Previously at the 99 X Games:
Day 3: Palmer Wins Boarder Cross
Day 2: Women's Halfpipe
Day 1: The Greatest Circus on Snow

The much anticipated big snow dump of the season finally came to the Crested Butte X Games, unfortunately it started right in the beginning of the slopestyle finals, which wasn't such a good thing for a lot of the competitors. This didn't stop slopestyle gold medalist Peter Line however, probably because he is a Washington state native and thrives on lousy conditions.

The slopestyle was a Forum-fest of showdoggery with the entire Mack Dawg crew from Decade hucking and jibbing their way down the slope. The run started with a big air hit at the top, a second hit in the middle, and that you missed if you weren't totally on it the first hit, a sort of spine like corner hit that dropped into a flat city-style course with whoops. This was the area where the skate style came in as riders had a choice between a mail box or a rail, then through some whoops, olly a picnic table, then more whoops into a super tall rail. After dropping off that riders had two more big air jumps into the finish.

While most everyone seemed to enjoy the course, especially the middle section, many had trouble with the first hit, especially as conditions slowed dramatically with the new snow. Each competitor had three runs, with a combined total of the best two out of three. This took the tension off in the beginning as riders started off hucking big, then got more conservative as they got used to the slower course and the judges scoring.

The younger competitors like J.P. Walker, Jeremy Jones, and BJ Leines, while hucking some pretty impressive stuff, just couldn't pull off the high scores and tended to have some of the most specatcular yard sale wrecks. But since they learned from the master of competitive slopestyle huck, Peter Line, they definitely gave it the all or nothing technique of pushing it. In the end it was smooth flowing, cleanly stomped runs by Peter Line, Kevin Jones, and Jimmy Halopoff that won the medals.

"That was the best slopstyle course I have ever been in," said Line after winning. "Slopestyle is my favorite competition because it really forces you to use the mountain and ride clean. I go for it as much as I can because there is no point in holding back in slopestyle."

To take the win Line had two amazing runs, cleanly stomping his switch rodeos and jibbing and rail sliding perfectly through the park. His last run, however, was a total blow up, but since no one could top his first two runs, he was awarded with gold. Jones and Halopoff had both been looking strong throughout the practice and looked like they had a good chance of stomping the young Utah posse. Chris Engelsman and Jason Borgstede had some nice hits, but in general seemed to be riding stronger in the practice and might have been affected by the increasing snow as the afternoon wore on.

Halopoff took a hard fall in the practice, sliding off the big handrail and "ringing his bell" a bit, but somehow pulled it together for the competition. Jim Rippey, Kevin Sansalone and one of the only Euro competitors Joni Makinen, rode well in practice, but didn't quite huck their way into a medal. Chad Otterstrom and Blaise Rosenthal also had some trouble.

In the women's division the win went to Tara Dakides, who spent the morning practice impressing everyone with her ability to fully jib the park, including the tall hand rail, which no other girls did quite like Dakides. Also, her backflips and lofty straight airs seemed to set Dakides apart from a lot of the other women who were having a little trouble utilizing the entire course.

Barrett Christy pulled out the smooth-style, launching some big straight airs off the jumps, slid the rails and mailbox, and landed herself a silver medal. Jaime MacLeod and Jessica Delpiaz battled it out for the bronze, but in the end it went to MacLeod, who was pleased with the win after coming back from an injury that has had her out since last summer.

Overall the slopestyle course seemed to work pretty well for the men, however, the weather and lack of snow all season weighed heavily on the course. Competitors did the best they could with the elements and put on a good show that we will probably be seeing over and over on ESPN for the next year. Sunday wraps up the X Games with the halfpipe and the big air.