�It was a tough one,� said Line Oestvold of her win at the Vans Championships at Snow Summit, California. The event was the second stop on the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding tour.

Line leads the pack in the semis. Photo Stouffer

�At the beginning it was close,� Oestvold said. �It was really tight in the turns.

But with the warm weather and great visibility, it made things a bit more enjoyable. �It�s beautiful. It�s so warm. But I got lazier as the day went on. The course stayed fast and I thought I was going to be able to pass at the bottom, but that wasn�t possible for my style. For the final I just tried to get the hole shot, which I didn�t get, but it still worked out.�

Second-place finisher Doris Krings used her Alpine racing skills to edge to make it to the finals today. �I�m trying to do both boardercross and Alpine racing now, but I hurt myself in a boardercross last year so I�ve had a little break. But I love alpine racing. You should come see a parallel GS. We get to wear speed suits and don�t have all this padding.�

Crossing the finish line for the finals. Photo Stouffer

Hot on the heels of her podium finish at the X Games was Aspen local Erin Simmons, who took third today.

For fourth-place finisher Alison Clark, this was a big improvement from the last race. �The X Games were brutal on me,� she said. �It was super tight today and people were all over the place. I had a bad time trials yesterday, so I kept on having a bad lane choices. All the girls kept close until someone fell. It was really sketchy. The adrenaline is still going.�

Doris and Erin celebrate, while Line took off early. Photo Stouffer