After coming unstuck on his first two runs in the final, Shaun was able to put together something special for the good folks of The City of Roses. "I knew I had to do a heavy-heavy combination and I nailed it," was Shaun's explanation.

As for the specifics, the winning combo goes a little something like this: frontside fakie 540, to fakie 540 cab, to 720, to armadillo, or for all you laypeople, a frontside heelflip body varial 540.

It was Shaun's first Dew Tour appearance since '08, which may have helped fuel the fire. "I wanted to show that I've got it down," he surmised. Consider this mission accomplished.

And now, as the snowboard season melts away and the hecticness of the 2010 Olympic games starts to recede, it's back on the skateboard. Shaun's committed to the vert event at this Summer's X Games, and "I'm pumped," he says. "Nothing like a new challenge to fire you up."

As the snow melts and the concrete jungle of LA beckons, Shaun's back on the skateboard, "pushing around town." Here's what he's been up to:

What kind of board are you riding these days?

I'm riding my pro model with Birdhouse. For skating vert, I like to ride an 8" board. It helps for when I don't get my feet perfect for landings. For messing around in LA or cruising parks I rock a 7.75" deck.

When did you get back on the board?
I started riding right after the US Open. I came back so tired from the Olympics, post tour, and Open, all I wanted to do was rest and skate. I moved up to LA, so I just started pushing around town to get my legs warm. Now I'm skating a lot of park and a little bit of vert. I haven't gotten into vert full scale because I'm still warming up.



What are you working towards?

There isn't any goal as of yet, I'm just having fun skating and being off the snow. My first contest this year is going to be the Dew Tour's first stop, but that isn't till June. Until then, I'm just focusing on skating a ton of park and vert.



Are you going to build a secret mega ramp somewhere?

No real plans as of yet. I don't have a ton of tricks that I want to push on my skateboard like I did last winter with snowboarding. I think I would feel pretty guilty building a huge ramp for one trick, although it would be super fun. First things first, I just need to get on my board again and start to feel more confident and comfortable.



"It's been a wild night for me," said Shaun at the bottom of the pipe. "Hitting my head didn't help anything, I've been seeing stars all night long," he added, referring to a helmet-popping, skull-rattling wipeout during a practice run not more than an hour before he took center stage.

Obviously the newly unveiled McTwist was the talk of town. "I knew in my mind that I wanted to do it, no matter what happened even if I was in first," said Shaun. "That trick's just a beast of its own. I don't know, somedays are just tougher than others, I guess. I was glad to put it down tonight."

Shaun White busted out an insane new trick at the final Grand Prix practice under the lights at Park City tonight--a double McTwist 1260. He says, he booked it straight to Park City after the Mammoth Grand Prix and, reminiscent of last winter when he innovated several double corks in the pipe, he fixated on this new goal. Read More...

"For me tonight to put that run together was unreal," says Shaun, shortly after linking his Grand Prix-winning 49.50 ride in Park City this weekend, a run that included the newly debuted double McTwist 12. "It felt great. I wanted to push the judges to boundaries that they can go to. I know they haven't handed out a full-on perfect score yet. I'll get them."

With this win in Park City, Shaun locked in the top spot of the 2010 Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix series. High fives, hand shakes, and good times ensued. He's now bound for Aspen and Winter X.

The hill was packed. The "industry" made the trek up from their various SoCal headquarters, and even riders who wouldn't normally be caught dead at a comp turned up to watch. With the crowd in full attendance, the riders were excited to get the competition rolling.

Not one to waste any time, with the sun shining and the crisp Sierra wind at bay, on Saturday Shaun stomped his first run, accenting it with a series of double corks, and locking in a 47-point ride for the effort.