X GAMES ASPEN 2017 TELEVISION TALENT BIOS

Hosts: Jack Mitrani (@JackMitrani) Jack Mitrani is a professional snowboarder, entrepreneur, filmmaker, music festival producer and aspiring musician. He returns to host X Games Aspen.

Early in his career he got his start by producing gut-busting comedic skits, and has since refined professional action sports footage that broadcast greats such as ESPN, HBO and NBC have chased down through the years.

In 2008, Mitrani and friends Danny Davis, Dave Driscoll and Keir Dillon started the Frends Crew, all centering around the concept that “there’s no I in frends.” Initially, the crew consisted of seven pro-snowboarders who traveled the world, making funny videos and skits, while winning major snowboarding contests, and promoting that collaboration was more fun than doing it solo.

Born and raised in Long Island, Mitrani’s family moved to Vermont after he and brother/pro snowboarder Luke convinced their parents to allow them to attend Stratton Mountain School, where snowboarding was a part of the curriculum.

Allison Hagendorf (@AlliHagendorf) Allison Hagendorf is the Global Head of Rock at Spotify, as well as a national television host/live announcer and music journalist. She is the official host of the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve celebration, Times Square New Year’s Eve, seen by more than a billion television viewers across the globe. Allison also serves as the live announcer for both the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards, is the host of Refinery29’s “Be A Badass” series, and hosts The CrossFit Games Live Show.

Allison began her entertainment career in A&R at Sony Music’s Columbia Records and Epic Records. She recruited new talent globally, and oversaw the album production for many artists including metal band, Lamb of God, whose single “Redneck” received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.

Hagendorf then transitioned from working with bands in the studio to interviewing them on- camera. She hosted the live primetime music competition show on The CW Network, The Next, which was executive produced by hip hop icon Queen Latifah, and featured superstar mentors: Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas, Nelly, and John Rich. Allison also became the main host on Fuse, hosting numerous shows including Top 20 Countdown and Grammy Live, and traveled with Fuse across the country covering national music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Warped Tour, SXSW Music Festival, and Lollapalooza. She also hosted the first-ever live television broadcast of both The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and The Stagecoach Festival for AXS TV, and has co- hosted various shows on VH1, The Cooking Channel, and the MSG Network.

Commentators/Analysts Brandon Graham - Snowboard (@Brando_Graham) Brandon Graham returns to the X Games Aspen 2017 telecast team as play-by-play commentator for Snowboard Big Air, SuperPipe and Slopestyle. The Bay Area native has been a part of the X Games team since 2013, handling skateboard play-by-play for the summer events as well as broadcast duties for the World of X Games series on ABC. Graham previously served as the play-by-play voice of Rob Dyrdek's Street League Skateboarding.

He currently resides in Austin, Tex., with his wife, Nadia.

Craig McMorris - Snowboard @Craig_McMorris Craig McMorris joined the X Games Aspen telecast team in 2015 and is a professional snowboarder, member of the Shred Bots and older brother to six-time X Games gold medalist and Sochi Olympic Winter Games bronze medalist Mark McMorris.

A native of Regina, SK, Canada, Craig has competed in elite level events and is known for his outgoing and charismatic personality within the snowboard world. He has starred in his own unscripted television show on MTV Canada with his brother, McMorris & McMorris and got his broadcast break for CBC during the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, where he announced the Snowboard Slopestyle and Halfpipe events.

Luke Van Valin – Ski (@LukeVanValin) Luke Van Valin joined the X Games Aspen telecast team in 2015 as an analyst after being a live event announcer since 2007. He was also the Ski analyst for X Games Tignes from 2010-12. With deep roots in skiing, Van Valin skied professionally from 2003-2007 before transitioning into a career in live announcing in 2006, beginning with the Big Air event at the US Open in Vail, Colo.

Since then, Luke’s credits include announcing for virtually every competition in freeskiing, including the Sochi Olympic Winter Games 2014, Grand Prix competitions and more.

Originally from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Luke now lives in Denver, Colo. with his wife, Caitlyn, and daughter, Lochryn.

Tom Wallisch – Ski (@TWallisch) Making his debut with the X Games telecast team at X Games Aspen 2017, Wallisch is no stranger to the X Games, with ten X Games Aspen and Tignes appearances. Wallisch has one X Games gold medal from his most dominant season in 2012. He also won the overall Dew Tour and the AFP titles that year.

Growing up a weekend warrior with no formal ski background, Wallisch’s freestyle ski career blossomed when he made the move to Utah for college. He quickly gained recognition from major ski film companies with his grassroots video parts and was recruited to star in several productions.

Cameron Steele - Snowmobile A familiar and well-respected name in the Motocross industry, Cameron Steele is an accomplished motorcycle and trophy truck competitor, with victories as a Baja 1000 winner, multiple-time Parker 400 and Mint 400 winner and a 2010 short course series champion. Last year, Steele was 3rd overall at the Baja 1000 in his No. 16 Trophy Truck and this year finished on the podium in the Baja Rally Moto race after taking the day three overall win.

Steele has been a fixture of the X Games telecast team, joining ESPN as an analyst for his first X Games event in 1999 when Moto X Freestyle was first added to the X Games. Since that time, Steele has worked in front of the camera for multiple networks, including ABC, while continuing to compete in a number of different disciplines.

Steele resides in San Clemente, Calif. with his wife, Heidi, and daughter, Cameron Kay.

Chris Burandt – Snowmobile (@ChrisBurandt) Among the best all-around professional snowmobilers in the world, Chris Burandt fared well in Freestyle, SnoCross, HillCross and Hillclimb competitions before moving into the X Games television booth in 2010.

Burandt built his reputation as a precedent-setting free rider, participating in numerous snowmobile competitions and starring in many snowmobile-oriented action sports movies. He helped pioneer the sport of snowmobile freestyle in the early 2000s, scoring podium positions all over North America and the world, including gold in the X Games 2007 Snowmobile Freestyle contest.

In 2007, he founded a snowmobile touring company, Burandt’s Backcountry Adventure. The outfit operates in the mountains around Buena Vista, Colo., where Burandt lives with his wife, son and daughter.

Reporters: Victoria Arlen (@Arlenv1) Victoria Arlen will return for her second year at X Games Aspen as the features reporter.

In 2006, Arlen’s life drastically changed at the age of 11 when she developed two rare conditions known as Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. The conditions caused her to quickly lose the ability to speak, eat, walk and move. Though doctors believed there was little hope of survival and recovery, Arlen defeated the odds after almost four years of being in a vegetative state and began the near-impossible fight back to relearn everyday tasks and functions.

Despite facing the devastating reality of paralysis from the waist down due to damage to her spine, she has since become an accomplished motivational speaker, actress, model and competitive swimmer with three silvers and a gold medal from the London 2012 Paralympic Games. She has also broken multiple world, American, and Pan American records.

Arlen made the transition from professional athlete to reporter and joined ESPN in May 2015 at 20 years old to be the features venue reporter at the Special Olympic World Games in Los Angeles. In addition to her duties with the X Games and Special Olympic World Games, Arlen is also involved with espnW and SportsCenter.

Jen Hudak (@jenhudak) Making her debut as an analyst and reporter for the X Games Aspen 2017 telecast team, Hudak is a veteran with five X Games medals in her trophy case.

Hudak began her ski career in the backyard of her family’s Mt. Holly, Vt. home. After mastering the backyard, Hudak joined the freestyle team at nearby Okemo Mountain by age 11. Looking to take her skiing to the next level, she enrolled in Okemo Mountain School so that she could be on snow all season long. It was here she fell in love with halfpipe skiing and in 2004 landed on the top of the podium in her first major competition at the US Freeskiing Open. Hudak dominated from 2007 to 2011, topping podiums around the world, including gold at X Games Aspen and X Games Europe in 2010. She was also nominated for an ESPY award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete and was a two-time Association of Freeskiing Professionals halfpipe world champion.

A marketing account manager and student at the University of Utah, Hudak currently resides in Park City.