"Skiboarding, a sport that didn't even exist until 1995, had suddenly become legitimate," the New York Times reported after the 1998 Winter X Games, which featured the first formally staged international skiboarding competition.

Skiboarders, who came to the sport from a variety of backgrounds including skiing, snowboarding and aggressive in-line skating, took to the slopestyle course.

The athletes displayed style, amplitude, variety, difficulty and use of course. New York's Mike Nick dazzled the six in-line skating judges, as well as an awe-struck audience to secure the gold in the inaugural event.

Canadian National In-line champion Dave Jarvis won the silver medal with a set of unconventional skiboards that resembled mini-sleds. They worked fine for Jarvis and, when a sport is so young, what does "conventional" mean, anyway?

Both Nick and Jarvis are scheduled to join a field of talented qualifiers who got through a Dec. 19th contest in Stratton, Vt.

The 1999 Winter X Games will host 20 skiboarders in the triple air competition as they shoot for a $10,000 purse with a $4,000 first-place prize in a sky's-the-limit battle.