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The contest was all but over. Kevin Pearce sat in first place, and Shaun White sat in nearly last place, with falls in his first two runs. But White qualified first in prelims, which meant he would get the last go at it. He had one more chance.

In a made-for-TV moment, White put it together and landed his run clean. He pulled into the corral, threw off his helmet and replaced it with a much cooler black headband. he needed to look good for this moment. Pearce knew a usurping was possible, and came over for a shoulder bump, bro hug sort of thing. They watched the scoreboard. The verdict:

White beats Pearce by one point. A 91.66 to Pearce's 90.66. White becomes the first athlete in X Games history to win back-to-back pipe golds. The crowd goes crazy. End of story.

Not so fast. Complaints began immediately. ESPN's X Games announcer Todd Richards said on live TV he didn't think White's run deserved gold. Several pro snowboarders watching—standing next to me—said Pearce's run looked better, bigger.

And so the controversy begins.

At the press conference Shaun was asked what he thought about Richards' comments that he didn't deserve the win.

"Todd said this? I don't know, I saw his run at Snow Summit. They keep playing it on TV, " began White with a joke. But then he answered seriously. "I don't know. I mean, it's competition, it's judging. Kevin rode amazing tonight, and I felt like I rode really well, and we kind of leave it up to those guys [judges] to know what they're doing. I'm not up there. I'd rather put down a run and leave it to them, I think their job is harder than mine. But I thank the judges for digging my run and my style. I mean, I hoped it wouldn't be like that—I put myself out there with that rodeo first hit. It wasn't the easiest thing. I mean, yeah. [Turns to Pearce] What do you think Kev?"

"I think you killed it man," answered Pearce.

"Thanks buddy. I think you shredded in Europe," said White back, referring to Pearce beating him at the Burton European Open a couple weeks back in Switzerland. "We hug it out either way," said White.

Whether or not Pearce believes White's runs were better than his, he certainly wasn't going to come out and say it in front of the press. That's just not the Pearce style.

So let's break down both runs, hit by hit, and see how it looks on paper (er, computer screen).

Both are regular foot, both hit their frontside wall first:

Hit 1
White: Alley-oop backside rodeo
Pearce: Macking frontside air

Hit 2
White: Backside 900
Pearce: Mctwist

Hit 3
White: Frontside 1080
Pearce: Frontside 1080

Hit 4
White: Cab 1080
Pearce: Cab 1080

Hit 5
White: Frontside 900
Pearce: Frontside 900

Hit 6
White: Mctwist
Pearce: Did not have a sixth hit.

On paper, looking at technical merit, White is the winner. He fit in one more hit than Pearce, and rather than straight air the first hit, he did a very stylish and solid alley-oop back rodeo. But that's paper. When you watch Pearce's run, you see that he was clearly going bigger. His back-to-backs were much greater in amplitude, and arguably, style overall. But the judges went with White by a one-point margin. Who do I think should have won? It's a tough call because Shaun did get that extra hit and his run was more technical, but based on initial impression and just good ol' gut instinct, I'm going to side with Pearce. So there it is. Let the fire begin.

The final superpipe breakdown
1. Shaun White
2. Kevin Pearce
3. Antti Autti
4. Elijah Teter
5. Mason Aguirre
6. Steve Fisher
7. Andy Finch
8. Louie Vito

Part of the X Games experience is access. There's a laminate or a bracelet for every gate, every door, every rope you try to cross. A security guard waits at each corner, just waiting to pounce on you because you don't have the proper credential. "You can go here." "You can't go here." It's like being at some exclusive club where once you get past one velvet rope, there's another velvet rope to get past 15 feet later.

The DC viewing lounge at the base of the Superpipe is one such example of the many VIP areas here at the event. If you have an invite, you can enjoy a perfect pipe view from above, rather than fight for a glimpse with the masses below. It has a fully stocked bar, it's fully catered, and best of all...it's heated. And tonight, it's cold. It's also equipped with TVs, in case you need an extra look at a run. And why not throw a little gifting element in? Maybe you need a fedora or crisp new ball cap--you can pick up one of those too. So where will I be watching the finals tonight? Where ever my shiny credential will allow me to.

Mason Aguirre on what it'll take to win tonight:

It's hard to say for sure. Every contest has been different this year as far as what judges are looking for. Last night I was finally feeling on point, and practice went really well. I'm definitely feeling like I'm sizing up to the competition --like Shaun...and well, Shaun basically. I definitely held back last night on a couple tricks. I didn't want to throw all my tricks out there like Antti and Finch. I mean, I got in the finals yet I still have something saved up for tonight. I left out my back-to-back 1080s, switch alley-oop rodeos...so basically I'll try and get that back-to-back combo and just go bigger than I did last night.

Aguirre on the competition:

Louie Vito: Vito is really consistent. You're not going to see him fall very much. He's going to put a run down that he's going to land. I would say that he's definitely a threat.

Andy Finch: Finch is one of those riders that's just really explosive. He's either going to do well and win the contest or get last. Finch isn't the type of rider who's going to throw down a conservative run. I know he's dealing with some injuries right now--he's got a bunk ankle, a hurt shoulder, or wrist or something like that. But you know, he's a trooper. He knows how to fight for it.

Kevin Pearce: Kevin is dominate. Especially last year, and this year, and you know can't ever count him out. He had a little trouble with his run last night, but he got in there. He had that crash earlier this week, had to get stitches, had a sprained wrist and a concussion--so I'm sure it's been tough for him to block that out. But I think he'll make his adjustments, and be able to show everyone what he's capable of.

Antti Autti: Antti is also one of those guys who is consistent. He knows what it takes to put down a good run. Every once in a while he'll pull it--and he's won X Games before.

Elijah Teter: Elijah has that riding style that nobody else has, throwing in all those switch variations--and a lot of things that don't really get respected as much, because what he's doing kind of goes unnoticed. There's a subtlety to his riding, which to me is almost like a gem because now--I mean look at last night, he was doing 12-foot switch backside airs out of a pipe. It's good to see him get the love and the respect, because he's been trying to put that run together all season.

Steve Fisher: Fisher is one of those guys man--he's aggressive. He's one of those dudes that's just going to go for it, all three runs. You never know. He's won X Games twice, but he's also not made finals, he's had his struggles, and whatever, he's had his moments of glory. You never know.

Shaun White: Yeah dude, Shaun...you know...I don't want to be on the bandwagon with everyone else. "Oh he's so ridiculous!" Everyone already knows how good Shaun is. He knows it. I don't need to add to that list. At times it's a little frustrating, competing against him in every single final and every single contest for the last, like, four years now. I'd like to come out ahead tonight. For real. I'm not trying to make a claim or anything, but I definitely feel like his riding style isn't as on point as it used to be. Kevin's stepping up, Lago's stepping up, and all these other kids, but at the same time you know how good he is--that he has the best edge control of anybody, that he is smart about the way he rides and how he puts his run together. He's just very analytical about his mistakes and imperfections, and not a lot of people can do that. We'll see what happens.

The countdown has begun. It's down to the Superpipe final, which gets underway at 7:30 tomorrow night. Will Shaun take the cake? If he rides like he did in prelims, yes. Will Mother Nature give us break?

According to the weather nerds, no. Will a grown man show up to the event dressed as Winnie The Pooh? Highly likely. Will somebody throw a 1260 in the pipe final? Maybe.

What better way to celebrate your gold medal in slope, your new record for most medals, your record number of golds, and record number of slopestyle golds than to win the pipe prelims, like, two hours later. It almost looked too easy for Shaun White tonight—huge airs, big spins, all the ingredients, all on point.

If White comes swinging tomorrow like he did tonight, it's going to take an Obama-like performance from one of the other seven competitors—Kevin Pearce with perhaps the best shot—to bring him down. Although Pearce isn't having the season he had last year, he did just beat White at the European Open.

And then there's Steve Fisher. Oh. Him. As strong as Fisher looked tonight (he took second), does he have enough to bring Shaun down? Well, Fisher did dethrone King Shaun two years ago at WX 11. So he has that going for him. But I'm not putting my money on it.

Who else? Elijah Teter? Now THAT would be an upset. His runs are technical and among the most enjoyable to watch, but he doesn't have a Winter X win in him. If there were a best switch trick award, it could go to Teter for his switch methods. But there's not.

And Andy Finch? Maybe. He definitely looked good tonight, seemingly came out of nowhere and was boosting in usual Finch style, but he's a wild one, and unpredictable at that. And even though he put together a solid first run, he crashed in his second. He's also having ankle problems. Tough call.

Antti Autti? Actually, he could do it. He's Scandinavian. Never underestimate the Scandos.

Aguirre? Well, it's possible. He brought some game tonight. The amplitude was there, the tricks were there. He might have a chance.

And Vito? He's the ultimate wild card. Don't think that just because he qualified last means that he's not capable of a first place pull.

But yeah, I'm saying: it's them against White. He looked too good tonight to pretend otherwise.

Making the cut:

1. Shaun White
2. Steve Fisher
3. Elijah Teter
4. Mason Aguirre
5. Antti Autti
6. Kevin Pearce
7. Andy Finch
8. Louie Vito

Shaun White took gold today. And he deserves it. His winning run scored higher than any slopestyle run in X Games history. But there's only one reason why White won today—he was the only rider to gap the channel jump. Had he not made the trek across, Scotty Lago, who placed a close second, could have very well taken the grand prize.

Just compare the trick breakdown between the two riders:

Shaun White: Backside lipslide on the down rail, front 270 over the kink, back 180 up the butter box, cab 5 off, backside rodeo off the boner box kicker, cab 1080, backside 720 over the channel gap, to finish it off with a frontside 1080.

Scotty Lago: Frontside bluntslide on the down rail, front 270 over the kink, backside three up the butter box, back 180 off, switch backside rodeo, frontside 1080, backside 900, and yes--a super clean switch backside 1260.

White didn't have a 1260 (he tried and failed in his final run). But Lago didn't gap the channel. Close call? Very.

And Mikkel Bang, the third place winner, wasn't far behind the pack either, also landing a switch back 12 in his run. Chas Guldemond landed fourth, and he had a 1260 too. And five of the eight riders all scored 90 points or above.

What's the point to listing all this technical mumbo jumbo? It was the most intense slopestyle comp. Ever.

The final breakdown:

1. Shaun White
2. Scotty Lago
3. Mikkel Bang
4. Chas Guldemond
5. Peetu Piiroinen
6. Andreas Wiig
7. Tim Humphries
8. Jussi Oksanen

Shaun White made Winter X history in Saturday's men's Slopestyle Finals, locking in both the highest number of Winter X medals, Winter X gold medals and Slopestyle gold medals of all time. For every dollar Shaun makes on affordable, hip Tshirts at Target, there's a crusty snowboarder complaining that he's not true to the sport. But ... what if those people are totally wrong?

So Jamie, Janna and MFR were out of women's Slope, but I'll be damned if Spencer O'Brien, Megan Ginter and Jenny Jones weren't representing fully for all the sideways riding XY class.

Aspen claimed 11" of fresh overnight, but this is not your typical Coloradical pow. The fog has been rolling in and out throughout the afternoon, and temps have made the snowpack, and the Slope course, heavy, wet and nor'westerly awesome. "Everyone was saying we should call it off and go with the qualifying runs, and since I qualified first I was like, sure, let's do that. Then we got to the top and it stopped snowing so it was game on," said the 28-year-old Jones.

Spencer was out in front and sending 'er the biggest, but Seattle's Ginter and Britain's Jenny Jones were not far off her tail. Jones came through in the end with a 50-50, gap to 50-50, tail press, backside 3, frontside 3, straight air to frontside 7 from the men's tee on the last, 80-foot hit, breaking the 6-year-long Jamie/Janna curse to win gold.

She's stoked, to say the least, and shared an emotional victory hug with all the ladies at the course bottom. "To win the X Games is amazing. This is my third year here, and I've never been on the podium. This meant a lot to me."

While other riders were struggling to string together a run yesterday at the slope prelims, Chas Guldemond came in and straight killed it. Not once but twice he scored higher than any rider. Just check his line: half-cab 5-0 on the down rail, gap to frontside blunt on the kinked rail, frontside 180 on the butter box, frontside 180 off, and then to the jumps: backside rodeo, cab 9 stale, frontside seven to backside 9. Solid on its own, but nothing short than brilliant considering the harsh conditions. Today is the final showdown, and weather is just as bad if not worse. If Chas can keep it up like he did yesterday, he just might be on his way to X Games Gold.

So how stoked are you that qualified first in the slope prelims?

Definitely a nice surprise for sure. I felt really good about landing both my runs yesterday, putting up some good scores, and hard work and consistency is starting to pay off for me. I was super stoked to come in and make it through the tough weather.

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