Aaron Blunck wraps up comp season at Olympics

“I was going for Gold, I wanted to go for the win”

[  by Than Acuff  ]

After a successful season on the halfpipe ski competition circuit, Aaron Blunck’s season came to an abrupt close at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China when he crashed on his third and final run finishing the Olympics in seventh place. It was his third trip to the Winter Games.

When Blunck was headed to the event, he anticipated complete lock down and massive isolation at the venue due to COVID protocols. But when he showed up on February 10, he was pleasantly surprised. With testing still in place and everyone accounted for on a daily basis, the athletes were allowed to mingle within their village and catch up with friends from the halfpipe ski world that they weren’t really able to hang out with during the season.

“Once we got there, it was way more lenient and relaxed than we thought it was going to be,” says Blunck. “We could hang out with friends from other countries. Overall, it was pretty sick, the best Olympics I had been to.”

In addition, the athletes were treated to what Blunck considered an incredible halfpipe for training and the competition.

“It was the best pipe I’ve ever skied in my life,” says Blunck. “There was a T-bar right next to the pipe so you got an endless amount of laps in training.”

Blunck faced his first major test during the qualifier round where each skier was given two runs to make the cut for the finals. After falling on his first qualifier run, Blunck had to put down a quality second run if he wanted to reach the finals.

“I was pretty relaxed but that changed once I didn’t land my first run,” says Blunck. “I was thinking I would be so bummed if I was the only American who didn’t make the finals. I was so nervous.”

And while he didn’t necessarily need to put down anything remarkable to move on, Blunck seized the moment to put down the top run of the qualifier round and punch his ticket to the finals.

“That was a huge relief going into the finals and I was feeling good,” says Blunck.

But the weather turned and when the athletes arrived to the venue, they found freezing temperatures with random gusts of wind that had athletes on edge.

“Everyone was like, oh boy, this is going to be interesting,” says Blunck. “They had a wind screen that blocked the wind on your first two hits but as you got further down the pipe, it really started to affect things. It wasn’t necessarily the worst conditions we’ve seen but there were these strong random gusts.”

With no option for a weather delay even up for discussion, the contest was on as planned and Blunck was sitting in seventh place after his first two runs with plenty of crashes from everyone throughout the competition. While there was the option for Blunck to play it safe and go for a medal, he decided it was all or nothing.

“I was pretty relaxed during the first two runs but between run two and three I was like I have nothing to lose,” says Blunck. “I was going for gold, I wanted to go for the win.”

After his first two hits were spot on, the wind cranked up and he crashed into the side of the wall and was left motionless. After some tense moments, he started to move and was able to ski down. Following subsequent x-rays and some time after the competition, he was left with a substantial concussion and some bulging discs in his neck, but is on the mend.

“I’m not really bummed, I was proud of myself for going for it,” says Blunck. “What I’m most bummed about is that it was a poor representation of our sport because of the weather.”

Now he gets back to what he loves, freeskiing, including cat skiing with his wife Morgan and a filming trip planned with Blank Collective that will be a tour all over the west and into Canada. 

“Full on American road trip style,” says Blunck.