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Shaun pulls a backside rodeo on his way to Slopestyle gold.

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

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