Commuters on the Bay Bridge this morning got a perfect view of the Snowboard Big Air jump rising 95 feet above Pier 32 on the San Francisco Wharf just south of the . The entire Pier has been turned into a circus of "extreme sports" as the X Games moved into San Francisco.

Under perfectly blue skies and 70 degree temps, X Games day one featured Snowboard Big Air practice in the morning with Vert Skateboarding Practice and Preliminary rounds still to come this evening.

Kendall Whelpton

Peter Line, Mikey Basich, Ben Hinkley, Chris Engelsman, Kevin Jones, Kendall Whelpton, Morgan LaFonte, Tina Dixon, Tara Dakides, Barrett Christy and the rest of the big air crew made runs on the freshly snow-covered jump getting ready for Saturday's finals.

Dave Duncan and Gordy Johnson practice some live calling and Kris Jamieson and GT warmed up for their live ESPN call tomorrow morning.

The riders were pretty stoked on the jump. "This year's jump is pretty much that same as last years in San Diego," Ben Hinkley said. "The only difference is that they moved the start up about 12 feet."

No one had any real problems making it to the landing. Chris Engelsman came up short on one and had to jib the pads to get to the landing. On his next practice run he rocked a little more speed.

A view from atop the snowboard big air jump.

As usual Peter Line was ruling. He landed 30 feet further down than anyone else and stomped his landings. "It's a good jump," he said.

Everyone was trying different airs to see what would work best. Ben Hinkley pulled out the Lawn Dart, KJ pulled the 900 and the "Chicane." Mikey Basich did his backflip threes. Tara Dakides worked on some sevens, one time coming a little close to the announces tower

The only big scare came on Morgan LaFonte's first jump. She was a little worried at the top. "I haven't even been on my snowboard for two months," she said. "So I think you might see the old standby."

Moments later she dropped in and threw the backflip first jump. She over-rotated and landed flat on

GT, Morgan LaFonte, and Kris Jamieson.

her back. A collective groan went up from everyone up on the jump. But after a minute Morgan was walking back up to the top to jump again. "I landed right on my back," she said. "I thought it was going to be pretty bad, but the snow is so soft."

The one thing no one really wanted to talk about was what if the "big one" hit while the Big Air was going on. Common wisdom was to be on the side of the jump closest to the water so when the whole thing fell over we'd be able to jump for the bay. As they say at Cal Tech, it could happen at any time.

X Games continues with Snowboarding Big Air Finals Saturday at 11:00 AM. For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Vert and Street Skating events tune into Skateboarding.com.