Shaun White kicks off new league with visions of snowboarding riches on halfpipe

Shaun White's next trick might carry more risk than the flips and twists he pulled off for decades inside all those halfpipes he used to dominate. This time, it's about making magic — and money — for the generation of snowboarders who looked up to him for all those years.

This week in Aspen marks the debut of The Snow League — a $1.6 million US, four-stop halfpipe tour dreamed up by White and backed by deep-pocketed sports investors.

If successful, it will bring order to snowboarding's otherwise confusing competition schedule and usher in a new age for a sport that, for generations, held a wary view of riding for medals and money.

"I want to make it so you can have a decent season on the tour and make a great living, that's the goal," said White, expressing what seems obvious for almost any pro sport but hasn't always been so clear-cut in the world of halfpipe.

"I'd like to see a pathway," he said. "In traditional sports, it's like, you start as an amateur, then you play high school, and then go to college and get into the pros. For this, I want the same."

The world's most famous rider takes on a new role

White kicked off action Friday with an exhibition run through the halfpipe. His last official trip is now more than three years in the rearview mirror, when he capped off his fifth Olympics with an emotional farewell at the 2022 Beijing Games.

With the next Winter Olympics less than a year away — the first time since 2002 they won't include the sport's biggest star — it's clear the 38-year-old's three gold medals don't fully speak to the impact he's had on snowboarding, both on and off the mountain.

His appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2006 was the opening salvo on a mission to portray snowboarders as more