Totino's Pizza Rolls is giving away an all expense paid trip to the 2010 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. All you have to do is create a 60 second video that shows how you bring the energy of the X Games into your favorite sport. The Grand Prize winner gets to take three friends to Aspen in 2010, the first finalist will win $5,000 and the second finalists gets a year supply of Totino's Pizza Rolls.

Danny Cass shows you how to enter:

Submit your video.

At age three, Lindsey Vonn put on a pair of skis at a local mountain in Minnesota for the first time and she has been making a name for herself ever since as an elite member of the U.S. Ski Team. 

She  began racing at age seven and by nine she was competiting in international events. At the age of 14 she became the only American female to win the Trofeo Topolino contest in Italy. In her first year of top-level competition, 15-year-old Vonn placed in numerous NorAm events. At the age of 18, Vonn raced in both slalom and combined in her Olympic debut, with her best result placing her sixth in slalom.

Vonn climbed up onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career at the age of 20. A year later she attended the World Championships in Italy, taking fourth place finishes in both downhill and combined and a ninth place finish in Super G.  She finished the season ranked sixth overall in the world.

At age 22, Vonn was set to compete in her second Olympic Games as a top hopeful for the Women’s U.S. Ski Team. Unfortunately, this would not be her year. During a training session, Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter to a local hospital. Vonn returned to the Games, despite a bruised hip, and finished eighth in Downhill, seventh in Super G, and fourteenth in Slalom.

Later that year, Vonn won silver in both downhill and Super G at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden.  She also finished third in the women’s 2007 World Cup Downhill and Super G before a knee injury ended her season early.

This past season, 23-year-old Vonn returned to the slopes ready to make history and that is exactly what she did. Her latest Downhill win in Crans-Montana, Switzerland last Saturday, made her the most succesful American in Downhill history and set a new record for World Cup Downhill victories by a U.S. skier with ten. The previous record was held by Picabo Street in 1996 and Daron Rahives in 2006.

Furthermore, Vonn just recently captured the overall World Cup title in Bormio, Italy. Fellow American, Bode Miller, took the title for the men. The last time American’s won both the men’s and women’s overall titles in the same year was in 1983.

It was a very successful season for Vonn and we should expect to see many more victories and possibly some more historical moments as she continues to represent the U.S. Ski Team.

For more information about Lindsay Vonn check out the Official Lindsay Vonn Website.

World-class athlete, Shaun White, put on a world-class performance in last night’s Snowboard SuperPipe Men’s Final to close out Winter X Games 12 in true X style. Despite the snow storm that moved into Aspen during the competition which slowed down riders and lessened their visibility, White still found a way to throw down one of the best runs in X Games history to win the gold with a score of 96.66.

White’s final run included a huge Lean Air, a flawless McTwist, a clean Frontside 1080 into a Fakey to Forward 1080, Front and Backside 900s, and – to finish it off – a Frontside 1260 at the bottom of the pipe. In true X games fashion, White went bigger than ever before by ending his run with an improbable 1260. White admitted later that he had been practicing the four spins since last season and knew he was ready to throw it down for the fans.

White’s gold medal in last night’s SuperPipe tied him up with Tanner Hall, one of the most influential skiers of his generation from Kalispell, Montana, with seven first place finishes at the X games.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Snowboard SuperPipe Men's Final

Winter X Games 12

Aspen/Snowmass, Colo. - Jan. 27, 2008

Name / Bib # / Hometown / Score

1. Shaun White / 347 / Carlsbad, Calif. / 96.66

2. Ryo Aono / 324 / Matsuyama City, Japan / 88.00

3. Kevin Pearce / 343 / Norwich, Vt. / 85.66

4. Mason Aguirre / 300 / Mammoth, Calif. / 84.33

5. Kazuhiro Kokubo / 377 / Sapporo, Japan / 83.00

6. Antti Autti / 329 / Rovaniemi, Finland / 82.00

7. Danny Kass / 337 / Portland, Ore. / 81.00

8. Iouri Podladtchikov / 384 / Zurich, Switzerland / 73.66

9. Gary Zebrowski / 388 / Papeete, Tahiti / 65.00

10. Elijah Teter / 385 / Belmont, Vt. / 52.33

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/11/mtnbikesnow.jpg]A couple weeks ago Chicago had record high temperatures and I was overjoyed to be outside on my bike after a long winter of indoor training rides. Winter is back now in the Midwest and it is a rude awakening. It’s almost the middle of April and Major League baseball games have been canceled in both Cleveland and Chicago on account of snow. I’ll admit, it makes me not want to take my bike out anytime soon.

Until I read about the North Pole Bike Extreme, the first bike race at the North Pole. The race description on the site is as follows:

You will cycle a 26.2-mile marathon distance in extreme sub-zero temperatures on the high Arctic Ocean while negotiating small hillocks of ice and pressure ridges. You will struggle in this formidable challenge, constantly aware you are on territory where the polar bear is king. Forced to carry your bike in some sections, and with 6 to 12 feet of pack ice separating you from 12,000 feet of Arctic Ocean below, a steely nerve will be required to take part in North Pole Bike Extreme - the coolest bike race on the planet.

The Midwest weather doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Fewer excuses, more pedaling!

(Photo provided by Getty Images/Image Source)

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/73391185_1.jpg] It’s just about that time of year again for the excitement, camaraderie and challenge that can only be satisfied by clicking into a pair of skis and lining up at the start line with 7,000 other ski pals from around the world. The American Birkebeiner (or Birkie) is the largest, and one of the longest cross country ski races in North America. The 51-km race from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin is a member race of the Worldloppet Ski Federation, a federation which includes the world's most famous cross country ski marathons such as Sweden's Vasaloppet and Norway's Birkebeinerrennet.

Tomorrow morning, the Birkie will be underway for the 34th time in it's history.  Started in 1973, the Birkie is one of the few races worldwide named after and commemorating a historical episode, from 1206 when a group of Birkebeiners - soldiers who fought in the Norwegian civil war - smuggled the illegitimate son of Norway's King Håkon Sverresson to safety. At Birkebeinerrennet in Norway, skiers still carry packs symbolizing the weight of an 18-month-old child; this tradition, although not required, is also respected by some skiers in the American Birkebeiner.

The Birkie has a reputation of attracting skiers of various ability levels. Cross country skiing is particularly popular in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Birkie draws a large number of skiers from this area who otherwise ski only recreationally. In addition to the Birkebeiner itself, the race day includes the shorter Kortelopet, a race geared more toward recreational skiers. Each year the race is attended by over 7,000 skiers and about 20,000 spectators.

Good luck to all the skiers this year!

(Photo provided by Getty Images, taken by Agence Zoom)

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/biathlon.jpg]A constant view of a two-dimensional computer screen makes it more difficult to navigate a three-dimensional trail, river or ski run. However, by using special training techniques, you can improve your vision and response time during outdoor sports. Here are a few exercises that prominent figures in action sports use:

Peripheral Awareness

Outdoor athletes must look ahead to plan their route, but they also have to stay tuned to what’s happening on the periphery. US Freestyle Ski Team coach Liz McIntyre recommends this exercise: Stand facing a wall and ask a buddy to arrange papers with numbers written on them in a semicircle on the wall, about 6 feet from where you’re standing. Looking straight ahead and without moving your eyes, call out the numbers as your buddy points to them with a ski pole or stick.

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/73199329.jpg]Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since 1927 and it is among the events most watched on television at the Winter Games. Yet it, and the companion Nordic Combined event, which involves jumping and cross-country skiing, are the only two Winter Olympic sports that still bar women.

It is not that women's ski jumping is a novelty. Tens of thousands of women around the world are involved in the sport. The International Ski Federation (FIS) has ranked more than 140 female ski jumpers. There are 22 events held on three continents in eight major ski jumping nations, including the US, Japan, Norway, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Canada. In this country one quarter of ski jumping Canada's 80 competition-level athletes are women.

While the International Olympic Committee is eager to have gender equity in all sports, officials said women's jumping hasn't yet been fully established, noting that the first world championships in the event aren't scheduled until 2009.

"It's still not ready," IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg said. "In our analysis, there are not enough athletes and not enough countries. They have to work with the international ski federation and Nordic combined to be ready for 2014."

However, the IOC stressed it would closely monitor the progress of women's ski jumping "with a view of its inclusion in future Olympic Games."

Canada's female ski jumping team is launching a human rights complaint in an effort to change rules that prevent them from competing in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.