Under the bright lights at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Winter X Games 13 kicked off Thursday night with the Men’s Skiing Superpipe competition. The stage was set for another dramatic duel between halfpipe’s greatest, Simon Dumont and Tanner Hall. Dumont just came off of a huge win at the second stop of the Winter Dew Tour while Tanner was ready to defend his X Games gold. In the end, it was a new star out of France, Xavier Bertoni, who gave both gentlemen a run for their money and claimed Winter X 13 gold.

Each athlete was allowed 3 runs in last night’s competition. After the first round, it was anyone’s game with Simon and Tanner both having trouble on their last hit. Both athletes went a bit more conservative in their second run and landed solid scores, placing them in the top three. With one run to go, Xavier Bertoni put down back to back 1080’s with huge amplitude throughout the entire run. This was enough to keep the previous champions at bay, even with Dumont’s signature massive hits and Tanner’s new double flip on the first drop.