Pitkin commissioners approve one-year special-event permit for X Games 2026 with new conditions on reporting

Pitkin County commissioners agreed informally to issue a one-year special-event permit for the X Games at Buttermilk, scheduled Jan. 23–26, 2026, while asking staff to return with a clearer process for documenting carbon-mitigation measures.

The county’s community development staff and X Games organizers told commissioners that the event will shift to a Friday–Sunday weekend; daytime competitions and music will be free to the public, and night events will be ticketed. Jeff Hermanick, senior director of live event operations for the X Games, said the event will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC and will be “the last event for many of the Olympians…prior to them leaving to go to Italy.” He told the board the X Games will be their 25th consecutive year at Buttermilk.

Commissioners emphasized public-access and operations details that will be included in the permit and questioned environmental impacts. The X Games team said there will be no public parking on site, buses will be used again for spectator transport, and the event has proposed a maximum of 10,000 spectators per event day — up from a permitted 8,000 per day in 2025. Organizers also confirmed that snowmobile competitions will return on Panda Peak and that the mountain lift serving the Panda Peak competition will not be available for public use during those events.

The board sought more information about motorsports and air emissions. Commissioner Greg pressed organizers on engine size and carbon mitigation, saying he wanted “to see that before I vote for this.” Hermanick said event organizers could not immediately answer specifics on carbon offsets and committed to returning with additional information; John Rigney of Aspen Skiing Company (an event partner) described existing community-serving programs — including composting and school visits — and said the ski company and X Games want to “leave it better than how we came into it.”

County staff proposed — and commissioners accepted as direction — that the permit process be amended to flag climate and carbon-mitigation reporting as a condition or an item to be provided with future permit applications. A staff member told commissioners, “We can put it as a condition in the permit,” and suggested the county would flag that requirement through its permit-tracking system so it appears in future reviews.

Organizers described ticketing mechanics for 2026: daytime mountain access up to ~4 p.m. will be free and open to locals and visitors; security sweeps will clear non-ticketed viewers before evening ticketed sessions begin around 5 p.m.; early-bird evening tickets will be offered beginning Sept. 30, with discounted pricing for local Roaring Fork Valley residents based on credit-card billing address verification.

No roll-call vote on the permit was recorded in the transcript of the work session; commissioners signaled support for staff to issue a one-year permit with the requested operational details and with the new reporting/condition asked by the board. Staff said they will add a condition or tracking flag to the permit file so climate mitigation information will be brought forward with future applications.

The commissioners also asked organizers to continue coordination with the incident management team (IMT), local law enforcement and transit providers; IMT representatives said they plan to stand up the same incident-management structure used in prior years. Organizers said they will publish the full sports and music lineup on the Sept. 30 ticket-release date.

The board’s direction leaves the permit limited to one year and sets an explicit expectation that applicants return with a carbon-mitigation plan or report in advance of any subsequent permit consideration.