Scotty James wows em with a 5th-straight Winter X title, matches Shaun White with his 8th gold there

Key Highlights

• That's two tricks spinning with his back facing down the hill to start, one while riding forward, the other riding backward — or “switch.” They are among the toughest on the halfpipe. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJames briefly put his hand onto the snow to stay upright after the second jump, but the judges rewarded him anyway.
• His score of 95 easily beat second-place finisher Haku Shimasaki of Japan.“I felt I wanted to do something for myself and for halfpipe and to push backside riding as much as I can,” said Scott, who wore his trademark red boxing gloves and celebrated by crowd surfing into the hundreds of fans who watched the action in Aspen, Colorado.
• “Tonight, I think it always was the plan.
• I wanted to come out and do the first back-to-back backside 14s, and I'm pumped.”James is looking like the favorite heading into the Milan Cortina Olympics.
• Last week, he won the Laax Open in Switzerland — a contest in which defending Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano suffered a nasty fall and broke bones in his face, throwing his status for next month's Olympic halfpipe contest into limbo. James has Olympic silver and bronze medals.