be attempting to capture the whole season on film with a good buddy of mine,” he says.

Gabe Ferguson has competed twice in the X Games but was not invited for the 2017 event. He also hopes to vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2018 Games.

“It definitely is on my mind, but I’m trying to take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed,” Gabe says. “It’s going to take some hard work and determination for sure though.”

Gabe gives his older brother lots of credit for getting him to compete at such a high level in the halfpipe. The two grew up snowboarding together at Mt. Bachelor ski area and they have made some time for several powder days this season on their home mountain.

“My brother has definitely opened a lot of doors for me and has pushed me a ton,” Gabe says. “I don’t think I’d be where I am without him.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com

“I’m just trying to dial in some old stuff and get better at some tricks I can already do so I can do them in the pipe with confidence while competing.”— Ben Ferguson