ASPEN, Colo. — Shaun White is into "snow mode." He ditched his skateboard in favor of a snowboard, left his home in Carlsbad for one in the powder-covered Rockies.
Wintergreen is his new favorite flavor -- this being winter and with so much green up for grabs.
White is here to compete in the Winter X Games, which run today through Tuesday and offer nearly $300,000 in prize money in snowboarding alone.
He tuned up with a victory at the Session Men's Rail Jam, worth $8,000, at nearby Vail. He followed that up with an electrifying performance worth $30,000 in the slopestyle competition, during which he became the first person to perform 900-degree aerial spins four different ways on four different jumps.
His "all-four-nines" exhibition was so impressive that another competitor remarked, "I don't think he's even real."
The reality is this: The "Flying Tomato," as White is sometimes called because of his orange mop of hair, has become one of the most dominating snowboarders in the world.
His three gold medals and two silvers in the Winter X Games, widely regarded as the premier event on the snowboarding calendar, are proof enough. But the Burton team rider has cashed in at so many venues that even he has trouble keeping track of his accomplishments.
Through contest winnings and endorsements, White has a seven-figure income. Before he learned how to drive, he had earned enough to purchase a home near the beach and had won a couple of cars to put in the driveway.
It's certainly worth noting that White, a five-year pro, only recently turned 18.
But as a young man poised to elevate his already lofty stature -- this will be his fifth Winter X appearance; he also has competed twice as a skateboarder in the Summer X Games -- White has realized that something is missing from his resume.
Now is not the time to think about it, but he does. It's not a distraction, he assures, but a spark of desire that flickers with greater frequency as winter wears on and as an event of greater magnitude draws closer.
White is looking beyond Winter X to Winter O.
While he wants more X Games gold, he craves Olympic glory, and says that he is not only in snow mode, but Oly mode, with his sights set on the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
"What's awesome about X Games is that they explain snowboarding so well to people who have never seen it, and show the fun side of it," White says. "It's just a real fun atmosphere.
