Aspen, Colo., January 27, 2013 – Shaun White, 26, of Carlsbad, Calif., made X Games history on Sunday night, winning not only his sixth consecutive Superpipe gold, but bringing his total winter medal count to a record breaking 18. White’s second run earned him a high score of 98.00 and featured an enormous 24-foot backside method into a frontside double cork 1080 to a cab double cork 1080 followed by frontside 540 to a backside double Mctwist 1260 and ending with a frontside double cork 1260.

“Six years, that’s a long run in Aspen,” he said. “It’s very familiar to come and here and compete. I go to my favorite restaurants, say hi to the same parking attendants, it feels like home.”

There was a noted absence, however, as Iouri Podladtchikov – aka “I-Pod” – had to pull out of the contest due to an illness.

“My main competitor got incredibly sick last night and couldn’t compete, so that was disappointing,” said White. “I like when everyone’s here, but I put down my run and I’m really proud of it. That front double 1260 gave me a hard time and I pulled it out perfect.”

The silver went to 14-year-old rookie Ayumu Hirano of Murakami, Japan. The young gun gave White a run for his money with incredible amplitude and impressive hits, including an 18-foot backside method to a frontside 1080 to cab 1080, followed by a frontside 900 to a backside 900 and ending on a frontside double cork 1080. Hirano’s amplitude never dipped below 15-feet out of the 22-foot SuperPipe.

“I wanted to go big and land my run,” he said via his Japanese-English translator. “I’m thankful for everyone who cheered for me.”

Bronze went to Markus Malin, 25, of Lahti, Finland, who earned his first X Games medal. Malin’s run included a frontside double cork 1080 to cab double cork 1080 and ended with an alley-oop backside rodeo.

X Games Aspen 2013 experienced its largest four-day attendance with 115, 500 people, including a one-day record of 47,200 on Saturday. X Games Aspen 2014 returns to Buttermilk Mountain January 23-26.

X Games Aspen made its debut as a part of the 2013 World Snowboard Tour as 6Star Halfpipe and Slopestyle events. Both Aspen and Tignes are an official part of the series, counting toward the overall TTR World Championship for 2013.