January 30, 2007 Shaun White, Tanner Hall, and more of the action sport elite squared off this past weekend, for the 11th edition of the Winter X-Games, held for the sixth time at Buttermilk resort in Aspen, Colorado. The event showcased over 250 of the world’s biggest athletes, including 28 Olympians—most of whom can’t even buy beer.

Among the highlights, Andreas Wiig snagged the gold in the Snowboard Slopestyle competition, dethroning X-Games golden child, and Outside February cover story subject, 20-year-old, White. White took home the gold in event for the last four years, but had to settle for a bronze this weekend. Jussi Oksanen took silver.

Wiig, the 25-year-old 2006 silver medalist from Norway, had a flawless run in the 500- foot-long, 16-foot-deep pipe course, and won with two can 900s, a mute grab seven, and a frontside 1080 indie, according to EXPN.com.

Shaun “The Flying Tomato” White also stood a few inches lower than normal on the SuperPipe podium, finishing second to 24-year-old Steve Fisher. Fisher, who took home the gold in 2004 but had not seen a podium since, turned out to be this year’s dark horse champion.

Friday night’s Ski SuperPipe Men’s Final turned out to be a western-style high noon standoff between 23-year-old freestyle star Tanner Hall and 20-year-old Simon Dumont. Hall, a six-time X-Games gold medalist, and Dumont a two-time champion, traded high-speed technical spins and big-air style that resulted in a seventh gold metal for Hall.

In the women’s events, Canadian Sarah Burke took home the gold in Ski SuperPipe on Friday night, and Aussie Torah Bright, who finished fifth in Torino, took the gold in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe.

The Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle title went to 16-year-old Jamie Anderson, who stole the title for youngest X-games medalist from Shaun White last year. Anderson, who is just finishing up 11th grade, is no stranger to the podium, with four slopestyle competition wins this year and one big air championship under her belt.

The first X-Games competition was held in 1995 in Rhode Island, and included hair-raising events like bungee jumping, in-line skating, skysurfing, and street luge. Eleven years later, the winter event has become a bit more streamlined, hosting 15 events in snowboarding, skiing, and snowmobiling categories only.

This year, ESPN added the Snowmobile Freestyle event to the lineup, as well as the first Mono-Skier X event for the top 16 disabled sit-skiers in the world. The Mono Skier X course featured tabletop jumps, banked turns, rollers, and gap jumps. In the women’s and men’s combined event, Olympian Tyler Walker took home the gold.

The Snowmobile Freestyle competition included ten riders and jumps ranged from 45- to 100-foot gaps. The first-ever Freestyle championship went to 28-year-old sled veteran Chris Burandt.

Kristin Rust, Director of Public Relations for Aspen Skiing Company, told Outside Online that 76,150 spectators came out for this year’s games.

“We had gorgeous weather,” Rust said, “and 16 inches of snow the weekend prior to the event.”

Rust told Outside Online that the evening events finished up around 10:30 p.m. nightly when the crowd was shuttled to the Aspen Skiing Company and ESPN sponsored Après X free concert series. Performances by Everclear, Common, and Satellite Party were held in Wagner Park, in downtown Aspen.

According to Katie Moses Swope, Director of Public Relations for ESPN X-Games, Aspen will continue to host the Winter X Games until 2010. "The sponsors love Aspen and the athletes love Aspen," Swope told Outside Online. "It is a world-class venue and a great place for us to build courses."

For more event highlights and detailed results, head to expn.com

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