The burly-factor was never more apparent than at this year’s Winter X event, where racers dropped faster than Seth Wescott’s split times. Hometown favorite Chris Klug broke his collarbone in Friday’s prelims—after crossing the finish line. Ben Jacobellis took a cover-your-eyes-and-wince-type spill in Saturday’s quarterfinal race.

Xavier de le Rue (orange bib), Seth Wescott (gray) and Nate Holland (green) get a whiff of airtime during the men’s final. De le Rue floated to the gold medal.

In the final, Xavier de le Rue and Seth Wescott dueled to the end in a winner-take-gold final. Nate Holland contended early, but he crashed out attempting a move midway down the 2,400-foot course. At the front, de le Rue and Wescott pushed to the finish, never more than a board-length apart. De le Rue carved the course perfectly, blocking Wescott at each turn and crossed the finish line with five feet to spare. The silver was Wescott’s fifth X Games medal since 1998, though he has yet to round out his collection with a gold. De le Rue, who broke his collarbone just six weeks ago, won gold in UltraCross in 2003, but this was his first Boarder X medal.

Seth Wescott spent his downtime on the top of the mountain in seclusion, visualizing his runs and listening to his iPod. When asked what song he listened to before the final, he took a long pause … “You know what? I don’t know,” he said. “I put together a mix for the World Championships last week and that’s what I kept for the X Games. It was definitely something by Rage Against the Machine.”