MOUNT SNOW, Vt. – The level of pipe riding on the men's side this season has been out of hand. Tricks that used to win contests outright like 720s and Haakon flips are now standard. With the 2001 Winter X SuperPipe looking perfect Saturday, riders were ready to go off on the chilly Vermont day.

As with the women, things started out slowly. First round runs were pretty mellow. Daniel Franck showed some renewed competitive fire with super cool airs to fakie, big McTwists, and compact Haakon Flips. After first round runs he was sitting in third.

A real surprise was the always consistent Todd Richards. TR fell early in his run and to make up for it, proceeded to treat the crowd to a sick old school run complete with crossrocket and double grabs.

Dan Kass, a contest favorite, did not disappoint. Easily the most dynamic run of the first round, Kass posted an 87.00. He did so by nonchalantly pulling some of the sickest tricks of the contest like the crippler seven, a switch backside 720, and a Haakon 720.

Switch Backside 720 - who else but Dan Kass.

Shaun White, who's first real professional season has been more than successful, climbed into second with an energy-packed run. It seems like this kid is always smiling. I suppose if you could pull frontside 900s, alley-oop 720s and Haakon flips, you'd be smiling a bunch too.

Things started to really go off in the second round. Tommy Czeschin ripped his way to 91.67 and a momentary spot on top. He filled his run with a switch 900, a backside 540, and an inverted frontside 540. It didn't really look a full four points better than Kass' first run, but the judges seemed to think so.

No matter, Kass dropped in a few riders later and killed it. Not only did he raise his amplitude, but he added a couple more rotations to his spins. That means that the old Haakon nine, or switch 9 Kass-a-roll was seen. Deservedly, he got a 95.33 and pushed himself way out front.

Guillaume Morisset did Canada proud. Last year's U.S. Open champ showed more twirl and air than in his first run and moved into medal contention with a score of 88.00.

With the third round beginning, there just didn't seem to be any way someone would catch Kass. His runs were huge and technical. The only person really with a chance, or the manuevers, would be Richards. But after two runs he was only sitting in 18th.

A couple of riders made a late charge. Mike Michalchuk, who was easily going the biggest by far, seemed to get penalized for not getting in as many hits as the other competitors. He did without a doubt pull the sickest trick of the contest. The double backflip to fakie is a trick that he's tried in contests before but had never pulled. Michalchuk's run was definitely among the best of the day, yet he was not rewarded and the spectators booed the obvious oversight in judging.

Ross Powers had been quiet for most of the contest. In his final run he changed things up a bit. With the addition of a big McTwst and a frontside 900, Ross was able to post a 91.67 and tie Czeschin for second.

Lien Air - Ross Powers.

Richards was the last to drop in and really was the only one who ever had a chance to beat Kass. Things got a little weird right away. On his second hit, which is usually just a stock frontside air he needed to revert in to avoid a deck slapping. After this his run was pretty much ad lib. He did manage to throw his McTwist 900 and Haakon 7, but they were both kind of sketchy at best. He was scored at 80, which put him in 13th. Quite a harsh punishment for pulling tricks that no one else did.

The younger Kass has had an amazing year so far. This is his third major win in four tries. It seems like it was just yesterday that he was winning all the junior events. His run stood head and shoulders above everyone with the exception of maybe Michalchuk's. In a time of boring rehearsed pipe robots it nice to see that some riders can still mix it up and keep it exciting.

Czeschin and Powers tied for silver. With a 81.67 in the first round the tie and the Silver went to the "machine" Czeschin. Kass wins his first X Games medal and with style.

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