Mount Snow, Vt. – Seventeen-year-old Tanner Hall, of Mammoth, Calif., may stand only five-foot, three-inches tall, but when it comes to launching himself into the thin Vermont air, the diminutive Hall showed he was the biggest man on the mountain.

Hall nailed a Switch Rodeo 720 with a Tail Grab to bring home the Skiing Big Air gold at the 2001 Winter X Games on Thursday at Mount Snow.

"I knew I could get enough speed for that last jump," Hall said of his trick that earned the winning score of 84.25. Silver-medalist Evan Raps, 21, and bronze-medalist C.R. Johnson, 17, made for a youthful crowd on the podium as Raps, of Olympic Valley, Calif., finished the event just a quarter of a point behind Hall, while Johnson, of Truckee, Calif., finished a half-point back.

Last year, Hall finished eighth in the same competition. All three athletes figure to soar to new heights in future X competitions. "Skiing isn't a sport," Johnson said. "It's a way of life."

Women's Snowboarder X Finals

While youth prevailed in the Skiing Big Air competition, experience ruled supreme just a short distance away in Women's Snowboarder X.

Not many 22-year-old athletes list experience as one of their strengths but gold-medalist Line Oestvold, of Honefoss, Norway, believed it was the difference.

"You have to take chances to win," Oestvold said. "I tried to use the experience I had to win the race."

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Erin Simmons, of W. Vancouver, B.C., Canada claimed the silver medal and 26-year-old Amy Johnson, of Rochester, N.Y. snared the bronze medal. Johnson dedicated her performance in the race to her grandfather who is sick in the hospital.

Men's Snowboarder X Finals

For Canadian Scott Gaffney, of Calgary, Alberta, Can., the fourth time was the charm.

Gaffney reached the X Games podium for the fourth time, but ascended to its highest position to claim gold for the first time in his career as he won the Men's Snowboarder X Finals.

In the process, Gaffney prevented an all-American sweep of the competition.

The 25-year-old boarder beat out 27-year-old Mark Schulz, of Welches, Ore., who claimed the silver, and 24-year-old Seth Wescott, of Kingfield, Maine, who grabbed the bronze.

In just the second race since a car accident, Westcott may have been "just glad to be here," but he managed to equal his 1998 Winter X performance in placing third.

Thursday's attendance for the first day of competition at Mount Snow was 3,600.

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