Cline had in her repertoire the experience of having gone 135 mph on a pair of skis.

Fear, therefore, never entered her mind Friday at the X Games. Her cool-headed approach to the event just might have been the deciding factor.

Combining the skills she's attained in skiing and mountain bike racing, along with the fearless mindset that came with her years as a speed skier, Cline won the inaugural gold medal in women's Skier X. Darian Boyle, no stranger to skiercross events, finished with the silver, while Patti Sherman-Kauf took the bronze.

With only a few practice runs and a qualifying run to get used to the course, Cline didn't worry to much about the fact five other skiers would be on the course with her once the racing began. She won her semifinal and then took the lead for good early in the final.

"I just think you need to be a strong skier, and I've been skiing since I was zero. My mom was pregnant with me and skiing," Cline said. "I started racing when I was four, and until I was 20. Then I went into speed skiing.

"I came in here to win. I got what I wanted."

Cline made it all the way to the 1992 Winter Olympics in speed skiing, which was a demonstration sport in Albertville, France. Her top speed of 135 mph was the fastest in North America and second-fastest in the world when she stopped speed skiing in 1994.

Her first Winter X Games could have included a crack at Biker X, but she opted to just ski the course the bikes used a day earlier. And after watching the Skier X practice and other semifinal, she new Boyle would be close if she dared take a look back at the field.

"I saw Darian ski in training, and I saw she was really good," Cline said. "But I was just going for all I was worth. I didn't know where they were. I was just concentrating on where I was going and standing up."

Boyle was happy to just be in the final after falling in the semifinal. The veteran of skiercross and boardercross recovered quickly enough from her fall to finish second to Sherman-Kauf in the semifinals.

"I was all but out of the competition, and now I'm second," Boyle said. "I had the worst gate (in the final), but I got the hole shot. I hit the whoop-de-do's, tried to suck it up, but (Cline) went right over me. I was tucking trying to catch her, but she's a speed skier, and there was no way."

Sherman-Kauf echoed the feelings of most of the women at the bottom of the hill.

"You know I wanted to win, but I had a tough start," said Sherman-Kauf. "So I'm happy. Most happy just to be standing."

Also reaching the final were Heather Paul (fourth), Francine Moreillon (fifth) and Jill Sickels Matlock (sixth).