Capping off night two of Winter X Games 16 was the women's snowboard superpipe finals. Seven of the world's best lady pipe riders duked it out under crystal clear, chilly skies in Aspen's pristine 22' U-tube. Each lady had three runs to stomp their best tricks on snowboarding's biggest stage.

The field was stacked with three former Olympic gold medalists and up-and-comers who were all vying for this year's X Games Gold. Reigning champ, Kelly Clark, was looking solid throughout practice, even stomping her famed 1080 prior to the contest.

Gretchen Bleiler has also been practicing all season for this event, and has been focusing on perfecting her inverted tricks. After taking a two year hiatus from the contest scene, Torah Bright also made a return to the superpipe and noted that she was riding for her dear friend, Sarah Burke. Unfortunately Bright was unsuccessful in stomping any of her runs and winded up in seven place.

The first runs for all the ladies were a bit shaky, as the contest jitters were visibly affecting everyone. By the second and third runs, the ladies had settled down and began to break out the big guns.

In Elena Hight's second run, she spun a backside 9 into an alleyoop 5 that oozed style and was easily one of the best combos of the night. This run earned her a solid 83.66 which put her in first, until Kelly Clark dropped in for her second run.

Clark stomped a huge, smooth frontside 1080 that was easily the biggest trick of the night. She wooed the judges and the crowd with this massive spin and earned a 90.0, which propelled her into the coveted first place spot.

As the ladies dropped in for their third runs, each was trying to unseat the unbeatable Kelly Clark. The last to drop was Bleiler who rode her heart out, but was only able to post up a score of a 65.0 which was good enough for fourth place.

In the end, birthday girl, Hannah Teter took third, Elena Hight took second, and Kelly Clark nabbed her 13th win in a row with a score of 93.66

Following the contest Kelly said "I just take it one contest at a time, and the X Games is one contest that is always at the top of my list to win, and I'm just so grateful."

This year's women's snowboard pipe finals were easily the most progressive to date, as all of the riders were laying it on the line.

Different year, same story. With the women's superpipe finals slated to take place tonight at Winter X Games 16, everyone's eyes are set on the unstoppable Kelly Clark. It's somewhat intimidating for the other ladies heading into the competition when they're aware that the person they're aiming to beat has won the last 12 contests she's competed in. A pretty legit feat to brag about.

Kelly Clark, most recently recognized for being the first and only female so far to stomp a 1080 in the halfpipe, is considered to be a certified halfpipe master. She has continuously upped the ante for all ladies alike riding halfpipe as well as for women's snowboarding as a whole. However, this time around the girls are catching onto Kelly's game and are pushing themselves to give Clark a run for her money.

Challenging Clark tonight will be a stacked field of contenders, consisting of Gretchen Bleiler, Torah Bright, Hannah Teter, Maddy Schaffrick, Elena Hight, Kaitlyn Farrington, and Xuetong Cai. All these riders are capable of putting down a technical and solid run however, if Kelly Clark brings her A-game, which she most always does, it will be pretty difficult to out-ride her in this discipline.

So, who will it be? A heavily experienced group of riders all hungry for the win will provide an intense snowboard battle. Talks of new tricks being laid out over the 22-foot halfpipe from--which should come as no surprise--Clark have begun to circulate. However, not to be outdone, Gretchen Bleiler has thrown her name into the mix, and will be one to watch for, as she nearly edged out Clark at the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge, CO. If this happens, pipe finals will be one of the most progressive women's events we've ever seen.

But when there's a gold medal up for grabs with every girl thinking it would look best on them, prior statistics can be meaningless. So who will rise up and end Clark's run of domination? Or will Clark continue her strong run and stomp the competition? Find out tonight when the women's snowboard pipe finals commence at 9 pm.

Photo: Huggy/SNOWBOARDER Magazine
Kelly landing her first 1080 below:

Men's and women's superpipe finals went down Saturday afternoon in Breckenridge, Colorado for the fourth annual Winter Dew Tour Nike Open. Breckenridge's massive 602 ft superpipe was the site of heavy action as the world's best riders battled it out in front of a massive, sprawling crowd. â¨
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The women's field of six riders kicked things off early in the afternoon as sunny skies illuminated the pipe. After an uncharacteristic bobble in her first run, Kelly Clark came from behind and stomped her second run for the win.

The Vermont native put down a run that included a frontside inverted 720, a cab 720, frontside 540, backside 540, frontside 900, and ended with a massive method oozing with style. Clark's run earned her a 91.25 which was just enough to bump Gretchen Bleiler out of the top spot and into second place. Rounding out the women's podium was Xuetong Cai who earned an 85.00 for her efforts.

After the contest Clark commented, "This is the longest pipe we've ever ridden and it makes for a progressive contest because no one's trying to squeak all of their tricks in. "There's plenty of room to do every combination that you want to do. I couldn't have had a better start to my season, I think more importantly than doing well, I'm happy with the way I'm riding." â¨â¨

Over on the men's side of things, it was Shaun White who rode away with the win after stomping a massive, progressive run. White dropped into the pipe and sent a huge 27 foot backside air, a frontside double cork 900, backside 540, frontside stalefish 540, a double McTwist 1260 and ended it with an alley-oop backside rodeo which earned him a solid 95.0 Rumor has it that this was only White's fourth day on hill this season, making this win all the more impressive.
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White was elated with the win and said "I'm so happy to put that run down and make it count, get the win and start the season off right." White was pumped on the size of Breck's pipe and said, "I'm blown away by Breckenridge delivering such an amazing pipe. It's one of the best I've ever ridden." â¨â¨Coming in a close second was Louie Vito who stomped a super techincal run that went like this, double crippler, Michalchuk, front double 10, cab double 10, front 12 and finished with a back 5. Vito's run was smooth and stylish, but lacked the amplitude that White had.
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Rounding out the podium was Iouri Podlachikov who rallied from a brutal fall in his first run and came back to stomp his second. IPOD's first run was easily the best run of the whole comp, until his last hit, where he landed super low and slammed his face on the bottom of the pipe. IPOD smacked his noggin so hard that his goggle broke, and he rose up with a bloody nose. When asked about his second run, IPOD said, "I was just all in. I had nothing to lose. My face was hurting. My nose, I can slowly feel it again, but that first run was like the best run of my life."

It was a super action-packed day at the Winter Dew Tour Nike Open in Breckenridge, Colorado and the fun continues tomorrow with men's and women's slope finals.

Men's Snowboard Superpipe Final Results

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 95.00.
2. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 92.75.
3. Iouri Podlachikov, Switzerland, 90.00.
4. Christian Haller, Switzerland, 88.00.
5. Kohei Kudo, Japan, 86.00.
6. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Spring, Colo., 84.00.
7. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 79.75.
8. Keito Kumazaki, Japan, 55.75.
9. Kazuhiro Kokubo, Japan, 47.75.
10. Scott Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 40.00.
11. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 24.25.
12. Danny Davis,Highland, Mich., 18.25.

Women's Snowboard Superpipe Final Results

1. Kelly Clark, West Dover, Vt., 91.25.
â¨2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo., 90.25.
â¨3. Xuetong Cai, China, 85.00.
4. Maddy Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 80.00.
5. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, Id., 70.00.
6. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 54.50.




Women's Podium. 1. Kelly Clark 2. Gretchen Blieler 3. Cai Xuetong

Men's Podium 1. Shaun White 2. Louie Vito 3. IPOD

And that's all she wrote. The first major contest and Burton Global Open Series event is over. Halfpipe finals took over the last day of competition under picturesque skies. A theme that has run throughout the entire event. Not a bad theme to kick off the latest snow season in my book.

The riders graced the 22-foot pipe with style and speed. The ladies saw much of what we've seen at every halfpipe contest the past year -- Kelly Clark dominating and showing exactly why she's the number one female pipe rider around. Fellow Burton teammate, Hannah Teter scored in second, with Spain sensation Queralt Castellet in third.

The guys field was a little bit more tricky. Stacked with Japanese riders, the work was cut out for the rest of the competitors. Iouri Podladtchikov and Louie Vito were chasing down a few Japan riders and ended up in second and third after Ryo Aono claimed the first spot.

For all the details of how it all went down, check out what SNOWBOARDER's Tom Monterosso had to say HERE...he was after all, there.

Top runs below:

It's that time of year again. Time for athletes to act like superstars and saunter down the red carpet for ESPN's annual ESPY Awards. The Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award's will be hitting the Nokia Theatre in LA on July 13th. Comedian Seth Meyers returns this year as host and is sure to keep the crowd rolling with his raunchy humor.

Before the big show, ESPN wants you to vote for your favorite athletes. Several X Games athletes have been nominated for these prestigious awards and we think you should show your support for them.

See who's up for what and get on over to ESPYs.com to cast your vote.

Best Female Athlete:

Kelly Clark
- Won SuperPipe gold medal at Winter X, Winter X Europe and Burton U.S. Open.
- Became the first female snowboarder to land a 1080 in competition, at Winter X.

Lindsey Vonn
- Won the Super G, Super-Combined and Downhill titles in 2011.
- Finished the season with eight race wins.

Best Male Action Sports Athlete:

Shaun White
- Won gold in Snowboard SuperPipe at Winter X 2011 and Silver in Skateboard Vert at X Games 2010.
- Won the two Skateboard Vert stops at which he competed on the 2010 Dew Tour.

Kevin Rolland
- Winter X and Winter X Europe repeat gold in Ski SuperPipe.
- Won 2 of 3 Dew Tour events plus the Dew points crown.
- Earned the AFP Superpipe points title by an enormous margin.

Kelly Slater
-Won his 10th ASP World Tour title (most in history) in 2010 at age 38.
-Is now the youngest person to win surfing's top points title (captured at age 20) and the oldest.

Travis Pastrana
-Won Moto X Double gold at X Games 2010 (Freestyle and Speed & Style)

Tucker Hibbert
-Won his 5th straight Winter X SnoCross gold.
-Won 11 of 16 National series contests despite racing the 2nd half of the season with a wrist that needed surgery
-Captured both 2011 National series points titles.

Best Female Action Sports Athlete:

Sarah Burke
-Won Ski SuperPipe gold at both Winter X (her fourth SuperPipe gold at Winter X) and Winter X Europe.
-Also earned victories at a pair of World Cup events

Kelly Clark
-Won Winter X SuperPipe gold medal, Winter X Europe gold medal and Burton U.S. Open.
-Became the first female snowboarder to land a 1080 in competition, at Winter X.

Ashley Fiolek
-Won her second straight Moto X Racing gold at X Games 2010.
-Also finished second in points on the Women's Motocross Association tour in 2010.

Stephanie Gilmore
-At 23, won four of the eight surfing events on the 2010 ASP World Tour on her way to a fourth straight points crown.

Go get your vote on. Do it.