Colten Moore's Spine Damaged After Nearly Achieving Double Backflip At X Games

Feb 13, 2017

Colten Moore more has been a competitor at the Winter X-Games for eight years

Colten Moore on his freestyle sled at an earlier Winter X Games

K&N-supported action sports athlete Colten Moore suffered a serious back injury at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, attempting to become the first to land a double backflip on a snowmobile in competition. Colten over-rotated the sled which landed hard on its belt, bucking Colten off the sled.

Medics attended to him for several minutes before transporting him to a local hospital. Colten gave a thumbs up to the spectators as medics moved him to the awaiting ambulance.

The 27-year-old Texan was flown to a Denver hospital where emergency surgery was performed to repair a dislocated T-12 vertebra. Unfortunately, the dislocation also bruised his spinal cord.

“Colten had successful surgery yesterday to treat a lower back injury,” the family said in a statement. “He is resting and recovering well, and he and his family appreciate all of the support, well-wishes and prayers from his fans.”

Rehabilitation costs will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The non-profit company Road 2 Recovery, an organization that supports severely injured action sports athletes has established a fund at #HelpColtenRecover, accepting donations to support Colten’s recovery from friends, fans, and members of the action sports industry.

Colten, a six-time snowmobile X Games medalist, was the second rider to attempt a double backflip, a trick that had not been successfully performed in previous X-Games as it requires riders to rotate their 500-pound snowmobiles a full 720 degrees. He and competitor Heath Frisby were both attempting the trick during Sunday’s competition on Buttermilk Mountain outside of Aspen. Both managed to rotate their sled twice but were unable to stick the landing. Frisby was knocked off his sled after crashing and walked away. He did not attempt another run.

In total Colten Moore has won six X-Games medals - three gold, one silver, two bronze

Colten with the his first X Games Gold, winning Freestyle Snowmobile

It’s not been an easy road for the Moore family. In 2013, Moore’s brother, Caleb, then 25 years old, under-rotated on a single backflip at the Winter X Games in this event, the 500-pound snowmobile slamming down on top of him. He sustained a concussion and bleeding around his heart, which led to a secondary complication with his brain. He died a week later. 30 minutes after Caleb’s run, Colten separated his pelvis during a failed attempt at a single backflip.

The organizers of the X Games dropped the “Best Trick” contest from future events just weeks after the 2013 event but had brought it back for 2017.

In a 2016 interview with K&N, Colten had this to say about his brother: "Every time I go out and ride, I pray to my brother, I pray to God, and I talk to them," said Colten. "After his accident, I wrecked too, so I wasn't able to ride for a while, and I was kind of bummed out. But honestly, the first time I hopped back on a quad and got to ride, it was the happiest I'd felt in a while, and it felt like he was right there with me, riding with me. I just feel close, like I have the best guardian angel there could possibly be now, right there, watching out for me and helping me."

Colten Moore returned a year later to the 2014 X Games, and won two medals including gold in the freestyle competition.

Everyone at K&N Filters wishes Colten Moore a speedy, successful recovery and are all looking forward to seeing him out competing again soon.

K&N PRODUCT SEARCH

WHERE TO BUY K&N