White still topping himself, does 1260
ASPEN, Colo. -- At one point during his first run, as snow flew horizontally across the superpipe, Shaun White seemed to freeze in a midair pose.
The stylish stalefish 540 was merely a capper to a difficult routine that included consecutive 1080s, and the judges awarded the Carlsbad snowboarder 93 points.
It was a score that nobody else, on this increasingly stormy Sunday night, during the final event of Winter X Games 12, could come close to matching.
But it was one that White would shatter with his final run, which included consecutive 1080s, consecutive 900s and the first 1260 rotation in X Games history, earning a 96.66 -- second only to the 97.67 he scored in 2003.
On Sunday, all three of his scores were higher than any of the others, so if scientists were able to clone the red-haired megastar, they could have draped him in gold, silver and bronze, and who could complain?
“Once you put a good run down, the next time you want to bump it up and do the best you can do,” White explained, when asked about going for such a risky trick when there was still one rider left in the third and final round. “You know the scores can get pretty huge in that third run, so I thought that was the only way to go.”
Japan’s Ryo Aono, going after White, was unable to better his first-run score of 88, which was good for the silver.
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Snowball effect
White, who tied freeskier Tanner Hall with an Winter X Games-record seven gold medals, will leave Aspen with a 10-year contract extension with Burton Snowboards.
Some industry sources estimate it is worth, simply from a salary standpoint, at least $20 million.
Bryan Johnston, senior vice president of global marketing for Burton, would not reveal terms but acknowledged that in addition to salary, White receives a percentage of sales of Burton’s White Collection line of hard goods (boards, boots, helmets) and outerwear.
“If the White Collection continues to grow, he will make a significant amount of income,” Johnston said.
White and his brother Jesse, a creative designer, are forming a product staff at Burton’s Irvine office. They’re expanding the collection to include a children’s line, outerwear for women, and luggage.
Said White, who has been with Burton since he was 7: “It’s more of a project than I thought it’d be, but my brother is there to take over where I haven’t been able to be there, because I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to make all of that go down.”
Enter Sunday’s performance.
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Target shooting
White, 21, who before the new agreement with Burton was said to be earning $10 million annually through combined endorsement deals, is also expanding ties with Target, another of his corporate sponsors.
The Shaun White for Target collection will feature street clothes “I think are cool,” says White, a longtime fan of the superstore. “I’m just excited to be able to make some clothes my friends can buy that’s not going to drain their pockets as well.”
Could a shoe deal with, say, Nike, be far behind?
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Redemption for Rahlves
Daron Rahlves, among the most decorated U.S. downhill skiers, made up for his fall at last year’s skier X competition by outdueling Casey Puckett and four others to win his first X Games gold medal.
Rahlves, 34, passed Chris Del Bosco at the finish in the semifinals to make the six-man final, during which he led early and stayed in front.
“I still have a lot to learn,” he says of a discipline that involves tight, close-quarter racing. “My starts are pretty pathetic, but the long course played in my favor.”
Puckett, an Aspen resident and four-time Olympian, finished third, behind Canada’s Stanley Hayer.
Asked the difference between winning and finishing third, Puckett deadpanned, “$20,000.”
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Carnage on the course
Skier X is dangerous, and of the 36 male and female skiers who competed Sunday, 12 took nasty spills, and three were taken to Aspen Valley Hospital.
The second-to-last jump was the most notorious, launching skiers 25 feet above icy hard-pack.
In a men’s quarterfinal, Sweden’s Lars Lewen and France’s Enak Gavaggio came out of their crouches and flailed in midair for what seemed an eternity before slamming in separate thuds, skis flying.
“They know how to take air really well, and they’re almost always in the final,” Puckett said. “So to see both of them do the moon-chicken like that is pretty surprising.”
Lewen was diagnosed with a concussion and released. Gavaggio refused treatment from X Games staff.
Finland’s Juha Haukkala remained hospitalized because of a back injury. Austria’s Karin Huttary, who crashed during a women’s semifinal, remained hospitalized because of hip and pelvis injuries.
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Olympic ambitions
Skier X will make its Olympic debut in 2010 at Vancouver, and Rahlves said the only way he’ll try to qualify is if he can do so via a domestic tour, such as the Jeep King of the Mountain series.
Rahlves, married with new twins, is a three-time Olympian with 12 World Cup triumphs and 28 World Cup podium finishes.
Puckett, 35, a four-time Olympian, says he’ll “do whatever it takes” to make the Vancouver-bound squad.
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X crowds
Attendance for the four-day competition totaled 72,500, down from 76,150 last year, when weather was more accommodating.
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Results
* Men’s snowboard superpipe:
1. Shaun White, 96.66.
2. Ryo Aono, 88.00.
3. Kevin Pearce, 85.66.
* Snowmobile freestyle:
1. Levi LaVallee, 87.66.
2. Joe Parsons, 87.33.
3. Heath Frisby, 84.00.
* Mono skier X:
1. Kees-Jan van der Klooster, 117.77.
2. Tyler Walker, 121.52.
3. Chris Devlin-Young, 161.61.
* Women’s skier X:
1. Ophelie David, 92.19.
2. Hedda Bernsten, 92.70.
3. Magdalena Jonsson, 93.56.
* Men’s skier X:
1. Daron Rahlves, 86.05.
2. Stanley Hayer, 86.27.
3. Casey Puckett, 86.61.
* Men’s ski slopestyle:
1. Andreas Hatveit, 94.00.
2. Jossi Wells, 90.00.
3. Jon Olsson, 87.00.
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