Eileen Gu Goes First Overall as Inaugural X Games League Winter Draft Sets 2027 Rosters

On September 16, the landscape of professional winter action sports permanently shifted inside Cosm Los Angeles, as four-time X Games medalist Eileen Gu was selected first overall in the inaugural MoonPay X Games League winter draft. The selection by XC Golden State general manager Jonny Moseley kicked off a 40-pick process that formally organized the world's top freeskiers and snowboarders into four city-based clubs ahead of the 2027 season.[1][2][6]

"I think this league is going to be so big for our industry, for our sport, and my dream of bringing freeskiing to more people will be realized one step at a time with you guys," Gu said following her selection. Her placement at the top of the board was widely anticipated, given a versatile skill set that makes her a podium threat across halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air disciplines.[1][2][6]

The stakes for the evening were mathematically severe. More than 180 athletes opted into the draft pool, meaning fewer than one in four earned a guaranteed roster spot. The league's structural rules required each of the four franchises—XC Golden State, XC New York, XC Park City, and XC Whistler—to draft exactly ten athletes, strictly divided into five men and five women, while maintaining representation across both skiing and snowboarding.[1][2]

Following Gu's selection, XC New York general manager Dave Sypniewski used the second overall pick to secure 32-year-old Canadian snowboard icon Mark McMorris, the most decorated athlete in Winter X Games history. XC Park City followed by drafting Chinese snowboarder Yiming Su third overall, while XC Whistler closed out the first round's opening sequence by taking Canadian freeskier Megan Oldham at number four.[2][6]

The draft board quickly revealed how team managers weighed current competitive form against historical dominance in the new points-based format. While heavy hitters like Australian snowboarder Scotty James went early to join Gu at XC Golden State, several established veterans waited much longer than anticipated to hear their names called.[1][6]

Fifteen-time X Games medalist Alex Hall remained on the board until the 28th pick in the fourth round, when his hometown club XC Park City finally selected him. Kelly Sildaru, the second-most decorated female skier in the event's history, fell even further, dropping to the 38th overall pick in the fifth round before XC Park City added her to a roster that also includes freeskiers Birk Ruud and Mathilde Gremaud.[1][2][3]

The finalized 40-athlete field spans 14 countries and a massive generational gap. XC New York's roster pairs 14-year-old snowboard prodigy Patti Zhou with 32-year-old veterans like McMorris. The team-based structure means these athletes will no longer just chase individual gold; their placements in their respective disciplines will aggregate into a season-long points total for their clubs.[1][2][6]

The drafted athletes will debut their new club affiliations when the winter season opens at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, from January 29 to 31, 2027. The league will then cross the border to WinSport's Canada Olympic Park in Calgary from February 19 to 21—marking the first X Games event in Canada in 31 years.[1][6]

The inaugural winter club champion will be crowned at the season finale in Ruka, Finland, on April 11. For the 140-plus athletes who went undrafted in Los Angeles, the path to that championship now relies on securing free-agent starts at those individual tour stops, hoping to disrupt the established rosters.[1][2]

For the 40 who secured their spots, the focus shifts entirely to Aspen. Individual progression and trick execution remain the core of the sport, but for the first time, a crashed run or a missed podium will carry direct mathematical consequences for a team's place in the standings.[2]