With a daily venue capacity of 10,000 people and 13 million people watching online, X Games Aspen saw an assemblage of nearly 20 local, state, and federal agencies to provide resources to the event in case of an emergency. 

The Pitkin County Incident Management Team was stationed all weekend to aid X Games and Aspen Skiing Company, able to address anything from minor incidents to the worst-case scenario, like a shooting or bombing.

“Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in today, we do have to plan for the worst,” said the county’s Deputy Chief of Operations, Parker Lathrop, who is one of the coordinators of the incident management team.

Lathrop said the purpose of the team, which had 60 to 70 people ready to respond under its authority at any given point during the event, was to deal with incidents as minor as overly-intoxicated individuals or fights, to those qualifying as major public safety events.

The team had contingency plans for each public safety scenario that X Games could have encountered. 

For an overly-intoxicated individual, event security would escort the person out of the crowd if they’re cooperative, which Lathrop said they are most of the time. He said the incident management team might then take the individual to a detox facility on site and help get them a sober ride, or, if they’re a candidate, take them to the county detox facility near Aspen Valley Hospital. 

“Or, if they’re too intoxicated, they may end up in the hospital,” Lathrop said. “So, we’re trying to connect the needs of the person to the right resource.”

In the case of a fight, which Lathrop said hadn’t happened in some time, the incident management team might get involved as physical altercations tend to start crossing “that legal line.”

“It may involve people getting arrested,” he said. “It may involve them being cited.”

Should the worst-case scenario strike, the first priority of the incident management team is to stop the threat.

“Our job is to go out there and our job is to stop that threat as quickly as possible,” Lathrop said. “Second, once the threat is stopped — to supply aid to those who are injured.”

Once the team is able to stabilize the incident, it would work with different partners, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to investigate the incident, Lathrop said. 

“But first and foremost, we’re here for public safety,” Lathrop said. “That’s our goal and that’s our primary function. Everything else comes after that.”

Along with Lathrop, Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Alex Burchetta and Aspen Police Department’s Mike Tracey were the team’s coordinators. Pitkin County Emergency Manager Chris Breitbach also helped manage the team.

Aspen Ambulance Chief Gabe Muething served as the incident management team’s operation section chief.

“One of the things that you’re witnessing here is not common,” Muething said during a pre-X Games meeting at the Mountain Rescue Aspen offices in the Aspen Airport Business Center. “The partnerships in this group, if you notice this team … you see all of these different agencies working well together — police, fire, EMS, road and bridge, you name it. It’s not common for teams to be that way.”

On the national level, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which brought Explosive Detection Dogs, provided resources. The St. George, Louisiana Fire Protection District provided additional resources, having first developed a working relationship with a Pitkin County Incident Management Team member during Hurricane Helene in 2024.

The Colorado State Patrol, Colorado National Guard, Colorado Department of Public Safety, Colorado Department of Revenue Liquor Enforcement Division, Routt County public safety, and the Colorado Information Analysis Center, which monitored social media and online threats, were also present.

Local resources included law enforcement and other resources from Pitkin County, Aspen, and Snowmass, as well as resources from X Games, Aspen Skiing Company, Aspen Ambulance, Aspen Fire Protection District, Basalt Police Department, Grand Junction Bomb Squad, and the Aurora Police Department, which also brought an Explosive Detection Dog. 

“It’s not common for teams to be that way,” Muething said of the local collaboration. “We really have an amazing partnership in our community to be able to do that and feel like we can deal with just about any incident because of that.”

This story is from AspenTimes.com.