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Cody YorkJamie Bestwick in State College, Pa. Launch Gallery »

The 2012 vert season kicked off last month at X Games Asia in Shanghai, China, minus one very noticeable vert rider, Jamie Bestwick. He was at home, in State College, Pa., seemingly not too concerned with flying halfway around the world to enter a vert contest. It's a luxury that Bestwick, age 40, can afford. The only rider to five-peat in BMX Vert in X Games history, not to mention the owner of seven year-end Dew Cups for BMX Vert, Jamie Bestwick has remained virtually untouchable on the vert ramp for nearly the past decade. And he shows no signs of slowing down. This year, Bestwick will travel to X Games Los Angeles focused on achieving a record six-peat wins in BMX Vert, on top of serving as on-air talent for NBC during the London Olympics, riding the 2012 Dew Tour series, and racing motorcycles and cars in various events throughout the world. But before his year gets too hectic, we decided to pay him a visit in his adopted hometown of State College, Pa. While there, we witnessed the awesome spectacle that is a Jamie Bestwick vert session, and also sat down to discuss his life as the reigning champion of X Games BMX Vert. Welcome to the Jamie Bestwick interview.

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For the past several years, former factory Supercross racer Billy Laninovich was the unfortunate victim of injuries and industry drama that kept him sidelined and off the bike. According to Laninovich, getting hurt in the middle of the 2009 Supercross season was "pretty much the end of my career." But things change. This past December, Laninovich returned to Supercross, finishing ninth overall for the 2012 season. And now, Laninovich is gunning for a spot at X Games Best Whip. With freeride skills on par or beyond with many FMX riders, Billy Laninovich just might have a shot at Best Whip glory. Check the video above for the proof.

Keith TreanorMat Hoffman will be inducted into the National BMX Hall of Fame in early June.

BMX vert, street, park and industry legend Mat Hoffman is among the recognized inductees into the 2012 National BMX Hall Of Fame, which also includes pioneer BMX racer John Palfreyman Jr., BMX racer Eric Carter, BMX photographer Windy Osborn and the 2008 United States Olympic BMX team. Hoffman is being inducted under the "BMX Freestyler" category.

The 2012 inductees will come together under the Olympic Flame at the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. on June 16, for the 2012 National BMX Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner.

Hoffman, who was either skydiving or clicking cancan lookbacks on his backyard vert ramp, was not available for comment. His contributions to BMX freestyle, should go without saying. But since some of you out there may have arrived on the scene after Mat stopped competing and underwent years of issues with his shoulder and knees, let me try to summarize everything Mat has done.

MRZOmar Hassan in mid feeble at speed.

A quarter century is a long time to be rolling upright on a skateboard. But to have the same shoe sponsor for that long? There're only a select few who can claim that -- Omar Hassan is one of them. This year Omar is celebrating 25 years with the waffle print. As far as Vans riders who have consistently remained at the forefront of skateboarding, only Steve Caballero has a brand legacy greater than Omar.

"Omar Hassan has been on Vans longer than anyone else named Omar. Hell, almost longer than anyone not named Omar, too," says Justin Regan, Vans skate marketing manager. "He's been rocking the side stripe for 25 years now and in those two and half decades he's managed to see every inch of the globe and shred every type of terrain put in front of him. Omar is the blueprint, prototype, all-terrain skater that we are starting to see more of emerging these days. He's not a bowl skater nor a vert skater nor a street skater; he's simply a skateboarder and one of the best ever."

A couple years after Omar joined Vans, Blockhead Skateboards turned him pro. After a short tenure at Blockhead he rode for Acme, then joined Black Label Skateboards in 1996, where he's been ever since. Along the way, Omar has endured skateboarding's ups and downs and forged a reputation for being tough and consistent. If there were ever any doubters, they were silenced by Omar's marathon runs each year at the Pro-Tec Pool Party, where his lines mix 540s, head high Madonnas, 5-0 grinds to fakie through the corners and heelflip frontside airs in every pocket of the pool.

The Pro-Tec Pool Party runs this Saturday, May 12, at the Vans Skatepark in Orange, Calif. ESPN.com caught up with Omar to talk about the comp, his staying power at Vans, and growing up in Southern California.

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To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Etnies and Ryan Sheckler's Sheckler Foundation held the third annual Skate for a Cause skate jam and best trick contest at the Etnies Skatepark in Irvine, Calif., Saturday, to benefit the A.skate Foundation.

Courtesy EtniesRyan Sheckler, Crys Worley and Gretchen Sheckler.

It was an all-star event with tons of the biggest names in skateboarding shredding the park, cool give-aways by some of the top skate companies and fun rides and contests for all the kids to wig out on.

At the end of the day, The Sheckler Foundation raised $50,000 for the A.skate Foundation which helps kids autistic kids learn to skateboard. An all around great day for a great cause.

Peter MorningTop ski and snowboard athletes are already preparing for next contest season. Launch gallery »

The U.S. Freeskiing and Snowboarding teams have been at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., this week for a spring training camp at one of the few ski areas still left open for the winter season. Both halfpipe and slopestyle skiers and snowboarders have been sessioning Mammoth's park, pipe and airbag with coaches to get a jumpstart on tricks for next winter's contest season. The first events of the 2012-13 season start this summer in New Zealand, where FIS World Cup ski and snowboard events at New Zealand's Cardrona Alpine Resort in August will serve as some of the first qualifying events for the 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi, Russia.

"After a long season of competition it's so nice to be out here in Mammoth just hitting perfect jumps," says skier Tom Wallisch. "This season couldn't have gone any better for me and I am stoked to have some chill training time just riding spring conditions and working on tricks."

Adds snowboarder Kelly Clark, "There is a three hit pipe with the end cut off where we can drag the airbag from the front side wall to the backside wall every other day. There is a lot of progression going down, and we are going to see great things come out of this camp.

It came as no surprise when it was announced, today, that Bastien Salabanzi grabbed the final roster slot in 2012's Street League. Just two weeks ago, the voting for the European EU Selection spot began through the DC Embassy video contest. Fifteen European pros were given 12-hours to film their best part for kids to vote on and this reporter assured both you, the reader, and Rob Dyrdek himself, (owner/creator of Street League), that Salabanzi winning was a foregone conclusion. And as is always the case, I was correct. His tricks were simply harder and more impressive than anyone else and realistically, he was the only European that could stand a chance against the high caliber pros such as Nyjah Houston, Sean Malto and Chris Cole.

Torin Yater-Wallace, 16, burst onto the scene last year when the Aspen, Colo., native landed on the podium in Ski Halfpipe at Winter X Games Aspen. This year, he came back to earn a silver medal in Aspen and then a gold at Winter X Tignes. "I can't believe I just won," Yater-Wallace said after winning in Tignes, France. "It's been my goal for my entire life." In this video edit, Yater-Wallace and his sponsor Target did a helicopter film shoot in the Winter X Games pipe at Buttermilk.

InstagramBrian Hunt in Shanghai, China, after breaking his right scapula in practice at X Games Asia 2012.

During BMX Street practice in X Games Asia on April 27, DK Bicycles/Orchid Footwear pro Brian Hunt was casually messing around on the street course (he was invited to ride vert) when he fell and broke his right scapula bone. Hunt, 27, was attended to by the medical staff, and taken to the hospital with a translator.

After X-rays, some back and forth about surgery in a Shanghai area hospital and $150 USD payment from Brian for treatment, Hunt was allowed to leave the hospital with a new cast -- a plaster cast applied over the same t-shirt he had been wearing while riding the same day. The cast wrapped around his torso, over his shoulder and held his right arm in place.

When we left off last month with action sports star Travis Pastrana, he finished a respectable 22nd at Richmond International Raceway in his debut race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. [He also finished 23rd a day earlier after spinning out in the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series race at Richmond.]

As Pastrana gets ready for his second Nationwide race -- and tries to remember to slow down in pit lane -- Friday at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., ESPN takes a look at the family atmosphere in which he grew up. Enjoy the video above to give you a glimpse into Pastrana's relationship with his father, uncles and other members of his family in Annapolis, Md.

After this weekend, Pastrana has a K&N race May 19 in Iowa before doing double duty May 26 in Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series and the first Global RallyCross event of the year.