MOUNT SNOW, Vt. – UltraCross is all about teamwork. When one guy slips, the other needs to pick up the slack. Winter X icon Shaun Palmer and Japanese skier Hiroomi Takizawa did just that in winning the gold medal in Saturday's UltraCross competition on Exhibition Run.

Palmer, who finished 12th in Snowboarder X on Thursday, claimed his sixth career Winter X medal – all gold.

"I'm glad I could pull it off and go home with a gold," said a determined Palmer, who left the skiing to Takizawa. "Every Winter X Games they've had I've brought home a gold in something, so I just wanted to make sure I got home with it."

Vermont native Jason Evans and Austria's Isidor Gruener combined to take the silver medal while Matt Murphy, of Big Sky, Mont., joined forces with Sweden's Pontus Staahkloo to grab the bronze.

Takizawa (left) and Palmer (right) were a tough team to beat.

"Go fast, take chances," said Murphy, 42, who skied more like a 24-year-old. Pretty aggressive thinking from the veteran who finished 18th in Skier X on Friday.

When Palmer and Takizawa made mistakes they managed to bail each other out.

In the first race Palmer got off to another Palmer-like start with a strong holeshot. He roasted the field to give Takizawa a comfortable head start that was nearly lost when the skier from Tokyo lost control and was passed by Zach Crist. Fortunately, Takizawa didn't stay down for long and managed to finish in second place – advancing to the semifinal. Only the top two would qualify for the next race.

Now it was Takizawa's chance to help Palmer, who got the classic holeshot as always but fell back on his butt at the bottom of the course. The Palmer-Takizawa team lost a little ground, but Takizawa held his own to take second place behind Evans and Gruener.

Palmer and Takizawa pulled off the final without a single hitch. Both maneuvered flawlessly. Palmer rocketed out of the gate into the lead, which he never relinquished, and Takizawa cruised down the course with ease to claim gold.

Palmer couldn't be denied his sixth Winter X gold medal.

Evans, a long-time Snowboarder X competitor of Palmer's, knows all too well that when "The Palm" takes a lead he rarely gives it back. Palmer's final run was typical of his unforgiving, competitive nature.

"It's not a good feeling," Evans said of losing to Palmer. "He didn't make any mistakes."

Vintage Palmer. Pure gold.

  Send this story to a friend