White wins gold in snowboard superpipe at X Games

ASPEN -- Order has been restored in the snowboarding world. Shaun White is atop the Winter X Games podium again.

The “Flying Tomato” broke a mini slump Sunday by overcoming blustery conditions to win the snowboard superpipe finals of Winter X Games 12 at Buttermilk Mountain.

White, 21, of Carlsbad, Calif., took the lead for good on his first of three runs, and runner-up Ryo Aono of Japan and third-place finisher Kevin Pearce never challenged the 2006 Olympic gold medalist.

“It feels great,” said White, who had two bronzes and a silver in his previous three Winter X competitions. “It’s hard to win every time. It’s nice to take a loss so you get better and you dig deep.”

Driving snow and 25-mph winds prevented White from gaining maximum amplitude and speed on his first run.

It didn’t matter.

White performed a McTwist, a 540-degree revolution in a backside direction with a front flip, then back-to-back 1,080s, tricks with three rotations. He finished with a frontside 540, a trick with 1½ rotations, for 93 points.

He had a 91.66 on his second run. He recorded a 96.66 — the second-highest score in Winter X history behind the 97.67 he posted in 2003 — on a third run highlighted by a 1,260, a trick with 3½ rotations.

“Once you put a good run down, the next move is to try to bump it up,” said White, whose seven golds are tied for the most in Winter X history with Tanner Hall. “I knew (Aono) was coming down, and I know scores get pretty huge on last runs. I just threw (the 1,260) out there and got it done.”

Skiing slopestyle

Norwegian Andreas Hatveit rebounded from a crash on his first run with a flawless second run to beat New Zealander Jossi Wells and Jon Olsson of Monaco.

Hatveit started his second run with a backflip and a switch 1,080. He finished it with a switch 1,260 off a big kicker.

“I was falling apart,” Hatveit said. “I was like, ‘Chill, do another practice run.’ And I landed it. I’m stoked as can be right now.”

Mono Skier X

Buoyed by large amplitude on his final jump, Kees-Jan van der Klooster knocked off defending champion Tyler Walker and Chris Devlin-Young.

“Being on television is the best possible thing for the sport,” van der Klooster said of the second-year event that aired on ESPN. “For an adaptive sport to be introduced at an able-bodied competition is incredible.”

Snowmobile freestyle

Levi LaVallee executed a near-perfect backflip in the championship round, edging Joe Parsons by 0.33 of a point. Heath Frisby took third.

“It’s unreal,” LaVallee said. “I didn’t think I would make it in the top four. Once I made it, anything above that was a bonus for me.”